COLLEGE BASKETBALL ‘88-89. : Pacific 10 Preview : Arizona Could Have Company at the Top

The beleaguered Pacific 10 Conference got a big boost when Arizona advanced to the Final Four last season.

Although UCLA won 10 national titles under Coach John Wooden, the Pac-10 declined with the shift of power to the Big Eight, the Big East, the Big Ten and the Atlantic Coast Conference.

“When Wooden was at UCLA, he elevated West Coast basketball, and (Arizona Coach) Lute Olson, whether you like him or not, has done the same thing,” said Gary Colson, a former head coach at New Mexico who is now an assistant at California.

Olson predicted that the conference’s resurgence will continue this season.

“This should be a banner year for the Pac-10 because of so many teams with their lineups intact or four or five starters back,” he said. “I think it’s going to be the strongest year that the Pac-10 has had in the 6 years I’ve been here. Eight of the top 10 all-leaguers are back and 36 of the 50 starters are back.”

Stanford, coming off its best season in 46 years, and Arizona were picked as the conference favorites by the coaches.

Oregon State, the Pac-10 runner-up last season, has a chance to win the title in Coach Ralph Miller’s final season.

Here’s a team-by-team look at the conference, excluding UCLA, USC and Stanford, all of which have been covered elsewhere:

ARIZONA

1987-88 Records:

35-3 overall, 17-1 conference

1987-88 Conference Finish: 1st

Sean Elliott, Arizona’s 6-8 All-American forward who averaged 20 points and 6 rebounds last season, probably would have been picked No. 2 behind Danny Manning in the National Basketball Assn. draft last June, but he decided to remain in school.

Anthony Cook, an All-Pac-10 forward who blocked 75 shots last season, also is back.

The Gumbies--Arizona’s bench last season--will play a key role this season because the Wildcats must replace three of their top five players from last year’s team: guards Steve Kerr and Craig McMillan and center Tom Tolbert.

“I think we have the talent to win it,” Olson said. “The big question is how well the three new starters fit in.”

Olson hasn’t decided on the new starters.

Kenny Lofton, a 5-11 senior who started 2 years ago when Kerr was injured, will probably start at guard, but he’s being challenged by Matt Muehlebach, a 6-2 sophomore who didn’t play much last season.

Guard Harvey Mason, a 6-3 junior from Crescenta Valley High in La Crescenta, will replace McMillan. But Jud Buechler, a 6-6 junior, is pushing Mason.

There’s a 3-way battle at center among Sean Rooks, a 6-11 redshirt freshman from Fontana High; Mark Georgeson, a 6-11 redshirt freshman from Marina High in Huntington Beach, and Brian David, a 6-9 junior who was sidelined by a knee injury last season.

ARIZONA STATE

1987-88 Records: 13-16, 6-12

1987-88 Conference Finish: 7th

ASU Coach Steve Patterson said he can’t take another season like 1987-88, when the troubled Sun Devils ended the season with 9 straight losses.

“Believe me, I couldn’t live through another year like last year. They wouldn’t have to fire me, I’d kill myself,” he said.

Three players quit or were cut at the end of the season.

“We had a very selfish team last year,” Patterson said. “We were fussing and fighting and feuding last season and it killed us at the end of the year. We had a few guys graduate and I was in the front row cheering them on as they walked down the aisle.

“The attitude on this team is dramatically different. If they accept my work ethic and my approach to the game, we’ll be fine. If they don’t, there’ll be blood on the floor. It might be mine, but it also might be theirs.”

ASU has four starters back, Terence Wheeler, a 6-2 junior guard; Mark Becker, a 6-9 junior forward; Trent Edwards, a 6-7 senior power forward, and Emory Lewis, a 6-10 sophomore center.

CALIFORNIA

1987-88 Records: 9-20, 5-13

1987-88 Conference Finish: 8th (tie)

Leonard Taylor, a 6-8 forward, returns after being sidelined by injuries for the last 2 seasons.

Taylor missed the final 21 games of the 1986-87 season because of a neck injury. He sat out last season with a broken bone in his right foot.

Taylor, who averaged 19.0 points and 8.8 rebounds, appears fully recovered.

“I really believe that Leonard Taylor is progressing well,” Coach Lou Campenelli said. “I don’t believe he’s back to where he was when he left on Jan. 2, 1986, when he was first injured. It’s going to take time for him to get his rhythm, confidence and timing. But he’s physically stronger and more mature. And he’s certainly a better shooter than he was.

“When all the little pieces come together, Leonard is going to be a real force in the conference.”

Joining Taylor in the starting lineup are Matt Beeuwsaert, a 6-6 senior forward from Santa Ana Mater Dei High; Keith Smith, a 6-4 junior guard, and Ryan Drew, a 6-2 sophomore guard. Beeuwsaert played 2 seasons at Notre Dame.

OREGON

1987-88 Records: 16-14, 10-8

1987-88 Conference Finish: 5th

The Ducks have three starters back from last season’s team, which advanced to the National Invitation Tournament--Randy Grant, a 6-6 senior forward; Brett Coffey, a 6-8 senior center, and Frank Johnson, a 6-1 senior guard.

“I think my front line is a little better because of the experience factor,” Coach Don Monson said.

Forward Keith Reynolds, a 6-6 junior transfer from Southern Idaho Junior College, was going to be a starter until he broke his jaw in a scrimmage 2 weeks ago.

Monson is also high on Richard Lucas, a 6-7 sophomore center from Anaheim Katella High, and Eric Dunn, a 6-8 center who transferred from El Camino College.

OREGON STATE

1987-88 Records: 20-11, 12-6

1987-88 Conf. Finish: 2nd (tie)

Coach Ralph Miller has announced that he will retire at the end of the season, to be replaced by long-time assistant Jim Anderson.

Miller, who has had 32 winning seasons in 37 years as a coach at 3 schools, needs 16 victories to pass John Wooden and move into sixth place among college basketball’s winningest coaches.

“I think the best way to describe it is that it’s just another year,” Miller said of his finale. “I’m not going to look at this season any differently until it’s over. Then I’ll sell my house and play a lot of golf. It’s the last season and I hope to enjoy it. Period.”

Miller, who has four starters returning, told USC Coach George Raveling that he expects this to be one of his best teams.

Gary Payton, a 6-3 junior guard who led the Pac-10 in assists and steals, will be the Beavers’ floor leader.

The other returning starters are forward Earl Martin, a 6-5 junior from Carson High, forward Will Brantley, a 6-4 sophomore, and guard Eric Knox, a 6-2 senior from St. Bernard High in Playa del Rey.

STANFORD

1987-88 Records: 21-12, 11-7

1987-88 Conference Finish: 4th

The Cardinal, which was featured in Tuesday’s editions of The Times, is a co-favorite with Arizona.

UCLA

1987-88 Records: 16-14, 12-6

1987-88 Conference Finish:

2nd (tie)

The Bruins, who are expected to contend for the title under new Coach Jim Harrick, are featured in a separate story in today’s Times.

USC

1987-88 records: 7-21, 5-13

1987-88 Conf. Finish: 8th (tie)

The Trojans, who are trying to rebound from 3 consecutive last-place finishes, also are featured in a separate story in today’s Times.

WASHINGTON

1987-88 Records: 10-19, 5-13

1987-88 Conference Finish: 8th (tie)

“Our team logo ought to be a giant question mark,” Husky Coach Andy Russo said. “Our guards look really solid, but our post people are not big and therein lies our big question, whether we can hang with the big people inside.

“I know we’ll shoot well and I know we’ll guard well. I really don’t know how well we’ll rebound.”

The Huskies have four starters back--Mike Hayward, a 6-8 sophomore forward; Jeff Sanor, a 6-6 junior guard; Eldridge Recasner, a 6-2 junior guard, and Mark West, a 6-7 junior center.

Dion Brown, a 6-5 sophomore from L.A. Crenshaw High, will start at forward. Brown is a transfer from Chaminade.

WASHINGTON STATE

1987-88 Records: 13-16, 7-11

1987-88 Conference Finish: 6th

Kelvin Sampson put a nice ending to his first season as the Cougars’ head coach when they upset UCLA in the first round of the Pac-10 tournament.

The Cougars figure to be even better than they were last season because 6-9 senior forward Brian Quinnett, their best player, returns after missing last season with a broken foot. He had arthroscopic knee surgery last month.