USD Men's Basketball 1989-1990

PAGE9 tributing immediately. And Temple, Egan says, "is as good an athlete as I've ever had,"and is expected to con– tribute at small forward . WEST COAST CONFERENCE The Toreros play a nonconference schedule that includes road games against San Diego State, St. John's (at St. John's Tournament) and UCLA. But Egan says what the team is really look– ing toward are the conference games and ensuing tournament at Loyola Marymount. That's how competitive the West Coast Conference has become. It is now known simply as the wee (the "Athletic" from West Coast Athletic Conference has been dropped) and as one of the nation's better collection of basketball programs. Four teams last season won 20 games and only two had losing records overall. Not so co– incidentally, four teams were invited to postseason tournaments-LMU and St. Mary's to the NCAA, Pepperdine and Santa Clara to the NIT. The Toreros finished a dismal, but deceiving, 2-12 in conference play. The first six losses were all by six points or less. In the first round of the conference tournament, they lost to second– seeded Pepperdine, 72-69. "Hopefully," Egan says, "with matur– ity we'll win our share of those close games this season ." And probably a few more. By Mark Zeigler of The San Diego Union

QUTLOOK its predecessor, but one that won't be forced to produce so much so quickly. It is also a class with local ties: 6-8 Brooks Barnhard played at Escondido High, 6-4 Joe Temple played at Lincoln Prep, and 6-3 Neal Meyer lived in San Diego before moving to how'd you guess? Arizona. "I like our kids," Egan says. " I think there's a chance for us to be a much improved ball club. I really feel we're better at every position than last year."

Lochtefeld, a walk-on from Westmont High in Campbell , CA. Geoff Probst, a 5-11 sophomore guard, will sit out this season after transferring from UC Davis. FRONTCOURT The frontline can only get better. Everyone returns from last season and , as if that wasn't enough, there is in– coming talent. The 6-5 Cottrell, a senior co-captain with Jerome, spent most of the summer in the weight room and, Egan says, " You'll be amazed at the difference it made." Craig was USD's leading scorer at 12.2 ppg and led the wee in field goal percentage at .647. Bell, the team's biggest player at 6-9, 240 pounds, started 16 games last season and led the WCC in blocked shots (55) . He was the most improved player from the previous season and Egan looks for even more improve– ment, "especially on the defensive end and rebounding." When Bell wasn 't starting at center, the 6-8 Colvin was. Like Cottrell , Colvin made regular visits to the weight room this summer. A pleasant surprise at the end of the season was Kelvin Woods, who showed that he is equally effective on the perimeter or inside with his 6-5, 230-pound frame. Also returning are two 6-6 swingmen : Randy Thompson , who Egan describes as "very knowl– edgable of the game of basketball ," and Carlos Carrillo, a fine outside shooter. Don't let Jerome's size (6-8, 225) fool you . He is one of the team's best out– side shooters. Egan, who tried to re– cruit him out of high school and again at Mesa, is just happy to have Jerome, if only with one year of eligibility re– maining. Thomas, a junior, is a superior athlete who plays much bigger than his 6A listing and will get time at small for– ward. Hamilton, also from Mesa, is an excellent post defender. "That was our deficiency last year," Egan says, "and Shawn fills the gap if we're having pro– blems down there." Unlike last year's freshmen, Barn– hard will have time to develop as a post player without the pressures of con-

BACKCOURT The big change here will be in Dot– tin's presence. Dottin spent as much time at forward as guard last season, but Egan plans to establish his 6-5 super soph as a guard because " he handles the ball so well and thinks of other people first." Two other players battling for the other guard spot include returnee Wayman Strickland and new– comer Pat Holbert. Strickland , an off– guard in high school , should put the finishing touches on his transition to point guard. He averaged 8.1 ppg and led the team in steals with 38 his rookie season. The 6-3 Holbert, co-MVP at Mesa last season can handle the ball in traffic and shoot the three-pointer. And Meyer, Egan says, "is an ex– cellent, excellent shooter," as his .624 field goal percentage at Chaparral HS (Scottsdale, AZ) attests. Rounding out the backcourt is 6-2 freshman Eric