Cal State Fullerton Notebook : Sneed Decides Not to Fill His Old Assistant Spot

When John Sneed was named Cal State Fullerton’s acting basketball coach after George McQuarn’s sudden resignation, one of his early priorities was to hire an assistant coach to take his own place.

But less than 2 weeks later, Sneed says he no longer plans to hire a second full-time assistant.

“I don’t have time to train someone,” Sneed said Monday. “And that’s a difficult situation to put someone in--interim assistant coach. The fair thing is to wait until the end of the year and see if I get the job.”

In the meantime, Sneed apparently will make a go of the season with only assistant Donny Daniels and graduate assistant Dave Grossman.

By contrast, six Big West Conference coaches have four assistants, including part-time and graduate assistants. Only one team, Utah State, has only two assistants and both are full time.

The void to fill will be in scouting and recruiting.

Sneed said he thinks he can cover the scouting with the help of televised games and knowledgeable friends who have volunteered their assistance.

And the recruiting? Apparently that is something that will wait.

“If I’m not going to be the head coach?” Sneed said. “It’s tough to do recruiting (until you know). What do you tell the kids?”

The priority, clearly, is the here and now as Sneed tries to guide the Titans to a season that will earn him serious consideration as head coach.

“We won’t be making a lot of calls,” he said.

The afterglow of Fullerton’s 58-13 football victory over San Jose State continued Monday, as junior quarterback Dan Speltz and senior cornerback Tony Williams were honored as Big West Conference offensive and defensive players of the week.

Speltz played his best game of the season, passing for 325 yards--only 12 yards short of the school record--before he left the game in the third quarter.

“Right now he’s playing very confidently,” offensive coordinator Mike Heimerdinger said. “A lot of those plays were called by Dan, not me. He was checking off at the line of scrimmage when he saw a blitz.”

Williams, a backup cornerback who sees action at nickel-back, returned 2 interceptions for touchdowns, and leads the team with 4 interceptions.

That still won’t earn him a start in the final game of his career against Utah State Saturday, however.

“He won’t start, but he’ll play a lot,” secondary coach Bill Wentworth said.

Williams, who backs up senior Sean Fernandes, finds himself in much the same situation as Fernandes was last season, when he intercepted 5 passes in limited playing time behind a veteran player.

A victory over Utah State would give Fullerton second-place outright, with a 5-2 conference record.

“The funny part--or not so funny--is this Saturday I don’t know which team will show up,” Coach Gene Murphy said. “The one that scored the first 6 times it had the ball Saturday . . . “

Or the one that lost to Cal State Long Beach.

The Indiana Pacers placed former Cal State Fullerton guard Richard Morton on waivers Monday and activated veteran guard John Long.

Morton, a 6-foot 4-inch guard, signed as a free agent after finishing his college career as the No. 2 career scorer for the Titans. He saw limited action in two games this season.

Long, a 10-year NBA veteran, was placed on the injured list with a back injury before the season began.

The Fullerton wrestling team holds its intrasquad scrimmage tonight in the Clash of the Titans at 7:30 p.m. in Titan Gym.

The Titans open the season against Arizona State Nov. 19 and have their first home match against wrestling power Oklahoma State Nov. 27.

Titan Notes

Cindy Walton, formerly an assistant to the commissioner of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, has joined the Fullerton athletic department as assistant sports information director. She will work primarily with women’s basketball, volleyball, softball, gymnastics, men’s soccer and wrestling. Walton, 24, is a graduate of Colorado State and has worked in athletic promotions at Purdue University, the Mid-American Conference, the Ohio Athletic Conference and the Indiana Athletics Congress. . . . Andy Hurley, director of the Titan Athletic Foundation, a fund-raising group, has resigned effective Dec. 2 to become director of development for the New York Special Olympics.