CSUN’s Cassidy Will Undergo Surgery Today : College basketball: Veteran coach may miss the remainder of the Matadors’ first season at the Division I level.

Cal State Northridge basketball Coach Pete Cassidy will undergo surgery for diverticulitis, an inflammation of the intestinal tract, today at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Woodland Hills. Cassidy, 56, may miss the rest of the season.

His recovery time ranges from two weeks to three months, depending on what surgeons discover during the operation. The surgery also is designed to correct a blockage of the lower intestine.

First-year assistant coach Tom McCollum will continue to direct the Matadors in Cassidy’s absence. Northridge (7-15) will play its third game without Cassidy tonight, meeting U. S. International in San Diego.

Northridge’s inaugural Division I season ends in three weeks, with a March 5 game at Cal.

Cassidy has been in the hospital since Friday after running a high fever and complaining of pain.

“My understanding is that what they tried to arrest medically has not happened,” Cassidy said Wednesday night from his hospital room.

An avid runner, Cassidy rarely has been ill. In 20 years as Northridge coach, he has missed only two games, one because of his father’s death and the other because of flu.

“I miss the team very much,” Cassidy said. “This is not any fun.”

Compounding matters for Cassidy and his wife Sandy is the absence of their eldest son, Kevin, 23, who is serving in the Persian Gulf with the Air Medical Evacuation Service.