COLLEGE DIVISION NOTEBOOK : Chapman’s Boyd Expects Better Days

If Bob Boyd’s first two basketball seasons at the NCAA Division II level haven’t been successful, they haven’t been disappointing enough to drive the veteran coach out of the business.

“I don’t sense a frustration on my part here at all,” said Boyd, whose second season at Chapman College will end Saturday with a game at Cal State Bakersfield and the Panthers in last place in the California Collegiate Athletic Assn. “I’m sort of anxious for next year to get here.

“I have no intention of not being here at least for my contractual agreement and hopefully longer.”

Boyd, whose next season as a head coach will be his 30th at various collegiate levels, has another year remaining on the $60,000 contract he signed when he accepted the job in 1989.

A promising start this season--a 10-5 nonconference record that included winning the Chico State Tournament and defeating one of three Division I teams on its schedule--seemed like the salve for healing the memory of an 11-16 record and last-place finish last season.

Since then, the Panthers have only won two of 11 games and are currently on a five-game losing streak that could hit six against Bakersfield, which is tied with UC Riverside for first place in the conference.

Boyd has explanations for Chapman’s plunge in the CCAA:

--The conference, a consistent Division II powerhouse, is even stronger this season.

--Need for more size and strength in the post.

--A lack of depth on the front line and consistent backcourt play.

But Boyd lays the blame squarely on himself.

“Our team is considerably better than it was the first year I was here,” Boyd said. “It is a fact that it isn’t illustrated in our record and that’s how teams are evaluated.

“I don’t think I’ve ever been more involved in (coaching) and it’s disappointing to me. Particularly, because I thought we would do better in conference play.

“I hold myself totally responsible--as I would if we won the league, by the way. I don’t want to be a martyr in any way. Our team hasn’t won consistently in the CCAA conference and if you collect all the reasons, I think it always focuses back to me.”

Boyd’s plans to try to avoid another disappointing season revolve around recruiting. The CCAA teams thrive on the transfers from other institutions--both two- and four-year--and Boyd says the Panthers won’t be breaking that tradition.

Chapman, which offers 10 men’s basketball scholarships--two short of the Division II maximum, cannot afford to bring in players who won’t contribute immediately. Players coming out of high school with that potential usually are offered Division I scholarships. Furthermore, Chapman’s tuition, which including room and board comes to about $18,000, rules out most walk-ons.

Despite the constraints, Boyd believes that among those he is recruiting are players who will help him bring a winning team to Chapman.

“I apparently have misjudged the quality of this conference,” Boyd said. “The quality is substantially up and I also have misjudged the quality of my recruitment of players.

“I think we are competitive, but I’m not trying to make any success out of being competitive. It isn’t enough.”

Chapman Athletic Director Dave Currey said Boyd is in no danger of being fired or asked to resign. Currey, who has been a head football coach at Cal State Long Beach and University of Cincinnati, praised Boyd as a great teacher who brings a lot of recognition to the Chapman program.

“I’ve waited long for the day when I could honor a commitment to a coach,” Currey said. “Because I’ve been on the other side.”

Reconstructive surgery was performed Tuesday on the knee of Frantz Reyes, a 6-foot-5 post player from Cypress High School who was injured in the Panthers’ game with Cal Poly San Luis Obispo Feb. 8. During arthroscopic surgery to repair cartilage damage, doctors discovered that Reyes’ anterior cruciate ligament had to be reconstructed.

The surgery performed is similar to that done on the Clippers’ Ron Harper and Danny Manning and usually requires a full year of rehabilitation. Reyes, who was a starter until he struggled with his shooting in the first part of the conference season, may not be able to play next season.

With two players who were All-Americans returning to his team, Chapman softball Coach Lisle Lloyd has reason to be optimistic this year. The Panthers have won nine of their first 10 games, including three of four against NCAA Division I teams UC Santa Barbara and San Diego State.

Lloyd, who is one of four voters in the NCAA Division II Western Region poll, ranks his team second in the West to three-time Division II champion Cal State Bakersfield.

But rival coaches don’t seem to share his enthusiasm for the Panthers--no coach other than Lloyd ranked Chapman among the top five in the Western Region--and that’s fine with him.

“That’s good,” Lloyd said. “We may sneak by a few before they realize it.”

Chapman is led by Sandy Olivas, a first-team All-American selection at third base who led Division II in home runs with 13, and Jacki Blake, a second-team All-American pitcher who was 18-5 with an 0.39 earned-run average.

Olivas, who batted .432 last season as a sophomore, is batting almost .400 this year and hit her first two home runs Tuesday in a doubleheader sweep of Azusa Pacific. Blake, a senior, is 5-0 and has yet to give up an earned run this season.

Cheri Schreck, the Panthers’ second pitcher, is 4-1, including a no-hitter against UC Santa Barbara and two one-hitters. Christy Wurster, an outfielder who batted .361 last season, and Kristina Webb, a catcher who hasn’t missed a game in four seasons, are also among the key players returning.

Chapman, which finished 35-21 and in fourth place in the CCAA last season, has an important series of games in Florida early next month that will expose the Panthers to the rest of the nation. Chapman will play games against eight teams that finished in the top 20 last season, and like Lloyd, the players are confident.

“All the players are saying, ‘This is our year. We’re going to nationals,’ ” Lloyd said. “In fact, they are all saying we are going to be 29-1 when we get back from Florida.”

College Division Notes

The Christ College Irvine women’s basketball team has been seeded second in the National Assn. of Intercollegiate Athletics District 3 tournament. The Eagles (20-6) will play Fresno Pacific in a semifinal game at 6 p.m. Feb. 27 at Biola in La Mirada. The winner will play the winner of a game between Point Loma Nazarene and either Cal Baptist or Biola for the championship, Feb. 28 at Biola. . . . The Christ College Irvine men’s team, which upset Fresno Pacific on Tuesday, 55-53, may have earned itself one of the seven NAIA District 3 playoff spots. The pairings will be announced Sunday, and the Eagles have the seventh-best record in the district. The Eagles’ Keith Rogers was named Golden State Athletic Conference player of the week for scoring 33 points and 21 rebounds in two CCI victories. . . . Rog Middleton and Jackie Saunders of Chapman were named men’s and women’s CCAA players of the week. Middleton had 46 points (20 of 27 shooting) and 16 rebounds in two Panthers losses. Saunders, a senior who leads the conference in rebounding (11.1) and is second in scoring (16.4), had 48 points and 24 rebounds in two losses.