Some Prep Coaches in Valley Miffed at Cassidy’s Inattention : College basketball: Critics say CSUN coach rarely contacts local programs and ignores many of the area’s top players.

After the 1979-80 season at Cleveland High, senior Mike Almeido wanted to play college basketball at Cal State Northridge, but Almeido settled for Pierce College. Greg Herrick, his high school coach, was told by a member of the Northridge staff that Almeido was not skilled enough to play in CSUN’s league, the California Collegiate Athletic Assn.

After two years at Pierce, Almeido played at San Francisco State. He then returned to the San Fernando Valley, sat out a year while attending CSUN and played his senior year for the Matadors, winning CCAA most-valuable-player honors.

“Here’s a kid that wants to play at Northridge, he goes through all this rigmarole to play there and he’s MVP caliber,” said Herrick, now the coach at Hart High.

Herrick is one of a number of Valley-area high school basketball coaches who said in recent interviews that Northridge has been ignoring the players in its back yard.

Others, including Grant Coach Howard Levine and Thousand Oaks Coach Ed Chevalier, are supportive of Cassidy’s recruiting efforts. They do not share the feelings of Granada Hills Coach Bob Johnson, for example, who believes that Pete Cassidy, CSUN’s basketball coach of 20 years, does a poor public-relations job.

“They’ve never bothered to look, ever,” Johnson said. “They’ve never contacted us about one player. We’re one mile away and they aren’t recruiting us at all, and I’m not happy about it.”

Gary Gray, Jermoine Brantley and Aaron Lattimore are among the Granada Hills players Northridge missed. Gray recently completed his fourth season as a starter for a UC Santa Barbara team that twice defeated Nevada Las Vegas. Brantley and Lattimore graduated in 1990 and redshirted last season at Cal State Los Angeles. Since then, Brantley, a point guard, transferred to Cal State Long Beach.

“Someone from Northridge should be talking to us every year,” Johnson said. “You never know when a good (player) is going to come along.”

Another Granada Hills player, Jerry Allen, The Times’ Valley player of the year, has not scored the minimum 700 on the Scholastic Aptitude Test required for an NCAA Division I scholarship. He will go the junior college route. But even before that academic failure, Northridge did not recruit the 6-foot-4 swingman who averaged 22.3 points, 13.3 rebounds and 5.9 assists a game last season.

“You’d certainly think they would have looked at him,” Johnson said. “As far as I’m concerned, the hell with them. To me, it is Cassidy from the top on down. Their teams are terrible so I don’t know that they want to improve. Not that we’re gonna have great players every year, but you could look from time to time.”

Five of the 14 players on last season’s team are from Valley high schools and none of the newly signed players are from the Valley, which mystifies Reseda Coach Jeff Halpern.

“I always wondered why they didn’t take a look in their back yard, especially when they were Division II (as recently as 1989-90),” said Halpern who coached previously at Van Nuys and Birmingham highs. One of his players, Keith Owens, a 6-foot-7 forward, walked on at UCLA and has seen considerable playing time.

Halpern received a phone message a few months ago from CSUN assistant Tom McCollum regarding senior-to-be Marquis Burns, but he failed in attempts to get back to McCollum and he had not heard from Northridge before the interview with The Times.

Meanwhile, every school in the Pacific 10 Conference, as well as Kentucky and even Division II Cal State Hayward, has maintained contact with Burns, a 6-4 guard.

Northridge is “my alma mater, so it bothers me,” Halpern said. “I would think it would be a natural, get all the (high school) coaches together and we’ll work together. I know (Cassidy) is limited financially, I know it is not the same as UCLA, but I know it can be done.”

Halpern concedes that communication has not been a two-way street. He has not initiated contact with CSUN, nor has Gary Shair, who retired in March after 28 seasons as coach at Chatsworth High.

“As far as calling them, maybe I’ve been remiss,” Halpern said. “I guess sometimes you forget the program is there because you are not getting the calls.”

Mel Wilson, a member of the CSUN Athletic Assn. fund-raising group, believes that does not happen because Cassidy limits the selection pool by placing a higher premium on work ethic than ability.

“You have to make some compromises,” Wilson said. “You can’t always have the dream player. If he doesn’t fit into that narrow window, they don’t want him.”

Cleveland Coach Kevin Crider agrees.

“(Cassidy) can be criticized for not recruiting raw talent,” Crider said. Cleveland’s Kenny Collins, the best point guard in the Valley in 1990-91, was not recruited by Northridge.

“If they pursued him full time, it is possible (he would have attended CSUN),” Crider said.

Instead, Collins, who recently scored more than 700 on the SAT, will attend Moorpark College, then re-enter the talent pool in hopes of getting a Division I scholarship offer.

“He’d rather do that than go to a place like Northridge and be stuck for four years,” Crider said.

North Hollywood High Coach Steve Miller has an All-City guard whom Cal, USC and Cal State Long Beach have been recruiting.

“I don’t even know if Northridge knows he’s alive,” Miller said of Robert Hill (6-2, 180 pounds).

Hill, who will be a senior next fall, averaged 18 points and eight assists last season.

In 1989-90, Miller had another standout whom Northridge did not recruit. That player, Dana Jones, led Miller’s team to a City 3-A title, then signed with Pepperdine. He went on to earn West Coast Conference freshman-of-the-year honors.

“It is almost like they didn’t recruit Dana Jones because they thought they weren’t good enough to get him,” Miller said.

Although Miller concedes that Jones was attracted by the Malibu area, he believes Northridge had a chance for Jones.

“It is imperative that every Division I school contact every Division I kid in the area, even if they think they can’t get him,” Miller said. “Just for public relations.”

UC Irvine, which went 5-23 during Jones’ senior year, recruited Jones.

“If a kid says he’s going to visit so-and-so, it spreads the word to the other kids,” Miller said. “They could, at least, ask for a home visit. It is important that they at least start getting into the homes of the star players.”

But Cassidy, who has one scholarship available for next season and is still searching for a center, does not believe in spending time in futile pursuit of certain players.

“We could bring in those recruits but if we are not on their list, it doesn’t make much sense,” Cassidy said.

With regard to criticism from Valley-area high school coaches, Cassidy said: “I’ll certainly try to improve in that area. I didn’t feel I had a bad relationship with any of the high school coaches. I talk to them when I see them.”

Cassidy believes he is as visible as time will allow.

“Sometimes it’s hard to spend time in every place that requires your time,” he said. “The assistant coaches help, they have eyes. If I’ve slighted anyone in the local area, it is not intentionally. I’m not that type of person.”

As for Pepperdine’s Jones, specifically, Cassidy said: “You can spin your wheels or you can be realistic. At the time, we were still Division II (for one final season). They want to hear you are Division I. So they eliminate you.

“We’ll develop a better ear to kids when we are in a conference.”

They also will develop a better ear when high school coaches become aware of Cassidy’s new assistants, McCollum and Wayne Fluker, who came aboard last summer in the place of Rusty Smith, who went to Eastern Washington, and Dave Fehte, an assistant at St. Mary’s.

Shair was close friends with Fehte. Shair rarely saw Cassidy, however.

“Oh, golly, I can’t remember the last time I saw Peter,” Shair said. “I haven’t been aware of a push for Valley kids. You look at the volleyball program. They’ve drawn well, and you look at the kids they have, they are Valley kids.”

Twelve of 18 CSUN men’s volleyball players are from Valley high schools.

Shair believes Cassidy is “a little slow” going after players. He recalls a conversation with Fehte over two players from Crenshaw High whom Fehte and Smith were eager to sign. While Cassidy vacillated, the pair signed with another school.

Brady Mertes, who will be a Chatsworth junior, is already receiving more mail than anyone Shair has ever coached, but Northridge has not joined UCLA, St. Mary’s, Fullerton and Nevada-Reno, among others, in pursuit of the 6-7, 235-pound post player.

Shair believes Cassidy needs to emulate UCLA Coach Jim Harrick and get out to more games. “Then again, why should I second-guess Peter?” Shair asked. “His philosophy is to let his assistants (recruit).”

El Camino Real Coach Mike McNulty said that Cassidy has not recruited one of his players since 1984, including Brent Lofton, El Camino Real’s 3-A Division player of the year who wound up at Utah State.

“Personally, I feel every (high school) coach in the Valley should want his kids to go (to CSUN) so they can see them play and so they can help build the program, but I don’t see that feeling,” McNulty said.

“The Northridge program needs more exposure. How can certain teams like volleyball take players away from UCLA and ‘SC and the basketball program can’t get second-division kids?”

McNulty believes CSUN should follow Pepperdine’s example and invite high school teams and their coaches to games. Not only would they be exposing the players to the program, they would be filling empty seats.

Marc Paez was the coach at Cleveland in 1989-90, the year Northridge recruited point guard Andre Chevalier. Teammates Eddie Hill and Trenton Cornelius also went Division I, to Washington State and Washington. There was another player on the team, Bobby McRae, a 6-5 All-City forward and league most valuable player whom Paez thought CSUN should pursue, but didn’t.

“Even if they didn’t think they had a shot, they should have recruited him because he’s in the neighborhood,” Paez said. “They have to try to establish a strong hold in the neighborhood.”

This past season, UNLV, Utah, New Orleans and Fresno State were after Jabari Anderson, one of Paez’s players at Banning. Although they all backed off when Anderson did not score 700 on the SAT, CSUN was never involved. That could leave the Matadors out of the picture in two years when Anderson is expected to leave Ventura College.

In Herrick’s six years at Cleveland High (1979-85), 10 players have advanced to Division I schools and more than a dozen others went to Division II, NAIA or junior colleges. In that span, then-Division II CSUN did not sign any Cleveland players.

“I don’t know how far Cleveland High is from Cal State Northridge but I guarantee you, you could probably walk there,” Herrick said.

“You’ve hit a sore subject with me. I’ve had several players who could have helped Northridge.”

At Hart, Herrick has another, 6-5 senior-to-be Ali Peek who is being recruited by USC, Wyoming, Pepperdine and UC Santa Barbara.

“I had to tell the (CSUN) recruiter about him,” Herrick said. “He didn’t know about him. I told him it would be to his advantage to get in early.”

A few weeks later, Herrick saw the recruiter again at an all-star game. The recruiter had neglected to write down Peek’s name and had to ask for it again.

“There’s a right way and a wrong way,” said Herrick, noting that CSUN’s questionnaire gives recruits the impression that the Matadors have little interest.

Unlike USC’s four-page questionnaire with a self-addressed stamped envelope, Northridge sent a mimeographed card asking for grade-point average, scoring average and little else.

With dozens of similar ones coming in, the lack of a stamp puts Northridge’s down the line.

“It is like they didn’t want to spend the time,” Herrick said. “What can you tell about a kid that you want for four years on a little postcard?”

Herrick has an ax to grind because he remains stung by CSUN’s response to the application he sent in for a vacant assistant coaching job last year.

“I got a form letter back,” he said. “I’ve known Pete for years and that’s what I get. I was insulted.”

Herrick believes the CSUN staff gives up too easily.

“How much effort does it take? A phone call a week, a trip to a game, some literature. I could see if someone like Dana Jones was in Chicago, but he’s right down the street.

“Someone is eventually gonna take that job, someone with vision and confidence and energy and they are going to succeed and people are going to say, ‘Why couldn’t they do that earlier.’ ”

Cassidy’s reluctance to get involved hurts his chances to sign players, according to Herrick.

“I always tells my players, ‘When the head coach makes the home visit, you are important to that program.’ ”

To that end, in the recruitment of Dana Jones, Paul Westhead (formerly of Loyola Marymount), Paul Landreaux (formerly of St. Mary’s), and Lou Campanelli of Cal all made home visits, along with Pepperdine’s Asbury.

The Northridge staff doesn’t “have that energy,” Herrick said. “They have Division I aspirations with Division III attitudes. . . . Recruiting the neighborhood is probably the first step, until they make the first step, they’ll be mediocre at best.”

In some cases, CSUN is not doing a good job in Los Angeles, either. When Zan Mason, a 6-7 forward left the UCLA team recently, CSUN was not among the schools that contacted him. He transferred to Loyola Marymount.

Mason’s alma mater, Westchester High, currently has a 6-9 player, Marty Cotwright, who is being recruited by USC, Long Beach, Pepperdine, UC Santa Barbara, Colorado and Utah. Northridge has not contacted Westchester Coach Ed Azzam about him.

Although CSUN tried to recruit Fremont’s Lionel Pandy in 1989-90, the Northridge staff was absent this past season when Fremont went 34-2 and had four Division I caliber players, although two, Robert Moore and Michael Tate, fell victim to Proposition 48.

Chris Ford will attend UC Santa Barbara and Timothy Hicks will attend either Southern University or Jackson State.

Ford was also recruited by Long Beach, Arizona and Arizona State. Fremont Coach Sam Sullivan believes Northridge might have had a chance for the 6-2 shooting guard because he did not want to go far from home.

Two other players Northridge recruited--and lost to Portland--played at Ventura College for Coach Phil Mathews, who said their decision had nothing to do with Northridge.

“They wanted to get out of the area, they saw they could play right away and they liked the coach (Larry Steele),” Mathews said of DiJon Barnard and Jerry Dalton.

“People gotta understand, (CSUN) is a fledgling Division I program. They have to recruit guys like Fullerton and Pepperdine get. If they don’t, they’ll get their brains beat out.”

Like Mathews, Taft High Coach Jim Woodard, who has known Cassidy for many years, has no complaints.

He did have a player, Larry Middleton, whom he thought Northridge should have recruited but, like many schools, the Matadors underestimated him. Middleton played at Valley College, then Clemson. Now he is playing in the Italian professional league.

“I’ve heard this talk, but I don’t want to add to it,” Woodard said.

Neither does Chevalier, the Thousand Oaks coach. He says Cassidy is a frequent visitor to the school. Moreover, McCollum recruited a Thousand Oaks player, forward Chris Loll, as recently as last fall. Eventually, Loll signed with Air Force Academy.

“Northridge is making a tremendous transition in basketball and there haven’t been any problems (with the NCAA) because it has been low profile, low key and local,” Chevalier said.

“Pete Cassidy is a quality man. He’s done things the way they are supposed to be done. I think things change, but I hate it to be put out that Pete is not capable of handling it because he is. When you have a sleepy Division II program, you can’t jump to Division I.”

Notre Dame High Coach Mick Cady believes CSUN is right not to push for Valley kids because he doesn’t believe the Valley produces many high-caliber players.

Miller disagrees. “I admit that the talent in the Valley isn’t tremendous, but there are some players who could play there,” he said. “I know we wouldn’t hesitate to send them because (Cassidy) is a good coach.”