Hawking Isn’t First Interim Coach Trying to Keep Spot on Titan Bench

A basketball coach leaves with the season just around the corner, and the university decides that its best move is to turn over the job to a top assistant on an interim basis.

It’s the logical move. Above all else, it buys time.

It happened that way last week at Cal State Fullerton. Brad Holland left for what he believes are the greener pastures of the University of San Diego, and his assistant Bob Hawking suddenly found himself in charge of the program for the upcoming season.

It happened the same way in 1988 at Fullerton, too. That’s how John Sneed replaced George McQuarn.

In Sneed’s first season, the Titans won five of six games in overtime, played a crowd-pleasing style of basketball, thanks in no small measure to Cedric Ceballos, and finished with a surprising 16-13 record. Sneed wound up getting the job on a permanent basis. Permanent, that is, for three more years.

Unfortunately for Sneed, the Titans didn’t do that well again in his four seasons as coach. Ceballos was back again the following season, and his season was even better individually, but this time the Titans lost three of four overtime games and the record was reversed at 13-16. Two mediocre seasons later, Sneed was gone.

Hawking’s version of the story is still to be written, but his interim status will provide an interesting undercurrent all season.

Hawking said he’s committed to going all-out to win the job. “We’re going to be approaching this as though I’m going to be around here through 2015,” Hawking said.

That likely will depend on the team’s success.

Regardless, it will give new Athletic Director John Easterbrook a fair opportunity to judge Hawking over the course of a full season, rather than be expected to do it in a matter of days. And Hawking will have a chance to show what he can concoct from a cupboard he readily acknowledges “is not bare” and with players he primarily has been responsible for recruiting over the last two years.

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Three players who started at various times will be back from the team that was 8-19, 6-12 in the Big West Conference. The chief losses will be Greg Vernon, the lone senior from last year, and Darren Little, who was dismissed from the university because of academic problems.

Winston Peterson, a 6-foot-6 senior, is the top returning player. He averaged 15.3 points and shot .537 from the field, scoring a season-high 26 points against UC Irvine. Senior guard James French started all 27 games last season and averaged 9.1 points. Junior forward David Frigout started 18 games, averaging 5.3 points.

Hawking is hopeful some new players will help the situation. That group includes three community college transfers: 6-7 forward David Harrison, 5-9 point guard Ali Nayab and 6-3 guard Chuck Overton.

Hawking will begin his new job with the enthusiasm of someone who has never been a head coach at the college level.

That sort of enthusiasm will be in his favor at Fullerton, where the basketball budget has been cut each of the last two years because of the state financial crisis and improvements in the gymnasium are still unfunded.

Several of Holland’s comments after accepting the University of San Diego position underlined his concerns at Fullerton. He frequently mentioned the advantage he saw in being in the West Coast Conference, which he calls “a level playing field.” He also likes the fact that San Diego is privately funded, as are the other WCC schools.

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Most of all, Holland likes the potential for stability at the University of San Diego.

When he was back in his office at Fullerton late last week, collecting some of his personal belongings and preparing for the move to San Diego, he emphasized that as the key factor in his decision to change jobs.

“You know when you’re a head coach you take your chances,” he said. “I could have been around here for seven or eight years, or fired after three or four . . . San Diego is a stable environment. The coaches all have long tenures there. I have twin daughters who are 12, and I’m interested in stability for them. I want that for my family. It’s hard to feel stable when your budget is cut for two straight years, and by tens of thousands of dollars.”

Holland, who was the last player recruited by John Wooden at UCLA before his retirement, said he talked with Wooden about the situation before he made his final decision.

“The thing he told me was to just make sure it was a good situation for my family, and I feel it is that,” Holland said.

Titan Notes

The Jerry Goodwin golf tournament, which benefits the Titan athletic department as well as other programs at the university, attracted 194 players Monday, up from 105 last year. Among those playing in the event was the Dodgers’ Tim Wallach, a former Fullerton player. “That’s about all I do now is play golf,” said Wallach, lamenting the major league baseball situation. . . . Volleyball player Melissa Blackler sprained an ankle last weekend and is questionable for play this week. Stephanie Cargill also remains uncertain because of a knee injury. Pine Reed had a good game against Cal State Sacramento with 19 kills, but the Titans remained winless over the weekend and fell to 0-12 for the season. . . . The Titan cross-country teams will compete Saturday in the Stanford Invitational after the men’s and women’s teams finished second in a triangular meet Saturday at Westmont College. Westmont won both divisions, with Fullerton second and UC Santa Barbara third. The Titans’ Heather Killeen, who missed the 1993 season because of a hip injury, won the women’s division in 17:14.9. Mark Sinderson was Fullerton’s highest finisher in the men’s division at fifth.