MAKING WAVES : Basketball Programs of Romar, Tarkanian Could Be on Their Way to Becoming Major Players in the Golden State

Beyond the big-name transfers and elite high school player flirtations, what’s the best indicator that Lorenzo Romar can quickly lift Pepperdine to compete with the major powers?

Jerry Tarkanian, who has done some lifting and competing of his own, says he can.

“Lorenzo’s going to do a great job there,” the Fresno State coach said. “The kids love him and respect him, they know what he stands for.

“Pepperdine will definitely be a power, and he’ll have a great recruiting class every year. I think he’ll get some of the top players on a personal basis.

“And if he ever upgrades his schedule, he can start getting anybody.”

With Romar, a four-year UCLA assistant, starting his first season at Pepperdine, and with Tarkanian’s success at Fresno State after one season--with bigger things promised--the dynamics of West Coast college basketball could be in for some serious change.

On the eve of what many say is one of the most talent-rich and highly scrutinized Southern California recruiting seasons in decades, the next few months, as the prep standouts begin choosing their schools, will go a long way toward deciding who ends up rattled and who ends up raising Cain.

“This class, it’s loaded,” Romar said. “It’s got shooters, it’s got big people, it’s got good small people, got smart players, got athletes . . . pretty much whatever you need.”

Will UCLA, which could use an infusion of young talent, land potential superstar forward Chris Burgess, from Irvine Woodbridge, or darting point guard Baron Davis from Santa Monica Crossroads, or 7-foot center Eric Chenowith from Villa Park, or all of them?

Will Pepperdine steal into the picture and pick up St. John Bosco forward Schea Cotton, or Jason and Jarron Collins, the do-it-all big men from North Hollywood Harvard Westlake?

How will the rise of Fresno State and the arrival of Romar at Pepperdine affect Todd Bozeman’s program at California, Lute Olson’s at Arizona and the other schools, such as USC, Long Beach State and Stanford, that have tapped deeply into Southern California’s prep talent pool?

Romar, for one, realizes that merely being touted as the hot program for a year or two isn’t going to mean much if he can’t draw prime talent to Pepperdine year after year.

He doesn’t have to be reminded that rise-and-fall stories such as the University of San Francisco, Oregon State and USC litter the Western landscape.

“Some other programs on the West Coast have done well for certain times, but they’re not able to sustain it,” Romar said. “And there are some programs that pass the test of time over the years, namely UCLA. No matter what happens, UCLA somehow manages to bounce back and stay on top.

“So, I’m not right now getting ready to toot my own horn and say Pepperdine is the program of the future; that’s something you’ve got to wait and see.”

Meanwhile, with the usual parade of high-talent, high-risk players and accompanying grab bag of potential problems, Tarkanian is well on his way to building a miniature version of his Nevada Las Vegas empire.

Tarkanian already has the Bulldogs projected as a top-20 team this season--after knocking off perennial power Utah twice last season and barely missing the NCAA tournament field--and will add his best two players yet, Chris Herron, a transfer from Boston College who sat out last season ; and Terrance Roberson, a Proposition 48 freshman last season.

“It’s different with Fresno State,” Romar said. “That Tarkanian name has so much recognition, so much credibility with the kids, that Tark, he can go to Appalachian State and all of a sudden have a good program in two years. I’ve not been a head coach, so I can’t necessarily say that about myself.

“There’s no secret. It’s all about getting players, and I’m going to tell you right now, when I’m with Tark, he makes me feel good.”

At California and UCLA, the two programs that have attracted the big share of top West Coast talent in recent years, Tarkanian’s and Romar’s influences have been felt most urgently.

Though Bozeman has pushed the Golden Bears to prominence by bringing in a steady stream of talent since--as an assistant five years ago--he persuaded point guard Jason Kidd to stay at home, things are not so rosy now.

Cal lost potential superstar Shareef Abdur-Rahim to the NBA this spring, three years early; and former mainstays Tremaine Fowlkes and Jelani Gardner, both Southern California high school stars, transferred--to Fresno State and Pepperdine, respectively.

Also, the school has received a letter notifying it of a potential NCAA investigation.

In Westwood, the setbacks are less obvious, but the stakes are equally high. UCLA’s top six players return from last year’s team, which won the Pacific 10 title before flaming out in the first round of the NCAA tournament. But reserve omm’A Givens, a former prize recruit who had earned little playing time in two seasons, transferred to join Romar.

Facing this crucial recruiting period with big needs to fill, it’s unclear how much the Bruins will miss Romar’s recruiting touch. He was instrumental in landing Charles O’Bannon, J.R. Henderson and Jelani McCoy. Veteran assistant Steve Lavin and former Bruin player Michael Holton, who moved over from Oregon State to replace Romar, are Jim Harrick’s two assistants.

“It’s not like UCLA hasn’t had players before,” Bozeman said. “Obviously, Lorenzo added a lot to them, and that’s great. But UCLA will still be UCLA. The school ain’t changed and ain’t going nowhere. The tradition’s not going to change.”

The Bruins signed only one marginal player, Rico Hines from St. John’s Prospect in Maryland, for the upcoming season. But with a roster still loaded with talent, the UCLA staff has focused on the class of 2000 to be the next big gulp.

That becomes especially important when whispers float that juniors Toby Bailey and Henderson and sophomore McCoy could join senior O’Bannon in the parade to the NBA after the 1996-97 season.

The Bruins hope to sign two or more of the top California group, which include Burgess, Cotton (two of the consensus top-10 players in the nation), the point guard Davis, the Collins twins and Santa Ana Mater Dei point guard Kevin Augustine. UCLA is also in the running for Long Island prep standout Lamar Odom, a 6-9 forward who also is considering a jump straight to the NBA.

Though Tarkanian is sticking to his proven formula of mainly picking up talented players whose problem-plagued backgrounds scare off other top programs, Romar is already getting at least courtesy looks from top prospects, along with the usual list of UCLA, Duke, Arizona, Kansas, Michigan and North Carolina.

Pepperdine is still in the running for such players as Cotton, the Collins twins and Davis.

Said Lavin: “I think 95%, maybe 99%, of the time, a kid that is considering UCLA out of high school will not be considering going to Pepperdine. They consider Kansas, Duke, North Carolina . . . before he considers Pepperdine.

“But I think Pepperdine is an attractive situation for a kid who goes to Kansas, UCLA or Cal, who gets disillusioned and wants to go to a smaller school.”

So, who will Pepperdine get? Already, former UCLA recruit and Compton Dominguez Hills product Tommy Prince, who signed with Arizona State after he couldn’t meet Prop. 48 requirements, has decided to transfer to Pepperdine. Coupled with Gardner and Givens, suddenly Romar has a base to build upon--though the transfers must sit out one season.

Bozeman, for one, wasn’t sure that the transfers will help Romar tap into the prep pool.

“I don’t know many transfers where the transfer works out for them,” Bozeman said. “I’m not going to say it won’t, but you just never know. Those transfers definitely brought a lot of attention to them, and I’m sure Lorenzo will do a great job with not only the transfers, but also recruiting. . . .

“But I don’t know if there’s going to be a lot of movement in the way things are in the West.”

Romar said the transfers tell talented high school players that they can come to Pepperdine and, despite the TV invisibility and low conference rating, play good basketball.

“No question--Jason Kidd goes to Cal and all of a sudden everybody says, ‘I guess it’s OK to go there,’ ” Romar said. “A Marcus Camby goes to UMass, and it’s OK to go there.

“For these guys to come, it gives the impression that maybe it’s OK to go to Pepperdine. Good players want to play with good players.”

Romar knows he faces obstacles.

“It’s extremely hard,” he said. “We have a gym that holds 3,500, we’re not in one of the top five conferences in the country.

“But there are programs like Cincinnati and UMass and UNLV that were kind of in the same boat in the early stages and they were able to get right up there. Now, every kid in the country knows about them. Hopefully, we can take a step in that direction.

“It’s usually one or two players who do it. With the players we’ve got now, we’ve got a nucleus of talent. If we can get couple more players to join them, I think we really have a chance to make some noise.”

The biggest, most direct, effect will probably be on the programs such as USC and Long Beach State (which both have first-year coaches), and outer Pac-10 schools such as Washington State and Oregon State, who which will see their pipeline to top Southern California talent all but cut off.

“I think when it comes down to it, it’s really going to affect USC and Long Beach State,” said one West Coast coach. “Because Tark, he gets who he wants, and no one is going to do anything about it. Tark is always going to get his.

“But what you’re going to see is Pepperdine beating USC and Long Beach, stealing some of those mid-level Pac-10 players that maybe are looking at Washington and USC.

“Schools like that are going to be fighting like cats and dogs with Lorenzo, and he’s going to maybe steal himself one or two second-tier players every year or so. He’s already ahead of the Fullertons and the Northridges, and now he’s on the level with Long Beach and below Fresno.”

And the next few months will go a great way in deciding how far--and how fast--his continuing climb will travel.