Craig Falconer, Millennium Hall of Fame

In the golden era of Orange Coast College basketball, ticket lines

would stretch into the parking lot and sometimes 3,000 fans would fill

Peterson Gymnasium.

“When we were there, almost the whole team was from Costa Mesa High,”

former OCC and Costa Mesa standout Craig Falconer said. “Everybody in

Costa Mesa came to the games, and, of course, when you’re winning (it

draws a crowd) ... Corona del Mar came to see John (Vallely) and Costa

Mesa came to see the rest of us.”

Falconer, who averaged 20 points per game in high school under Coach

Jules Gage and started for the South in the 1966 Orange County All-Star

game, switched from off guard to point guard at Orange Coast.

“There was a kid named Vallely ahead of me, and I wasn’t going to beat

him out with a gun,” Falconer said of the future NBA player and

All-American at UCLA under legendary coach John Wooden.

Falconer, however, became a more complete player at OCC, which won

back-to-back Eastern Conference championships under Coach Bob Wetzel in

1967 and ‘68, going 24-8 and 23-12, respectively.

“I changed at Orange Coast from a scoring, gunning player to a

defender, passer,” said Falconer, who established a school single-season

record for assists (202) in his sophomore year, a mark that stood until

Chuck McGavran broke it 18 years later.

Falconer, now the head basketball coach at La Habra High, was the OCC

team captain in 1967-68, but “Vallely and (Bruce) Chapman were the real

stars.”

Chapman, also of Costa Mesa, went on to play for the original Runnin’

Rebels at UNLV. Rick Mancebo, Bart Carrido, Steve Turley, Ed Babiuch and

Tom Read were also former Mustangs who played hoops at OCC and later for

four-year colleges.

“Seven players off that (1965-66) Mesa team eventually played at a

(four-year) college, and, basically, the whole team played at Orange

Coast,” said Falconer, who continued his career at San Diego State.

Mesa finished 18-8 in Falconer’s senior year, then faced powerful Long

Beach Poly -- at the time ranked No. 1 in the nation -- in the first

round of the CIF Southern Section playoffs, a 109-81 victory for the

Jackrabbits.

“That game was something,” said Falconer, who scored a career-high 31

points in that contest. “We tied it up with a minute to go in the first

half (before Poly pulled away), and we didn’t have one of our better

players, Bart Carrido, who later started at Cal Poly Pomona. Bart could

really play.”

The core of Mustangs forged ahead in their winning ways at OCC,

consistently earning top-five national rankings in 1966-67 and 1967-68.

“The difference between then and now at Orange Coast was that the

place was absolutely packed when we played,” said Falconer, who averaged

11.6 ppg in his two-year OCC career and led the star-studded ’68 squad in

free-throw percentage (75.3%).

“Glenn White (former Daily Pilot sports editor) was very controversial

and didn’t get along with our coach, but we were always front-page news.

It was always a full page (devoted to OCC basketball). It was a big deal.

That was the ticket.”

Falconer, once selected to OCC’s all-time basketball team by former

Orange Coast sports publicist Jim Carnett, found the offense “restricted”

at San Diego State in 1968-69 and “didn’t enjoy” the experience. So he

bypassed his senior year of eligibility, got married and went to work.

“Do I wish I would’ve played that second year (at San Diego State)?

Definitely,” said Falconer, who earned his teaching credential after

college, but started his own business after two years of teaching.

Falconer, a member of the Daily Pilot Sports Hall of Fame, celebrating

the millennium, became head basketball coach at Laguna Beach in 1980 and

lasted five years. He replaced Tim Parsel and became head coach at his

alma mater, Costa Mesa, but stayed only two years.

Then, in 1992, Falconer returned to the coaching ranks at Calvary

Chapel, where he won four league titles in five years and guided the

Eagles deep into the CIF Division IV playoffs, more than once losing to

Crossroads and star guard Baron Davis (now of the Charlotte Hornets).

One of Falconer’s Calvary Chapel highlights was coaching his son,

Kevin, who was an All-CIF Division IV selection in 1997.

Falconer, in his second season at La Habra, still operates his own

fire sprinkler business, but has “cut way back” because he teaches now at

La Habra.

Falconer lives in Tustin with his wife of 30 years, Patti, and five

children: Nancy, Karen, Kevin, Sheri and Kenny.