Mike Hood’s got ice in his veins

His teammates call him, “Hoodie.” Or sometimes they just call him,

Mike. You can call him, “Iceman,” because Mike Hood, UC Irvine’s

senior guard, is cool in the clutch.

If Iceman keeps it up, he might become the Big West Conference’s

Player of the Year. My vote right now goes to Varnie Dennis of Cal

Poly San Luis Obispo. The Mustangs’ junior forward has the best

all-around game. If his team was in contention for the Big West title

he would be the unanimous choice.

But, back to Iceman. His story to becoming UCI’s man of the

closing moment is very special. He started the season as one of four

returning starters for the Anteaters. UCI Coach Pat Douglass was

expecting a big-time season from the shooter who hails from

Beaverton, Ore.

Iceman did just fine in the beginning when he scored 17 points and

led the Anteaters to their first win of the season, a 74-69 victory

at Pepperdine.

But three games later, hard times came on the Iceman. He, like the

rest of the Anteaters, failed at Stanford. Then, for the next six

games, Iceman became sub-man and came off the bench. But he weathered

the storm.

“I think he recognized what he had to work on,” Douglass said. “He

probably benefited from it.”

Even when coming off the bench, Iceman displayed his heroics in

leading UCI to an 81-77 victory over UC Riverside. He scored four

points in the final 29 seconds.

He started the next game and hit a game-winning scoop shot to beat

the buzzer in overtime, giving the ‘Eaters a 75-73 win over Utah

State Jan. 15.

Two games later, Hood scored 20 points and led UCI to a 66-62 win

at University of the Pacific. Oh yeah, Iceman nailed a key

three-pointer with 20 seconds left.

Then came Thursday. Playing at Utah State, which was in first

place, the Iceman came up with more dramatics. He nailed two free

throws with 1.3 seconds left, leading the Anteaters to a 59-58

victory. When a referee whistled a foul that sent Hoodie to the line,

Utah State Coach Stew Morrill winced, put his hands on his head and

nearly fell back. The Iceman is the best free-throw shooter in the

Big West. He has missed just one free throw this season.

So, what’s the deal, where does he get this strength in the

clutch? If you ask Hood, he’ll say, “Just playing my game, just

hitting shots.”

Even Douglass has trouble answering Hood’s ability in the clutch.

“I don’t know,” Douglass said. “He kind of relishes in that

opportunity.”

Douglass and the Anteaters are wondering what Hood can do next.

Last year, at Idaho, Iceman went for a career-high 27 points,

including seven three-pointers. UCI is at Idaho, tonight at 7:05.

*

Funny thing happened while in Utah State’s Smith Spectrum

Thursday. Immediately after the game, I made my way to the UCI locker

room to conduct interviews. Several Utah State fans were angered by

some of the referees’ calls late in the game. To my surprise I was

hit by an empty plastic water bottle. And, to think I told a few

colleagues Utah State would win that game Thursday. Shame on you,

Aggies.

*

Just an observation: UCI junior forward Matt Okoro is a poor man’s

Ben Wallace, however, sometimes he’s just very poor.

Another observation: Douglass made a superb decision when he chose

not to redshirt Mike Efevberha, the freshman guard from Pomona.

Efevberha, though he has been inconsistent, will be a much better

player down the stretch this season and even more so next year. He

will certainly be in contention to be UCI’s starting guard, as Hood

will have graduated.

*

Yet another observation: With each win, especially a victory at

Utah State, it seems Douglass becomes more attractive to take the job

at UCLA, as it’s inevitable: Steve Lavin’s days are over. Douglass’

name fell out of rumorville when UCI went through its three-game

winning streak, but the way he has turned his squad’s fortunes

around, Douglass is back in the running.

Lavin basically accepted his days are over in an interview with

ESPN.com’s Andy Katz Thursday. Katz also had Douglass’ name as

Lavin’s replacement.

But, then again, Katz mentioned Douglass as Jerry Tarkaninan’s

replacement when the Fresno State coach retired last year.

Along with Douglass, Katz also mentioned Pittsburgh’s Ben Howland,

Gonzaga’s Mark Few and even UC Santa Barbara’s Bob Williams.

Pepperdine’s Paul Westphal has also been mentioned in other rumors.

But Douglass going to UCLA is hardly breaking news.

Douglass’ name became talk when Guerrero first got the job at

UCLA.

Even Lavin joked and mentioned Douglass as one of a few coaches to

take over at UCLA at a preseason luncheon in the fall.

UCLA Athletic Director Dan Guerrero, the former AD at UCI, said he

will not make any decisions about Bruins basketball during the

season. Guerrero and Douglass shared a great relationship, one not

usually seen between AD and head coach, the past six years before

Guerrero went to the Bruins.

I guess this story is to be continued.