UCI’s Faulkner transfers to Vanguard

Steve Virgen

Sophomore point guard Lisa Faulkner, who helped guide the UC Irvine

women’s basketball team to a turnaround season, will transfer to

Vanguard University in the fall, UCI Coach Mark Adams said Friday.

Vanguard, in Costa Mesa, competes in the NAIA and is a university

of Christian liberal arts and sciences. That’s a reason why Faulkner

left -- to strengthen her faith in her beliefs, Adams and Vanguard

Coach Russ Davis said.

“She couldn’t emphasize enough that she had a great time with us,”

Adams said. “Basketball is taking a back seat to her spiritual life.

It’s kind of refreshing to see that. We wish her the best.”

Faulkner, who received honorable mention in All-Big West

selections, could not be reached for commet Friday. In March, just

before UCI entered the Big West Conference Tournament, Davis said he

heard from Lion guard Lacey Mills that Faulkner would transfer to

Vanguard. Mills is Faulkner’s best friend and they played together at

Oregon City High.

After Davis heard the news, he drove to Adams’ house. The two

coaches are friends. Their teams played an exhibition game Nov. 5,

when Vanguard won, 50-48. The Lions went on to win the Golden State

Athletic Conference regular-season title and earn their first Final

Four berth in the NAIA National Tournament.

“I was in a tough situation because Mark Adams is one of my best

friends,” Davis said. “I fully understand [Faulkner’s transfer]. It

wasn’t a basketball decision. She wanted to go to a Christian

college. I have a lot of respect for Lisa to have higher priorities

than basketball. I told [Adams] what was going on. I was happy for

us, but I was sad that he lost his point guard.”

“We were very surprised,” Adams said. “She was such an

instrumental player to our team. We just have a really unique family

atmosphere here and she was proud to be part of that. It was a shock

when we found out. I still don’t completely understand from the

basketball standpoint, but you can’t look at it that way. Her

spiritual life is her top priority. That’s something I can’t argue

with.”

Faulkner’s transfer affected both teams in regard to recruiting

and improving.

Adams and his staff had to find another guard, and quick. UCI

assistant coach Molly Tuter-Koral, the team’s recruiting coordinator,

said she found out about Faulkner’s decision two weeks before the

season ended.

“It left me in very high scramble mode,” Tuter-Koral said. “We had

a great team coming back and to be able to make up for the loss, we

only had a few recruiting days. I think we did great with Shayna

[Stanley].”

Stanley, who signed a letter of intent with UCI Friday, is a

5-foot-7 point guard from Westchester High. The Anteaters have also

received a letter of intent from Los Alamitos standout Stephanie

Duda, a 5-10 forward.

Adams signed a one-year contract with UCI before last season. He

said he has talked with Athletic Director Bob Chichester, who is

planning to renew Adams’ contract in the coming weeks.

Meanwhile, at Vanguard, Davis has received letters of intent from

5-11 forward Lacey Burns out of San Clemente, and two McDonald

All-American nominees Kelly Schmidt (5-7 guard) and Lindsay McClellan

(6-0 forward), both from Arizona.

“We’re on a bit of a roll,” Davis said.