COLLEGES:

Former UC Irvine athletic director Dan Guerrero left for Westwood, as did former baseball coach John Savage and former senior women’s administrator Petrina Long.

Men’s basketball coach Pat Douglass was, at one time, rumored to be an attractive candidate to lead the storied UCLA program, and men’s volleyball head man John Speraw likely faces the question at least twice a week of when he’ll return to his alma mater to replace Bruins coach Al Scates.

Then Dave Serrano exits for the Cal State Fullerton job.

A school sure could get an inferiority complex, huh?

But those who hold out hope for a sovereign Eater Nation, should be encouraged by the recently completed search, after which former USC coach Mike Gillespie was chosen as Serrano’s replacement.

No fewer than four of the five candidates interviewed had national coach of the year trophies, though one candidate had earned his at the Division II level.

The three most experienced candidates, Gillespie, Rod Delmonico and Lindsay Meggs, had a combined 2,026 victories between them, while the two younger candidates, Mike Trapasso and Pat Shine, had both won roughly 75% of their games (a combined 231-74-1).

Gillespie, considered nothing short of a legend by many Southern California colleagues, has a regal presence that can enthrall a banquet room as well as a clubhouse.

Tennessee was a consistent contender in the rugged Southeastern Conference under Delmonico, while Meggs, with one season at Indiana State after a storied 13-year stint at Chico State that produced two NCAA Division II titles, is a rising star of some note.

Trapasso, while successful in five seasons at Hawaii, has made multiple trips to Omaha, first as a talented pitcher at Oklahoma State, then as a heralded recruiter at Georgia Tech (Do former Yellow Jackets stars Nomar Garciaparra, Jason Veritek, and Jay Payton, lured to the Atlanta school during Trapasso’s tenure, ring a bell?)

And Shine, a former UCI and UCLA assistant who will be associate head coach and presumed heir apparent under Gillespie, left a head coaching position at Cal State Los Angeles (47-15-1 last season) to return to Orange County.

When Savage left, to replace yet another former Anteaters coach, Gary Adams, he mentioned the worldwide marquee value of the UCLA logo and how that translated into living-room cachet for recruiters wearing Bruin Blue.

Serrano, who returned to his Titan roots, having played and worked as an assistant there, said the words Cal State Fullerton resonate with baseball recruits far beyond the Southland.

All of that is true, of course.

But after UCI traversed the Road to Omaha last season, and the dramatic impression Serrano’s squad made there, earning two extra-inning games after a dramatic walk-off triumph at Wichita State in the nationally televised Super Regional, the letters UCI clearly have enhanced meaning in the national baseball landscape as well.

And if UCI is still a tad confusing, how difficult is it to remember the Anteater mascot?

Clearly, the profile of the UCI baseball program, flat-lined by a nine-season hiatus that ended in 2002, has come a long way.

 Though UCI has no football team, one athlete is watching the NFL season with particular interest.

Darren Fells, a 6-foot-7, 255-pound senior post player for the men’s basketball team, said he would consider pursuing NFL opportunities, should they arise, after he completes his eligibility on the hardwood this season.

Fells, a former All-CIF Southern Section tight end at Fullerton High, has heard all about the NFL from his older brother Daniel, a former UC Davis standout tight end who is on the roster of the Oakland Raiders.

Darren Fells said he would also be intrigued by offers to play professional basketball in Europe.

 Junior Matt Murphy converted two penalty kicks to turn a two-goal deficit against No. 9-ranked Brown into a 2-2 deadlock last week, denying the Bears (6-0-1) a victory for the first time this season.

The tie moved the Anteaters to 5-1-1. Coach George Kuntz’s squad, ranked No. 21 last week, slipped to No. 25 this week.

Murphy, who leads the team with five goals and has added one assist for a team-best 11 points (two points for a goal and one for an assist), was named Big West Conference Player of the Week.

Murphy was the 2006 Midfielder of the Year in the Big West, after leading the conference in regular-season points (25), goals (10) and game-winning goals (five).

He ranks ninth at UCI in career points (46) and goals (18).

 Is it just me, or has the Golden State Athletic Conference gotten a little too generous in handing out its player of the week accolades. The conference names a player of the week at three positions in volleyball (player, setter and libero), while recognizing both an offensive and defensive player in soccer.

BARRY FAULKNER may be reached at (714) 966-4615 or at barry.faulkner@latimes.com.