Speraw pumped at UCI

The UC Irvine men’s volleyball team is dealing with life without Coach John Speraw, who will miss two more matches during a six-match sabbatical while working as an assistant coach for the men’s national team that is trying to qualify in Puerto Rico for the 2008 Olympics.

Anteaters fans have long dreaded the thought that Speraw could put UCI in his rear-view mirror when Al Skates, in his 45th season, will step down at UCLA, where Speraw both played and coached. Speraw, however, said UCI has made steps to help him in his goal to make running the Anteaters’ program the best collegiate job in the sport.

“I’ve had to share my thoughts on [being an heir apparent to Skates] since my very first home visit as coach at UCI,” Speraw said. “I was surprised by that question then, but I haven’t been since. Now, if I’m focused on what I’m doing, I’m the one who is initiating that discussion when I go in to talk to a recruit.

“I tell them that Al is going to be there for a while. He’s basically in a retired state right now. He’s got the best support system in America in men’s volleyball. He’s got great assistant coaches, good depth, and a great school that he can continue to recruit from. I don’t think he’s going anywhere. I think you’re going to have to drag him off the court. Maybe in a wheelchair, or on a cane, or when he can’t hear the whistle anymore, that’s when Al is going to leave.

“UCLA is a tremendous school and I had a great experience there. But I’m always interested in getting this [UCI] job to the point where I don’t want to leave it. And I think [the school] has done a lot for me the last 18 months.”

Speraw, who took the Anteaters to the Final Four in 2006, after winning the program’s first Mountain Pacific Sports Federation regular-season championship, then won the program’s first national title in his fifth season in 2007, said UCI has boosted the program’s scholarships to the maximum 4.5. He also said he now has funding for a full-time assistant coach, has a salary commensurate with his standing as an elite volleyball coach, and he will soon be moving into a house on campus.

“If we continue to win national championships and [the school] is continuing to support me the way I feel I’ve been supported the last 18 months, then five years from now, or 10 years, whenever Al finally decides to hang ’em up, and I maybe have a family and kids at that point and I’m living on campus, this could be the best job in America. And I don’t think we’re that far off.”

 Reassuring, yes, but Speraw, like many other Anteaters coaches, believes that UCI still has many hurdles to climb, in terms of leveling the playing field with other big-time athletic programs.

Toward that end, he said the recent hiring of Mike Izzi as athletic director should help.

“I’m fired up about it,” Speraw said of Izzi, who comes to UCI having worked most recently in development/fundraising at Stanford. “I was on the hiring committee, so I know that Mike is someone who wants to be here and he has a background that’s going to be advantageous for this department. I think he’s going to be very supportive in what we do and I’m excited about [his hiring].”

Speraw said Izzi’s fundraising skills could help make inroads toward upgrading UCI’s facilities.

“We need someone at the top pushing to take advantage of what we’ve achieved over the last year and push us to the next level,” Speraw said. “I think [Izzi] could be that guy. When he was going through the interview process, he was saying some things about fundraising that I hadn’t thought of before.”

 Speraw said his experience with the national team, which included a hectic summer and the aforementioned commitment in Puerto Rico, has helped him improve as a coach. He said it has also made him appreciate his situation at UCI.

“What I’ve learned most is that there’s no better place to play volleyball in the world than what goes on in our gym at UC Irvine,” Speraw said. “I’m absolutely convinced that what we have here is truly a special and unique dynamic. The chemistry of the guys, our collective goal, the competitiveness and our work ethic; All these things that these [UCI] guys have are really special. I can tell you right now that whether we’re .500 or 20-and-whatever, I’m going to enjoy this season more because of my experiences this past summer.”

 UCI women’s basketball coach Molly Tuter, who was an assistant in 2003-04, when Kristen Green was a senior standout for the Anteaters, had no ambivalance whatsoever about Green’s opportunity to play for the Orange County Gladiators in the American Basketball Assn., a men’s professional league.

“I think it’s awesome,” Tuter said Sunday, before Green scored two points in eight-plus minutes in her Gladiators debut. “It’s absolutely fantastic and I’m so happy for her. It’s good for Kristen, it’s good for UC Irvine, it’s good for women’s basketball.”

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