Pepperdine Will Have To Wait -- Lynden High Star Croft Plans To Attend Skagit Valley Instead

Malibu Beach will have to wait another two years. Derric Croft, one of the state's top basketball prospects, will be staying home.

Croft, a 6-foot-5 guard who led the Lynden High School boys to last season's Class A state championship, was forced to give up his Pepperdine University scholarship when he failed to score the minimum of 18 points on his ACT college-entrance exam.

Instead of Pepperdine, an NCAA Division I school near Los Angeles, Croft will attend Skagit Valley College in Mount Vernon, a mere 40-minute drive from his home. He will play both basketball and baseball at Skagit Valley.

Croft took the ACT twice, scoring 17 points both times.

"I missed by one point," Croft said. "I was upset at first, but I'm not going to really let it get to me. I probably wouldn't have played much my freshman year at Pepperdine. This gives me a couple of years to get bigger and stronger, before stepping up to the Division I level."

With Croft playing guard, Lynden was undefeated except for a forfeit.

Croft said he likely will redshirt one of his seasons at Skagit, leaving him with three years of eligibility when he moves to a Division I school.

Croft signed a letter of intent to attend Skagit Valley earlier this week.

"You don't like to benefit from someone else's misfortunes, but this was among Derric's options and we're delighted to have him," said David Quall, Skagit Valley's basketball coach. "He should fit in well. We have an up-tempo offense that averaged over 90 points a game last year. Our goal is to make this a positive experience for him."

After Croft completes his coursework at Skagit Valley, he is allowed to attend any school he chooses.

"I hope they're waiting for me," Croft said. "I want to make sure they know I'm still with them, but my options are open again."

Said Steve Aggers, assistant coach at Pepperdine: "We feel strongly enough about Derric to continue to recruit him, but obviously you never know what things will be like in two years.

"At the present time, we will continue to follow his progress."

If Croft were play for Pepperdine next season, he would be playing behind senior Doug Christie, a Rainier Beach graduate and the West Coast Athletic Conference's most valuable player last season.

Christie sidelined -- The honors continue to roll in for Christie, who recently attended the final tryout for the U.S. Pan-American Games basketball team.

Christie was one of the final 16 players chosen to represent the United States at the Pan-Am Games. Christie was taking part in the final tryouts at Purdue University when his knee gave out.

He injured his knee last spring just before Pepperdine qualified for the NCAA Tournament. The injury became too painful to play on during the Pan-Am trials. He underwent minor surgery to remedy the problem.

"This sets him back about two weeks," said Aggers, the Pepperdine assistant. "He should be back at full strength by Oct. 15."

Off-court turnover -- Gary Schaplow's departure at Franklin at was the fifth boys basketball job left open in an unusually high season of turnover.

The coaches at O'Dea, Seattle Prep, Eastside Catholic and West Seattle also left their jobs. West Seattle and Franklin have yet to name replacements.

Phil Lumpkin is the new coach at O'Dea, Chris Miller the new coach at Prep, and Al Kawashima the new coach at Eastside Catholic.

West Seattle has stopped taking applications and officials have started the interviewing process. Applications are still being accepted for the Franklin job until Sept. 13.

One more vacancy -- Another coaching vacancy expected to be filled soon is the men's basketball job at Seattle University. Finalists have been chosen for the job and will be interviewed next week.

Mar wins Pan-Am gold -- Seattle's Roger Mar, an Olympic hopeful in the sport of shooting, remains at the head of the pack despite a disappointing performance at the Pan-Am Games.

Mar, 23, who graduated from Evergreen High in 1986, finished ninth in the rapid-fire pistol event, but helped his team win the gold medal. The U.S. team was led by seven-time national champion John McNally of Columbus, Ga., who won the event. Ed Suarez of San Jose, Calif., finished sixth.

McNally and Suarez are Mar's main competitors for the two spots on the U.S. Olympic shooting team. Mar is among five rapid-fire pistol shooters who are in the hunt for positions on the Olympic team. McNally, 35, has been on two previous Olympic teams.

Mar, who lives and trains in Colorado Springs, Colo., has been a bronze medalist at the International Shooting Championships.

"It (the Pan-Am Games) taught me a lesson, why I've been up and down since May," Mar said. "I was training so well, I was overconfident. It was really my state of mind. I learned from it all."

Mar has two optional competitions to attend in September and October. Olympic qualifying resumes in April.

Seattle in Vienna -- Seattle will be well represented at next week's women's World Rowing Championships in Vienna, Austria.

Twin sisters Betsy and Mary McCagg, along with Sarah Gengler and Diana Olson, are local rowers competing in the women's eight-oared shell. Shannon Day is an alternate.

The McCaggs are Lakeside graduates attending Radcliffe College in Massachusetts. Gengler, from the University of Wisconsin, trains with the Lake Washington Rowing Club. Olson, from George Washington University, has trained with Jan Harville, the women's crew coach at the University of Washington. Day is from Bellevue, and rows for the University of California.

Two more rowers with local connections, Tina Brown and Cindy Eckert, are entered in the pairs and women's four, respectively. Eckert is also affiliated with the Lake Washington Rowing Club. Brown trained with Harville.