Add Croft To UW's List Of Near Misses

When Mark Pope decided to bolt from the University of Washington for bluer grass at Kentucky last spring, the Huskies not only lost one of the premier players in the Pac-10. They also missed out on an emerging star in the Western Athletic Conference, Derric Croft.

It could have been the Pope and Croft show at Edmundson Pavilion this winter, with Pope providing badly needed inside scoring and rebounding for first-year UW Coach Bob Bender, and Croft mixing in his patented, slashing drives to the basket with outside jumpers.

But Pope, remaining loyal to former UW Coach Lynn Nance, took his inside game to Lexington, Ky. And Croft, once he got wind of Pope's decision and after meeting with Bender, decided to cast his lot with San Diego State.

Through four games, he leads the Aztecs in scoring (15.8 points per game) and rebounding (6.5).

"My decision was based on Pope staying or leaving," said Croft, the former Lynden High School standout who played the past two years at Skagit Valley College. "It's hard to find quality big men these days like Mark. Having played with him on BCI (all-star) teams in high school, I know how good he is."

Sensing there wasn't a strong enough supporting cast at UW, Croft thought his remaining two years of eligibility would be better spent at San Diego State, which he hopes will be a springboard to basketball after college.

Croft, a 6-foot-5 junior guard/forward, plays a wing in San Diego State's three-guard offense. He's the go-to guy on a young Aztec team that mixes it up with powers Brigham Young, Utah and New Mexico in the WAC. Quite an adjustment from community-college ball, when the opponents were Shoreline, Edmonds and Everett.

"It's a lot more physical at this level," Croft said, "and players are a lot quicker and smarter. You have to work to get open. You can't just jog through picks. In this league, everybody plays D."

Croft discovered how tough that defense can be Tuesday night against USC. Lorenzo Orr, USC's consensus All-America forward, held Croft to a season-low 11 points in the Trojans' 75-56 victory.

"He shut me down," Croft said.

State talent show

Is there enough high-school talent in the state to field a championship-caliber college basketball team? Ponder this potential starting lineup of homegrown talent:

The front court: Washington State's Mark Hendrickson (Mount Vernon High School), Kentucky's Mark Pope (Newport) and Connecticut's Donny Marshall (Federal Way), who has moved into the starting lineup for the Big East Huskies and had a career-high 28 points yesterday.

The back court: California's K.J. Roberts (Kent-Meridian) and San Diego State's Derric Croft (Lynden).

Caviezel for three

Pop! -from three-point land - goes the 'Viezel.

That has become a familiar tune for Long Beach State guard Tim Caviezel, formerly of the University of Washington and Mount Vernon High School. So frequent are Caviezel's bombs from beyond the three-point line in practice and during his precious-and-few game minutes that 49er Coach Seth Greenberg began calling him "Ca-three-ziel."

Unfortunately for Caviezel, who sat out last season after transferring from the UW, it's usually just teammates and coaches who witness his treys. Through five games the 6-7 junior guard was averaging only 8 minutes and four points per game on eight-for-17 shooting from the field and two of five three-pointers.

But Greenberg said Caviezel will get more playing time as the season progresses. Next season, he said, Caviezel will contend for a starting job, when three 49er guards graduate.

"He's really playing well," said the Long Beach State coach. "He's a good shooter, not a great shooter, but more of a streaky shooter. He's passing the ball extremely well, and he's improved defensively. He's a much better ballplayer now than when he came to us."

Jokes on Olson

Arizona Coach Lute Olson owns a restaurant in Tucson. The joke around town is that patrons must leave after the first round of drinks - just as the Wildcats make their annual exit after the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

This year's edition, however, led by one of the best guard tandems in the nation - senior Khalid Reeves (22 ppg) and junior Damon Stoudamire (22.7 ppg) - might coax Olson's restaurant customers to hang around for a few more belts come April.

After Thursday night's game, in which Reeves finished with 27 points and Stoudamire 19 as the No. 14 Wildcats handed Utah a rare home-court loss, Ute Coach Rick Majerus said, "They have the best backcourt in the country. They are a Final Four team."

The Wildcats, bounced from the opening round of the NCAA Tournament by Santa Clara last March, are also getting solid frontcourt play from 6-7 junior Ray Owes (17.3 points and team-leading 7.7 rebounds per game) and 6-9 sophomore Joe "Baby" Blair.

"I didn't see them play much last year," said Oklahoma State Coach Eddie Sutton, after his Cowboys were dismantled by Arizona 97-84 last Sunday, "but if I had my choice of playing last year's team and this year's team . . . this team is more explosive."

Pac-10 notes

-- ARIZONA STATE: Coach Bill Frieder, meet Golden State Coach Don Nelson. And compare notes. The snakebit Sun Devils are college basketball's version of the Warriors. ASU is merely a shadow of the team many coaches believed would challenge for the conference title. Starting point guard Marcell Capers probably is out for the season after suffering a fractured bone in his foot in ASU's Nov. 27 victory over Brigham Young; 1991-92 team MVP Mario Bennett, recovering from off-season knee surgery, won't return until mid-January; and 6-5 swingman Quincy Brewer is out until late February with a fractured kneecap.

-- CALIFORNIA: There's a reason for Cal's slow start. Well, two. Forward Alfred Grigsby is just rounding into playing shape after undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery in early November. Kent-Meridian High product K.J. Roberts, who has an injured foot, hasn't played a minute. Once healthy, they'll join guard Jason Kidd (20 ppg), forward Lamond Murray (23.3 ppg) and center Ryan Jamison in the Bears' starting lineup.

-- OREGON: Jeff Potter has yet to play this season. The 6-9 junior forward from Redmond suffered strained ligaments in his left elbow during preseason practice. The earliest he can be expected to play is next Saturday, when the Ducks travel to Wisconsin-Green Bay. The Ducks are starting two freshmen - 6-6 forward Henry Madden (Fresno, Calif.) and 5-10 guard Kenya Wilkins (Los Angeles).

-- OREGON STATE: Two junior forwards - 6-6 Brent Barry (21 ppg), son of NBA Hall-of-Famer Rick, and 6-4 Kareem Anderson (20 ppg) - figure to carry the scoring lead for the Beavers. Mustapha Hoff, a member of the Pac-10 all-newcomer team last season and who would have been the team's top returning scorer, will redshirt after undergoing back surgery last summer.

-- STANFORD: Cardinal fans are high on tiny freshman Brevin Knight, who has emerged as the team's starting point guard. The 5-10, 155-pound Knight, from East Orange, N.J., was averaging 7.3 points and 3.3 assists per game entering last night's game at Santa Clara. Knight joins shooting guard Dion Cross (19.7 ppg), a Pac-10 all-freshman selection last season, to form a young and talented backcourt.

-- UCLA: It's early in the season, but if Pac-10 coaches were asked to pick a freshman of the year, it would undoubtedly be 6-6 forward Charles O'Bannon. Brother of Ed, UCLA's starting junior forward, Charles ranked third in the Pac-10 scoring (22.5), third in rebounding (9.5), first in blocked shots (2.0) and second in field-goal percentage (74.1) at mid-week.

-- USC: Taking a cue from Michigan's once-ballyhooed Fab Five, one magazine has tabbed the Trojans' current freshman class "The Fab Five minus the swingman." USC has started as many as three freshmen - highly-touted 6-11 center Avondre Jones (Lakewood, Calif.), 6-6 forward Jaha Wilson (San Francisco) and 6-4 guard Stais Boseman (Inglewood, Calif.). A fourth freshman, 6-3 guard Claude Green (Washington, D.C.), also has shown promise.

-- WASHINGTON: The 0-3 Huskies have not opened a season with four losses since the 1977 team dropped its first four games. Through three games, guard Jason Tyrus and forward Sam Allen lead the Huskies in scoring at 14.5 points per game, followed by Scott Didrickson at 13.5. The Huskies' next game is Saturday at Edmundson Pavilion against Idaho.

-- WASHINGTON STATE: With his 33-point outburst Nov. 27 against Michigan State, freshman guard Isaac Fontaine (15.7 ppg) became only the second true freshman in school history to score 30 or more points in a game. WSU's all-time leading scorer, Steve Puidokas, hit 31 points as a first-year freshman against San Diego Jan. 29, 1974. Two other freshmen - guard Donminic Ellison (10.3 ppg) and redshirt freshman forward Tavares Mack of Seattle's Nathan Hale High School - also have sparkled for the Cougars.