Small Colleges / Alan Drooz : After Some Down Times, Things Are Looking Up Again at Cal State L.A.

With Sam Veal, a Division II All-American at one guard, and Shawn Holiday, a Street and Smith’s preseason All-American at the other, one has to consider Cal State Los Angeles a backcourt-oriented team.

But the talent doesn’t stop there. For example there is 6-10 center Tony Brown, who had 23 points, 18 rebounds and 9 blocked shots in 28 minutes last weekend against Cal State Dominguez Hills. And that’s not considering that 6-9 Anthony Boyer is ready to return to the lineup along with 7-1 Arl Wallace.

The Eagles will probably get their toughest conference test Saturday when they travel to UC Riverside. Both are 3-0 in the California Collegiate Athletic Assn.

Cal State Los Angeles’ best players are certainly Veal, a 20-point per game scorer, and Holiday, a transfer from Arizona State. But Coach Jim Newman’s ability to start a front line of Boyer, 6-10 Brown, and 6-6 Cary Brooks, then bring in Wallace and 6-8 James Stewart, sets the Eagles apart in a league where most teams have 6-7 centers.

“That’s a lot of manpower for this division,” Newman said. “We’re becoming more and more an inside team.”

Veal, a whippet-like 6-3 senior out of Dayton, Ohio, wasn’t afraid to shoot last season when he ranked among the nation’s scoring leaders with a 22-point average. Veal and Holiday are sharing point guard duties this season, and Veal says he doesn’t mind giving up some shots. “We’re playing together as a unit better than ever,” he said. “My shots are still there. Holiday is shooting real well--that’s the key. Everybody is looking for me to shoot.”

The 6-4 Holiday, who was recruited out of Pasadena Blair High School for Arizona State by Newman, then an assistant there, followed him to Cal State L.A. and said he feels comfortable after taking a season to adjust. Newman says he’s the best defensive player on the team, and he had outstanding offensive games last weekend, scoring 30 against Chapman and shooting 7 for 9 against Dominguez Hills.

Both players have pro aspirations, though both said they will graduate. Newman said both can play pro ball “without a doubt--there’s not a better defensive player around than Shawn. Veal will have to be a point guard, but he has things (skills) you can’t teach.”

While Veal and Holiday are keeping defenses honest and setting up the offense, Brown and the other big men are throwing their weight around up front. Brown has led the CCAA in rebounding twice and is leading again this season while swatting everything that comes near the basket. He made a spectacular block against Dominguez Hills that was whistled a foul, prompting Newman to jump off the bench and advise the referee, “That’s a big-time play. What’s a matter, never seen one of them before?”

Boyer, a starter last season, recently returned to the lineup. Stewart has had two 14-rebound games recently. Wallace just became eligible. The 7-1, 265-pound sophomore didn’t play high school ball and was discovered in a summer league by assistant coach Louis Nelson. Wallace looked respectable against Dominguez Hills, getting a basket and three rebounds in 10 minutes.

The Eagles have won eight in a row after losing their first three to Division I teams. “I think they’re getting the idea of what it takes to be a better basketball team,” Newman said.

UC Riverside forward Robert Jimerson has come full circle in helping the Highlanders get off to a 3-0 start in the CCAA. Jimerson went to Riverside out of Rubidoux High School, then dropped out to go to work. He got back into basketball at Taft Community College after three years as a furniture mover, and transferred back to Riverside this season.

The 6-7, 215-pound junior showed he was back by leading Riverside to a 85-63 victory over Cal Poly Pomona. Jimerson had 25 points on 10-of-15 shooting, 9 rebounds and 8 assists. He leads the team with a 14-point average and 8 rebounds per game.

The Highlanders are 13-3 and 3-0 in the CCAA and were ranked 15th nationally last week.

Cal State Los Angeles will induct seven alumni and a former administrator into its athletic Hall of Fame in ceremonies Jan. 30 at the Transamerica Center in downtown Los Angeles.

This year’s inductees, the second group to be honored, are Barbara Ferrell Edmondson, Olympic gold medalist in track; Suzie Iwami, the school’s all-time scorer in women’s basketball; Chris Kinard, seven-time U.S. badminton champ; Ron Knight, No. 3 scorer and rebounder in men’s basketball; Ferron Losse, the school’s first athletic director; Yolanda Rich, two-time national track champ; Mal Whitfield, winner of five Olympic track medals including two golds; and Joe Womack, three-time Little All-American in football.

Tickets are available through the school’s athletic department.

Small College Notes Westmont College basketball Coach Chet Kammerer recently won his 400th game. He ranks 12th among active NAIA coaches with 402. . . . The Cal Poly Pomona Hot Stove League baseball banquet will be held at 6 p.m. Saturday following a noon alumni game. The featured speaker will be Hall of Famer Lou Brock. Tickets are $30 and will benefit the baseball team. . . . Cal Poly Pomona basketball All-American center Vickie Mitchell was named Division II Player of the Month for November and December by the American Women’s Sports Federation. . . . UC Riverside’s basketball teams lost players because of academic ineligibility. The women’s team lost 5-10 sophomore center Debbie Arnold, who was averaging 10 points and 7 rebounds. The men’s team lost reserve guard Jon Hall. . . . It’s becoming a weekly occurrence, but Cal State L.A. freshmen Jean Quintana and Jim Julian broke more school swimming records last week. Quintana swam the 100-yard backstroke in 1:04.41. Julian set five records--200-yard individual medley (1:59.78), 100 breaststroke (1:00.37), 200 breaststroke (2:12.2), 400 IM (4:24.4) and as part of 400 medley relay (4:40.28). . . . Andreas Weyermann, 29, is the new men’s tennis coach at Cal Poly Pomona. He’s the former coach at Santa Fe High School and an assistant at Cal State Fullerton.