COLLEGE BASKETBALL PREVIEWS : THE MASTER’S : Hankinson’s Roadwork Generates Optimism

Mel Hankinson accepted the basketball coaching position at The Master’s College before last season and proceeded to hit the road.

Hankinson witnessed just 3 games last season, leaving the team in the hands of assistant Randy Stem so he could venture across the country in search of recruits for the 1988 season.

Hankinson will be courtside this season, starting tonight when Master’s opens its schedule with a game against Bethany Bible College in the four-team Fresno Pacific tournament.

Hankinson, who begins his 20th season as a college coach, is confident that the products of his roadwork--8 freshmen and 4 transfers--can blend with a nucleus of returning players to put the Mustangs on the road to respectability following last season’s 11-19 overall record and 7-8 mark in National Assn. of Intercollegiate Athletics District 3 play.

“I think the outlook is very optimistic,” said Hankinson, who has a career record of 251-190 and coached at Samford University in Birmingham, Ala., for 3 years before taking the job at Master’s. “I’ve never had a group of freshman players mature so quickly.”

Phil Hahn, a 6-foot, 5-inch senior forward who averaged 18.2 points and 4.8 rebounds last season, is back along with 6-4 senior forward Rocky Shipes (15.8 points and 5.5 rebounds) and 5-8 senior guard Ted Grissom (7.3 points and 4.6 assists)

The freshmen class includes 6-3 guard Scott Oatsvall, who averaged 20 points a game last season at El Camino High in Oceanside, 6-6 forward Tom Bruner, who averaged 28 points at Sanger (Calif.) High, 6-4 forward Jason Webster, who averaged 23 points at Garces High in Bakersfield and 6-0 guard Ty Nichols from Poway High in San Diego.

Senior forwards Gerald Thomas (6-5) and Rodney Harrison (6-5) transferred to Master’s from Liberty University and should provide immediate help. Junior forward Dan Jarms (6-8, Eastern Washington) and sophomore forward Jeff Newton (Napa Valley Junior College) are other transfers expected to play large roles for the Mustangs when they become eligible in December.

“With this kind of depth, we’ll be able to press the whole ballgame using multiple defenses and play an up-tempo game offensively,” Hankinson said. “This group has the potential to, within the next 2 years, be a Top-10 team nationally.”