COLLEGE BASKETBALL ‘92-93 : CS Fullerton May Finally Get It Together : College basketball: Titan players say the team is united under new coach after two years of disharmony.

It’s amazing what a personable new coach can do for the collective psyche of a college basketball team.

Former UCLA assistant Brad Holland replaced John Sneed at Cal State Fullerton last spring, and phrases such as great attitude and togetherness and respect for the coaches are suddenly emanating from the Titan locker room.

Fullerton’s four senior starters are confident that the infighting, bickering and petty jealousies that tore the Titans apart the last two years will not return.

“Everybody wants to see Brad every day just because of the way he is,” point guard Aaron Sunderland said. “I’m in his office a couple times a week, and I wouldn’t even attempt to go past the office last year. It’s real nice to have a coach you look up to, who you can talk to.”

Added forward Kim Kemp: “Last year people didn’t like each other, and you could see that early. This year, there’s a lot more togetherness on and off the court. Everyone’s hungry to win, and a lot of that has to do with the coaches. You see them working hard for us, and we want to work hard for them.”

It’s a good thing the Titans are getting along, because they will need to harness all the energy they can muster simply to be competitive in the Big West Conference.

This may be a close-knit and experienced group, but the Titans, picked to finish ninth in the conference, are short on talent, size and depth.

They have three returning starters--Sunderland, small forward Bruce Bowen and center Sean Williams, and Kemp played a lot as a reserve last season.

But Fullerton also lost its two leading scorers from that 12-16 team--forward Agee Ward and guard Joe Small.

Shooting guard Don Leary, who made 269 three-pointers in two seasons at Mt. San Jacinto College, should ease the loss of Small, but the Titans will have trouble replacing Ward’s inside scoring punch.

With Williams, a 6-foot-11 senior, and Kemp, a 6-8 senior, Fullerton has two athletic front-court players who are excellent defenders, rebounders and shot-blockers. But they are not who can post up, receive an pass, put a smooth move on an opponent and score.

Bowen, a 6-7 senior who averaged 14.6 points and 7.0 rebounds last season, is a streaky outside shooter who is most effective as an offensive rebounder. Sunderland, who averaged 11.1 points and 6.5 assists, is an explosive playmaker who will have to assume more of an outside scoring role.

Holland will probably use an eight-man rotation, with inexperienced 6-7 junior Todd Satalowich backing up Williams and Kemp, junior Greg Vernon swinging between the point and shooting guard positions and Dijon Bernard, a 6-3 junior from Ventura College who redshirted last season, backing up Bowen and Kemp.

To be successful, the Titans will have to play great defense, run the fast break whenever they can, choose their shots wisely, make a high percentage of their open shots and be scrappy offensive rebounders.

They also will have to be in excellent physical condition, and their starters must avoid injuries and foul trouble.

“Any one of those three situations could dramatically affect the team,” Holland said. “We have some quickness and athletic ability, but we also have some limitations. We need to play an up-tempo style, quality defense and make great decisions.”

Holland said he won’t measure his first Fullerton team’s performance on the record.

“I’ll judge them on how they come together and how consistently hard they play,” Holland said. “Hopefully, the rest will take care of itself. I want the players to come out of the season feeling good about themselves.”