Daily Pilot Sports Hall of Fame: Russell Gan, Newport Harbor

Barry Faulkner

It was vision which set Russell Gan apart as a two-time All-CIF

Southern Section setter for the Newport Harbor High boys volleyball team.

The same attribute led him to a rewarding collegiate career at the

University of the Pacific.

When Gan graduated from Harbor in 1992, UOP, better known for success in

women’s volleyball, was a neophyte in Division I men’s scene. Gan, in

fact, headlined the school’s first Division I recruiting class.

“It was by far the least notable volleyball school,” Gan said of college

suitors including USC, Long Beach State and Hawaii. “But I really liked

the school and I liked the idea of being in a program from the

beginning.”

Gan, the Orange County Player of the Year as a prep senior, accepted one

of the Tigers’ 2 1/2 scholarships, then spent four years pushing the

white leather ball uphill in Stockton.

Competing in the rugged Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, an alliance

which annually includes most of the top programs in the nation, UOP

struggled Gan’s first three seasons.

“There were some rough times,” said Gan, a four-year starter who was

named captain by Coach Joe Wortmann his sophomore year. “We had so little

scholarship money, the players had to sell T-shirts to help cover travel

expenses. I was talking to a lot of my buddies who went to other Division

I schools and they were being treated like gods. And here I was selling

T-shirts and doing other fund-raisers.”

The payoff began his senior season, when the Tigers qualified for the

postseason conference tournament.

“Making the playoffs was huge,” Gan said. “We lost to UCLA at Pauley

Pavilion, but playing in the playoffs was the highlight of my career.”

That collegiate career, which included all-conference recognition his

senior season, gained added luster last fall, when he became the

program’s first player to have his jersey (No. 22) retired.

“He established the program at UOP,” Newport Harbor Coach Dan Glenn. “By

him going there, some other good players decided to go there.”

Said Wortmann: “Russell Gan is the greatest guy we’ve ever had playing

here. He’s a wonderful human being and a terrific setter. I can’t say

anything that even comes close to how much we think about Russell.”

Gan, however, established himself as a star long before he reached

Stockton. He started three seasons for the Sailors’ varsity and also

sparkled for the Balboa Bay Club.

His junior year, Gan helped Harbor reach the CIF Division 4-A title

match, won by San Marcos at Cerritos College.

As a senior, the Tars were ranked No. 1 in Orange County, as well as CIF

4-A, but were upset in the section semifinals by Santa Barbara.

Gan completed his prep career in the county all-star match.

“He was such a phenomenal setter,” Glenn said. “His vision of the court

was the best of any setter I’ve ever seen. He could look across the net,

see the block, and adjust at the last second.”

Gan, 25, plans to graduate from Costa Mesa’s Whittier Law School in May,

though he is uncertain of his career path.

“I never went into law school thinking I’d definitely be a lawyer,” said

Gan, who earned an English degree at UOP.

The Daily Pilot Sports Hall of Fame honoree still plays in the annual

summer men’s league at the Balboa Bay Club and recently began competing

in a league at an Irvine fitness center.

He also continues to follow Newport volleyball, for which his girlfriend,

Socha Caldemeyer, a former UOP All-American he met while in college, was

an assistant girls coach during the last two CIF and state title seasons.

“I enjoy watching (Harbor’s recent girls teams) but I’m kind of jealous,”

Gan said.