News Scrapbook 1986

San Diego, CA (San Diego co.) Evening Tribune (Cir. D. 127,454)

Tho pson: Makes USD11ttack click Continued from D-1

JAN 29 1986

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trouble when their best scorer is dou- ble- or triple-teamed. We're at an ad- vantage." Thompson took to hitting the open man early in his career. Although he averaged 29.5 points, 16.2 rebounds and 6.2 blocks a game· at Mesa Verde High near Sacramen- to, Thompson learned to pass. "Sometimes I couldn't get enough room to move," said Thompson. "There'd be a guy in front of me, a guy behind me and a third guy off to my side. So I started moving the ball around." Sixty universities recruited Thompson off a 28-3 team that pro- duced no other collegiate players. There might have been more offers, but Thompson turned down most Eastern colleges at initial contact. Among the major colleges he con- sidered were Washington State, USC and California. He chose USD because he, "liked the smallness of the campus, the aca- demics, San Diego, the fact that my parents would be able to see me play and Jim Brovelli's style of play." As a freshman, Thompson helped USD to its only WCAC title. But the . joy of the championship was tempered a bit by Brovelli's depar- ture to take the head coaching posi- tion at University of San Francisco. "Last year, I had a few problems with the transition," Thompson said of the shift from the coaching tech- niques of Brovelli and Egan. "Their philosophies are pretty much the same, but the delivery is very differ- ent. It took some getting used to. "This year, everyone knows what Egan wants and we're working a lot better." After averaging 7.1 points .and 4.8 rebounds and being honored as the WCAC's freshman of the year, Thompson averaged 11.l points and 6.7 rebounds last season as a first- team all-WCAC pick. While his statistics are only slight- ly better than last season's, Thomp- son believes he bas raised the level of bis play appreciably. "I'm a lot stronger than I was a year ago. My defense has come along. I can do more by pumping weight, because I already feel I'm getting quicker." As for his court savvy, Thompson believes it's a sixth sense. "Playing in close quarters with two and three people guarding me in high school probably helped me a lot with the way I play," Thompson said. "I can sense where the pressure will be. I try to take a pretty wide view of the court. When you've got two or three people around you, there's someone out there open. "We're probably playing our best basketball, because everyone is mov- ing the ball around. I never pay any attention to the shot clock, but I know if you can make three or four good feeds, something is going to open up." Something will open up this week as USO (13-5, 3-1 in the WCAC) hosts 20th-ranked Pepperdine (l&-3, 4-0) to- morrow and Loyola Marymount (12- 6, 4-0) Saturday.

said Egan. "They like the way he plays the game, they like his knowl- edge of the game. They like his hands and his shooting accuracy. They like his approach." They also like his size. There are some things they don't like quite as much. Thompson is not the world's greatest jumper. He is not the game's most mobile big man. His is not an overwhelming force on offense, defense or the boards. "I'm not Patrick Ewing," said Thompson. "But I'm a better Scott Thompson than I was two years ago, and I'm getting better." Alot better, m ways that often go unnoticed by the public. The junior from a small community outside Sacramento is far advanced in such primary skill things as catching and throwing the basketball plus having that "feel" for the game. "Scott doesn't have to be shooting the ball to be important to our of- fense," said forward Mark Bostic. "We try to get our first pass in to Scott, because we know he's going to hit the open man and get the motion going." In a 30-second possession against Portland Saturday night, the Toreros made 10 passes. Thompson handled the ball three times. He didn't shoot, but made the pass that led to a layin by Bostic. Oprosing teams have found it very difficult to press the Toreros this season. One of the reasons is Thomp- son. Against the press, he comes out to midcourt as an outlet target for point guard Paul Leonard. "Thompson has some of the best hands you'll find in a big man," said Egan. "He is also a very smart and acr·Jrate passer. Leonard knows if he throws the ball high to Scott, Scott will catch it, and pass it off to anoth- er player." "He's like another point guard out there," said Leonard. "He's the first person I look for against the press. In the offense, he handles the ball just as though he's playing guard." Which, indeed, is where Thompson lines up in one of USD's zone of- fenses. He'll play point guard at the top of the lane while Leonard posts low in USD's rotation. For much of this season, Thompson has ranked second on USD in assists. "Sure, I'd rather be scoring," said Thompson, "The public always looks for the high scorer. But I like con- tributing any way I can." Thompson is USD's leading scorer with a 13.1 average, shooting 54 per- cent from the floor. He is also the club's. leading rebounder (7.6 per game) and shot blocker (2.1). It is his ability to have a 17-point, 17-rebound game like he did in the WCAC opener at Santa Clara that forces opponents to single him out. But instead of forcing the ball up against pressure, he passes it off to an open teammate. "Scott's excellent at his distribu- tion," Egan said recently. "The more pressure he draws into him, the bet- ter off we are. Some teams are in

JfORM

U1th pla ers such as 'i foot center Scutt Thompwn fright}, Hank Egan (left) has gone about hi,; busmess ot keepmg a strong basketball program going at l 'SD. This week V::,'D faces twu key conference games.

d--J.,1 - ,-- T HE BE:ST basketball team around here is sneaky to the point where you get the feel- ing that these guys don't care if you know it or not. The head coach doesn't throw chairs, stomp on them, make excuses or waves. At USD, there are no Jim McMiilionsor.....headbands or flakes who think a bed check is something that bounces at the bank. If they do, they don't advertise. USD is The Quiet Storm. You never hear from these guys. Until they beat somebody's brains in, which has happened more often than not in the 1980s. Coach Hank Egan, avoiding the spotlight, has captained this ship on its proper course. The Toreros are 13-5, 3-1 in the WCAC and getting set for a big week when conference heavyweights Pepperdine and Loyo- la Marymount come to town. And Hank isn't talking the role of spoiler here, either. His club has had one bad slip - a 5~53 loss at Santa Clara a few weeks back - or it, too, would be 4--0 in the league along with the pair coming down this week from the L.A. area. "Pepperdine is very talented,"

supposed to be easy. When Jim Bro- velli took off for San Francisco last year and Egan was brought in after 18 winters at the Air Force Acade- my, Hank didn't exactly feel like Gene Bartow replacing John Wood- en. But Egan did realize that he was walking in the steps of an excellent coach - a popular man within the community - and he was inheriting a team that Brovelli had just taken to the NCAA Tournament In his new job, Hank also fell heir to a 7-foot center named Scott Thompson, whose likes are seen in Colorado Springs about as often as Big Foot. Egan's biggest player ever at Air Force was &-9. Once here, Hank didn't try to be- come Jim Brovelli. Or John Wooden. Or Bobby Knight or anybody else. He remained Hank Egan, his own man with his own philosophy and own set of rules. Wise choice, Hank. It's worked. Not that Brovelli's ghost has been exorcised at Alcala Park. But it is fading. "It's not quite gone," Egan says with a laugh. "I see Jtrn's name in Please see CANEPA, D-7

Egan says. "They're ranked 20th in the country, and they have every- body back from a team that won the conference last year. But we can beat 'em. Sure we can. We can also lose. But we're good enough to beat Pepperdine. "I think the loss to Santa Clara ac- tually helped us. It got a message

across, and if I could have gotten that message across earlier it would have saved a loss. The message is that we're a good basketball team when we're ready to compete - when everybody's ready. When all the pieces are functioning properly in their place. We're not talented enough at every position where we can overcome not being ready." Of course, Egan's task here wasn't

HANK EGAN HAS USD'S RECORD AT 13-5, 3-1 IN THE WCAC Pepperdine and Loyola Marymount, unbeaten in conference, play here

:n~~~~ia-ir-'------.. _ -w-e'-re_in_co_m_pe-ti-tio-n the papers all the time. The guy was athletically with San Diego State. here a lot of years and still has lots USD doesn't even have a major col- of friends and followers in the area. I lege football team. But I'm not going ~on't _think people forget somebody to say that beating State wasn't im- hke Jim that quickly. portant to USD. We hadn't done it "But it doesn't affect the way I do since we'd been Division I. No matter my job, it doesn't affect the way I how good USD had become, it hadn't handle the kids and it doesn't have a ~aten State. We had to dump the who!~ lot to do with me personally. I ISSue. We had to get it done." do thmgs I believe in. I think Jim and What worries Egan a bit is West I both believe in using our kids to the Coast college basketball in general. best of their ability. We both play the With the Big East and ACC teams 1-d-on-'t_t_hink

San Diego, CA (San ~iego Co.) San Diego Union (Cir. D. 217 089) (Cir. S. 341 :840)

spending more time on television than Dick Clark, Hank sees it becom- ing doubly difficult for the West Coast school to recruit top people. "The Big East has hurt everybody because of TV," Egan says. "They've got excellent players, they're on TV all the time and people sit home and watch them instead of going to see their local team play. "The rise of the PCAA, with Neva- da-Las Vegas, also bas hurt West Coast basketball. Now there are four conferences competing in the same areas for players and there aren't that many great areas for players on the West Coast. Meanwhile, TV has taken top players from the West Coast back East. Syracuse just signed two of the top five kids in L.A. "It's tough. It used to be that if a Pac-10 _school wanted a kid, that kid was gomg to a Pac-10 school. That no longer is the case." What this means, of cours.:! is that with the cream failing to ~lay at home and heading east, the next group of players is heading for the more famous West Coast schools. This makes it even more difficult for a Hank Egan, who does not have the tradition of a UCLA or USF to sell. But Hank feels a change will come. One day. "Things cycle," he says. "Things will turn because everybody cares about what's going on out here. When something becomes a matter of con- cern, people do things about it." Hank Egan is not Jim Brovelli and that's just fine. He seems to get by fairly well on his own.

'The Big East has

JAN 29 1986

hurt everybody because of TV'

Jl./le,r

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-Hank Egan

Thompson is truly a handful .l]SD_:s offense, success revolve around 7-footer . By Bill Center Staff Writer For all his bulk, Scott Thompson's hands are easily overlooked. USD coach Hank Egan. "Scott has a touch, a good perception of how the game should be played." That's not just Egan's opinion.

percentages offensively and defen- sively. But Jim's quieter than me. I'm a little more aggressive." As the Toreros prepare to meet Pepperdine here tomorrow night, they already have laid claim to the San Diego County title. Earlier this year, USD thoroughly thumped San Diego State 81-64, and a few weeks later snuffed USIU 96-82. It marked the first time since 1979, when USD went out to play with the big boys in NCAA Division I, that the Toreros had defeated State. And Egan claims the win was a tonic for his program. The Toreros, you see, dominated the Aztecs, and State is not without talent. Still, Egan realizes that USO con- tinues to play in State's shadow and probably will for quite some time. But he's not going to slash his wrists. USD ha other priorities. "I think we're trying to develop a ha ·ketball program," he claims. "One that's fun for the kids on cam- pus to come and watch ... one that can increase esprit de corps on cam- pus and advertise just what USD is to this community.

"Scott's more than just one of the best players in the WCAC," said Pep- perdine coach Jim Barrick, whose Waves will be at the USD Sports Cen- ter tomorrow night. "USD's game re- volves around Thompson because of his ability to move the basketball." "When the ball goes into the mid- dle, it doesn't stop," said Loyola Mar- ymount coach Paul Westhead of USD's offense. "The Toreros do an excellent job of moving the ball around their center." "Basketball people like Scott," See THOMPSO on Page D-5

Hands, after all, are not the big- gest part of the 20-year-old's anato- my. The University of San Diego bas- ketball center is 7-feet tall and weighs 260 pounds. Players of that magnitude are typ- ically associated with floor-rattling dunks and rebounds that yank the paint off the rim. But the hands tell you as much about Thompson as his size. ''He has a feel for the game," said

ANational Basketball Association scout who recently saw Thompson for the first time, told Egan the same thing. "He praised Scott's feel for what was going on around him," re- called the coach. And the coaches of the two teams who face USD this week in midsea- son West Coast Athletic Conference shootouts agree that Thompson de- serves more recognition than afford- ed by mere statistics.

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Scott Thompson gives USO a lot to smile about.