College Athletics California

Officials from the Big West Conference's six California schools met Monday to discuss adding UC Riverside and possibly Cal State Northridge to the conference by 2002, sources said. That plan moved a step closer on Monday, when Boise State became the latest Big West school to be invited to join the Western Athletic Conference and will make the move in the fall of 2001. Nevada will join the WAC next fall.

Officials from the Big West Conference's six California schools met Monday to discuss adding UC Riverside and possibly Cal State Northridge to the conference by 2002, sources said. That plan moved a step closer on Monday, when Boise State became the latest Big West school to be invited to join the Western Athletic Conference and will make the move in the fall of 2001. Nevada will join the WAC next fall.

To play college football, he had to start as a non-scholarship player at Michigan State. To coach football, he had to start as an assistant at Central Michigan. To be a head coach, he had to start as the successor to a genius, Bill Walsh. Good luck, Tyrone Willingham. As it turns out, Willingham, against these odds, has fared quite well.

Both quarterbacks began their careers at high schools in the region. Both now play college football in the state of Nevada. But the similarities between David Neill and Kevin Crook end there. When Neill leads Nevada against Crook and his Nevada Las Vegas Rebels in an intrastate rivalry on Saturday, it will mark the intersection of two divergent paths. Last fall, Neill was a senior at Hart High and his coaches were telling college recruiters that his best years were ahead of him.

UCLA held San Diego State's Marshall Faulk to 118 yards rushing in a victory over the Aztecs Sept. 26 in the Rose Bowl. The Bruins are the only team to keep the Heisman Trophy favorite to under 200 yards this season. Saturday night at the Rose Bowl, UCLA got a long look at another Heisman wanna-be, Stanford's Glyn Milburn, but caught too many glimpses from behind as the tailback struck the Bruins from all directions in the Cardinal's 19-7 victory.

Talk about sudden impact. Two games into his freshman season, Tyus Edney is already a favorite at Pauley Pavilion. "I usually think it's my family," the littlest Bruin said of the fans who call out his name, urging UCLA Coach Jim Harrick to bring the 5-foot-10 guard off the bench. "But it seems like I've heard different voices." One of Edney's admirers is former Bruin coach John Wooden.

Neither of his teams was crowned champion and none of his athletes won individual titles, but Cal State Northridge Coach Don Strametz received plenty of congratulations at the conclusion of the inaugural California-Nevada collegiate track and field championships at UCLA's Drake Stadium on Sunday.

Jaime Martinez closed out his high school career Saturday with one of his best personal performances in the 3,200 meters at the State track and field championships. Although his time of 9 minutes 6.94 seconds was impressive for the Orange senior, it earned him only a fifth-place finish. "It was tough. I had a couple of fast laps," Martinez said, "but that is all I had for today." Martinez began the race with the pack, but broke into the lead at the end of the second lap.

Experience won't be a problem for Cypress, when it competes in the state baseball tournament starting Friday in Fresno. Every member of the starting lineup was on the team that lost in the final game to Rancho Santiago last year. Second baseman Nahum Renteria was the only 1997 starter that didn't appear in the title game last year. But getting back to the title game wasn't what drove the Chargers this year, Coach Scott Pickler said.

Legislation in California that would make NCAA enforcement procedure conform to legal due process standards has been given new life in the Assembly after it was shelved for at least a year in the Senate. Rep. Dick Floyd (D-Gardena) has introduced legislation that would prohibit the NCAA from imposing sanctions on California schools unless certain standards of legal due process are met.

Experience won't be a problem for Cypress, when it competes in the state baseball tournament starting Friday in Fresno. Every member of the starting lineup was on the team that lost in the final game to Rancho Santiago last year. Second baseman Nahum Renteria was the only 1997 starter that didn't appear in the title game last year. But getting back to the title game wasn't what drove the Chargers this year, Coach Scott Pickler said.

Josh Moats, Caltech guard, was preparing to throw the ball inbounds against California Lutheran when someone in the stands stood and screamed something last heard at a college basketball game in 1947. "Shouldn't you be home doing your homework?" Moats held the ball a second, then later told teammates why. "I was thinking, 'You know, that guy was right.' " Meet the smartest NCAA basketball team in the country. Smart enough not to despair that it is also, arguably, the worst.

To play college football, he had to start as a non-scholarship player at Michigan State. To coach football, he had to start as an assistant at Central Michigan. To be a head coach, he had to start as the successor to a genius, Bill Walsh. Good luck, Tyrone Willingham. As it turns out, Willingham, against these odds, has fared quite well.

Jaime Martinez closed out his high school career Saturday with one of his best personal performances in the 3,200 meters at the State track and field championships. Although his time of 9 minutes 6.94 seconds was impressive for the Orange senior, it earned him only a fifth-place finish. "It was tough. I had a couple of fast laps," Martinez said, "but that is all I had for today." Martinez began the race with the pack, but broke into the lead at the end of the second lap.

Neither of his teams was crowned champion and none of his athletes won individual titles, but Cal State Northridge Coach Don Strametz received plenty of congratulations at the conclusion of the inaugural California-Nevada collegiate track and field championships at UCLA's Drake Stadium on Sunday.

UCLA held San Diego State's Marshall Faulk to 118 yards rushing in a victory over the Aztecs Sept. 26 in the Rose Bowl. The Bruins are the only team to keep the Heisman Trophy favorite to under 200 yards this season. Saturday night at the Rose Bowl, UCLA got a long look at another Heisman wanna-be, Stanford's Glyn Milburn, but caught too many glimpses from behind as the tailback struck the Bruins from all directions in the Cardinal's 19-7 victory.

Josh Moats, Caltech guard, was preparing to throw the ball inbounds against California Lutheran when someone in the stands stood and screamed something last heard at a college basketball game in 1947. "Shouldn't you be home doing your homework?" Moats held the ball a second, then later told teammates why. "I was thinking, 'You know, that guy was right.' " Meet the smartest NCAA basketball team in the country. Smart enough not to despair that it is also, arguably, the worst.

Both quarterbacks began their careers at high schools in the region. Both now play college football in the state of Nevada. But the similarities between David Neill and Kevin Crook end there. When Neill leads Nevada against Crook and his Nevada Las Vegas Rebels in an intrastate rivalry on Saturday, it will mark the intersection of two divergent paths. Last fall, Neill was a senior at Hart High and his coaches were telling college recruiters that his best years were ahead of him.

Talk about sudden impact. Two games into his freshman season, Tyus Edney is already a favorite at Pauley Pavilion. "I usually think it's my family," the littlest Bruin said of the fans who call out his name, urging UCLA Coach Jim Harrick to bring the 5-foot-10 guard off the bench. "But it seems like I've heard different voices." One of Edney's admirers is former Bruin coach John Wooden.

Legislation in California that would make NCAA enforcement procedure conform to legal due process standards has been given new life in the Assembly after it was shelved for at least a year in the Senate. Rep. Dick Floyd (D-Gardena) has introduced legislation that would prohibit the NCAA from imposing sanctions on California schools unless certain standards of legal due process are met.