Steve Aggers

Having seen how he rescued a once-moribund Eastern Washington men's basketball program, Loyola Marymount hired Steve Aggers as its coach to lead the Lions out of the depths. Aggers, 50, was introduced at a news conference after signing a five-year contract Wednesday morning. Financial terms were not disclosed. He replaces Charles Bradley, who resigned. A former assistant at Pepperdine from 1990-94, Aggers acknowledged that he is in for a big challenge.

Loyola Marymount fired men's basketball Coach Steve Aggers on Wednesday, less than a week after the Lions were eliminated in the first round of the West Coast Conference tournament. Aggers, 57, was let go after an 11-17 season that concluded Friday with a 91-79 loss to Pepperdine, his fourth losing season in five seasons as coach. Loyola finished in last place during WCC play and never finished higher than fifth in Aggers' tenure.

Loyola Marymount fired men's basketball Coach Steve Aggers on Wednesday, less than a week after the Lions were eliminated in the first round of the West Coast Conference tournament. Aggers, 57, was let go after an 11-17 season that concluded Friday with a 91-79 loss to Pepperdine, his fourth losing season in five seasons as coach. Loyola finished in last place during WCC play and never finished higher than fifth in Aggers' tenure.

On the day he was hired to resuscitate the Loyola Marymount basketball program four years ago, Coach Steve Aggers vowed to tap into the pool of Southern California high school talent that the previous coaching staff had largely abandoned. Aggers immediately set his sights on Compton Dominguez High, then the nation's No. 1 team, and found Sherman Gay, an athletic but raw 6-foot-7 forward who hadn't captured the fancy of many recruiters. "We just went after him hard," Aggers recalled.

On the day he was hired to resuscitate the Loyola Marymount basketball program four years ago, Coach Steve Aggers vowed to tap into the pool of Southern California high school talent that the previous coaching staff had largely abandoned. Aggers immediately set his sights on Compton Dominguez High, then the nation's No. 1 team, and found Sherman Gay, an athletic but raw 6-foot-7 forward who hadn't captured the fancy of many recruiters. "We just went after him hard," Aggers recalled.

Give him the slightest chance and Steve Aggers will trumpet the tradition of Loyola Marymount men's basketball, even though its glory period a decade ago was as brief as it was brilliant. Inevitably, any conversation with Aggers leads to his wanting to "restore the roar" of the program. When he was hired last April, the four West Coast Conference championships and that miracle 1990 NCAA tournament run were a distant memory.

How bad did it get for Loyola Marymount last season? Consider that when coach Charles Bradley resigned two weeks before season's end, the Lions simply stopped practicing. It was the final blow to a 2-26 season that didn't include a single victory over a Division I team. "It was worse than you can imagine," said Pablo Machado, the team's Venezuelan-born senior center. "As bad as it could get, that's how it got."

Steve Aggers, 42, coach at Wayne State in Nebraska the last five seasons, has been hired as an assistant basketball coach at Pepperdine.

* VANGUARD at LOYOLA MARYMOUNT, 7, KXLU-FM (88.9)--It is Game 1 of Coach Steve Aggers' renovation project at Loyola, which had two impressive exhibition victories, with forward Elton Mashack and center Greg Lakey playing well in both. Vanguard is a National Assn. of Intercollegiate Athletics team that went 12-19 last season.

A day after resigning as basketball coach at Jacksonville State, Mark Turgeon was hired to succeed Randy Smithson at Wichita State, a job bringing him back to his native Kansas. Turgeon, born in Topeka, was a point guard at Kansas in the mid-1980s and later an assistant there under Larry Brown and Roy Williams. . . . Eastern Washington Coach Steve Aggers, a former Pepperdine assistant, has been contacted about coaching vacancies at Cal State Fullerton and Loyola Marymount, sources said.

Give him the slightest chance and Steve Aggers will trumpet the tradition of Loyola Marymount men's basketball, even though its glory period a decade ago was as brief as it was brilliant. Inevitably, any conversation with Aggers leads to his wanting to "restore the roar" of the program. When he was hired last April, the four West Coast Conference championships and that miracle 1990 NCAA tournament run were a distant memory.

How bad did it get for Loyola Marymount last season? Consider that when coach Charles Bradley resigned two weeks before season's end, the Lions simply stopped practicing. It was the final blow to a 2-26 season that didn't include a single victory over a Division I team. "It was worse than you can imagine," said Pablo Machado, the team's Venezuelan-born senior center. "As bad as it could get, that's how it got."

Having seen how he rescued a once-moribund Eastern Washington men's basketball program, Loyola Marymount hired Steve Aggers as its coach to lead the Lions out of the depths. Aggers, 50, was introduced at a news conference after signing a five-year contract Wednesday morning. Financial terms were not disclosed. He replaces Charles Bradley, who resigned. A former assistant at Pepperdine from 1990-94, Aggers acknowledged that he is in for a big challenge.

Pepperdine guard Brandon Armstrong was selected the West Coast Conference men's basketball player of the week. Armstrong scored 57 points in two victories over Loyola Marymount, including 40 on 16-of-24 shooting last Wednesday for the Waves (12-5, 4-0 in WCC play). A 6-foot-3 junior, he has been drawing the attention of defenses--and pro scouts--in recent weeks. "Armstrong showed why he's a great pro prospect," Loyola Marymount Coach Steve Aggers said.