Season Opener: Titans Head East for
Tournament Nov. 17– New Britain, CT
UPCOMING:
Fri.-Sat., Nov. 19-20 -- at Mohegan Sun Classic, New Britain, Connecticut
Friday - 6 p.m. EST, vs. Samford; Saturday, 6 or 8 p.m. EST, Consolation
or Championship Game vs. Colgate or Central Connecticut State
Sat., Nov. 27 - Hope International, Titan Gym, 7:05 p.m.
Sat., Dec. 4 - at Denver, Magness Arena, 7:00 p.m.
THE QUICK SCENARIO: The Titans open their 45th season
of intercollegiate men’s basketball (31st at the Div. I level) this
weekend at the Mohegan Sun Classic in New Britain, Connecticut, facing
Samford and then either Colgate or host Central Connecticut State. This
is the first appearance on the East Coast for the Titans since they began
Div. I play in the 1974-75 season with a trip to Providence, UConn and
Richmond. This is the second season under Head Coach Bob Burton, who brings
an 11-man roster on the trip. Letterman guard Ralphy Holmes and Western
Kentucky transfer forward Jamaal Brown will not be eligible until the
Dec. 21 game at San Diego State.
“RADIO”: All games can be heard live on the
internet on computers with sound cards. Listeners may access the CSF Athletics
home page at www.titansports.org and follow the links. Mel Franks is the
announcer this weekend.
TRAVELING SQUAD:
No. Name Ht. Yr. ppg# rpg# Quick Notes
F 24 Hardy Asprilla * 6-5 Sr. 4.8 5.1 Hard-working native of Bucaramanga,
Colombia; will like faster tempo
F 12 Drew Awad 6-3 Sr. -- -- Transfer from Fresno City College; leukemia
survivor
G 3 Bobby Brown * 6-1 So. 13.2 2.0 Big West Conference Freshman of the
Year; made 70 of 173 (.405) treys
F 5 Justin Burns 6-6 So. -- -- Transfer from Cypress Community College;
father “Spider” played at UNLV G 22 John Clemmons 6-0 Jr.
-- -- January transfer from El Camino College who didn’t play last
year
G 23 Vershan Cottrell 6-2 Jr. -- -- Transfer from Ohlone College who led
state of Washington in scoring as prep
G 14 Jermaine Harper 6-3 Jr. -- -- Transfer from Univ. of Virginia; averaged
3.9 ppg, 1.4 rpg for Cavs in ‘02-03
F 2 Yaphett King * 6-4 Sr. 9.1 4.9 Averaged 11.7 points over final 17
games last year; streaky shooter
F 21 Danny Lambert 6-6 Jr. -- -- Transfer from Irvine Valley College who
had to sit out due to knee injury
C 42 Derek Quinet 6-9 So. -- -- Transfer from West Valley College; originally
signed with Boise State
C 43 Lloyd Walls 6-9 Sr. -- -- Transfer from Wright State; averaged 0.8
ppg, 1.1 rpg in ‘02-03
*letters earned #2003-04 stats for returnees
CAN YOU SAY GREEN?: Of the 11 players on the trip for
the Titans, only three (Asprilla, Brown and King) remain from last year’s
opener at Northern Arizona and only those three plus Awad at Fresno CC,
Burns at Cypress, Cottrell at Ohlone and Quinet at West Valley played
in a regulation game last season. Clemmons, Harper, Lambert and Walls
were redshirts.
ABOUT THE TOURNAMENT FIELD: Cal State Fullerton has never
faced any of the teams in the 2004 Mohegan Sun Classic, sponsored for
the seventh consecutive year by a local casino. Samford (Ohio Valley Conference,
Birmingham AL) is coming off a 12-16 season and returns 2 starters; Colgate
(Patriot League, Hamilton, NY) was 15-14 last year and returns 2 starters;
Central Connecticut (Northeast Conference) was 14-14 and returns 4 starters.
Fullerton last season went 11-17 and returns three part-time starters
in King (18 games), Brown (15 games) and Asprilla (14 games).
LIMITED ROAD SUCCESS: Fullerton was only 3-11 away from
Titan Gym last year, but that fit with recent road history:
2002-03 team: 4-13 away; 2001-02 team: 1-13 away; 2000-01 team: 2-11 away;
1999-00 team: 2-12 away
The last Titan team to post a winning road record was Coach John Sneed’s
team in 1988-89 (7-5 plus 1-1 in Big West Tourney).
AT HOME: Fullerton was 8-6 in Titan Gym last year, 5-4
in Big West Conference play.
OUT OF THE BLOCKS: Fullerton has not gotten off to a
good start since Coach Bob Hawking’s 1998-99 team won five games
in a row after an opening loss at Kansas State. Hawking’s final
team the next year went 0-4 out of the chute and Coach Donny Daniels opened
0-2 in each of his 3 seasons, standing at 1-5 each year. Coach Bob Burton
opened 0-3 last year before winning at Pepperdine. The last victorious
opener was in 1996-97 at BYU.
