UCSB gets the worst of a sibling rivalry

MARK PATTON

11/10/01

Pauley Pavilion was originally to be built at this new college campus that was sprouting atop the oceanfront bluffs near the Santa Barbara Airport.

But instead, it opened at UCLA in 1966.

UCSB got Pauley Track instead. Congratulations, Gauchos.

It's not easy being the little sister.

The Bruins and the Gauchos are from the same University of California family. But while UCLA has feasted from a cornucopia of resources, financial and otherwise, UCSB has always been seated at UC's kiddie table.

Jamaal Wilkes was a local legend in basketball, and his mother even worked at UCSB. But the Gauchos were a distant second to the Bruins in the Wilkes recruiting race.

It did kind of work out for Wilkes, who was a two-time All-American, NBA Rookie of the Year for Golden State and NBA champion with the Los Angeles Lakers.

But then you've got guys like Todd Ramasar of Corona's J.

W. North High. He resisted overtures from UCSB to sign with UCLA in 1997. He's barely ever left the Bruins' bench -- not even last season when the Gauchos visited Pauley Pavilion for a non-league game that UCLA barely won.

And now comes word that Santa Ynez High's Matt McKinney, a 6-foot-8 recruit coveted by both UCSB basketball and volleyball, has declared that it's Westwood, Ho! He said he'll sign a national letter of intent with the Bruins next week.

Only time will tell if McKinney becomes the next Jamaal Wilkes or the next Todd Ramasar. He is considered a tremendous athlete with -- how's this for upside? -- a 36-inch vertical leap. He averaged 22 points and 13 points last season at Santa Ynez. But he's now going to be competing for playing time against Parade All-Americans, not 6-foot-4 forwards from Morro Bay.

Whatever happens makes little difference now either way to the Gauchos, who are once again feeling like the Little Sisters of the Poor.

UCSB seemed to have the inside track for McKinney, since it was willing to let him play both sports, until UCLA volleyball coach Al Scates made his in-home visit a month ago. Basketball coach Steve Lavin tagged along on the trip, and it wasn't to sample the pastries of Solvang.

The Big Sisters were making the same two-for-one offer as the Little Sisters, and McKinney has apparently been a big Bruin fan since his childhood days in Woodland Hills.

He was quoted by one recruiting service, PrepWestHoops, as saying that "The feel I get from the school is going to be important. I want to have a good college experience and things like the social life and the campus will be important."

So advantage Isla Vista, right?

But he also admitted that his decision would come down to "maybe being a role player at a big-time program, or possibly being the man at a smaller program."

He decided to take his chances with Big Sis.

McKinney would've capped a tremendous recruiting class for UCSB, which has already gotten verbal commitments from 6-5 guard Josh Davis of Sacramento's Elk Grove High and 6-9 center Glen Turner of San Jose's Overfelt High. They were the Gauchos' No. 1 choices for the backcourt and the frontcourt, respectively.

Davis and Turner are expected to sign their letters of intent on Wednesday. Lavin, after all, has used up all his scholarships, hasn't he?

But UCLA may not be through picking through UCSB's belongings. Bruin athletic director Peter Dalis announced Monday that he will retire after this school year, and Gaucho A.

D. Gary Cunningham, a former UCLA basketball player and coach, has been listed as his possible successor.

Most around the UCSB campus aren't worried. They point out that Cunningham, who will be 62 in January, is only two years younger than Dalis. They also note that he would be competing against four quality in-house candidates as well as two former Bruin athletes -- UC Irvine A.

D. Dan Guerrero (baseball) and Boise State A.

D. Gene Bleymaier (football).

But remember, UCLA is a basketball school, and Cunningham was just recently inducted to the school's Hall of Fame for his exploits as both a player and coach.

He's also revered by his former coach and boss, John Wooden, as well as by many others still at the school. And foremost among their numbers is Vice Chancellor Peter Blackman, who is heading the search committee.

Those closest to Cunningham, meanwhile, say that UCLA is the only school that could lure him away from UCSB.

What worries me the most, though, is that it's the Bruins that we're dealing with here.

And in UC family tradition, they're like having Lizzie Borden for a big sister.