CSUN Ax May Fall Today

NORTHRIDGE — After weeks of nervous anticipation, Cal State Northridge coaches and athletes are bracing for an announcement expected today on which sports will survive cuts prompted by financial and gender-equity concerns.

“The anticipation is that a final decision will be reached [today] and an announcement will be forthcoming,” said Paul Bubb, Northridge athletic director.

“I really hope that we will [make an announcement today] because the ones that I’m most concerned about are the student-athletes. They need to have an answer so they can go and do whatever they have to do.”

Five men’s programs--baseball, golf, soccer, swimming and volleyball--were placed on the potential chopping block several weeks ago because the department is over budget and needs to be in line with gender-equity regulations that take effect Fall, 1998.

Those regulations say Northridge must raise its percentage of female athletes from 39% to 52%, bringing the proportion within 5% of that of the student body.

Adding women’s sports is out of the question because the department is $800,000 in debt, so men’s programs must be cut. Only five are vulnerable because the others--including football, the most expensive--are required by the Big Sky Conference for membership.

There have been last-ditch efforts to save baseball and soccer.

Steven Soboroff, senior advisor to Mayor Richard Riordan, was encouraged by Northridge President Blenda J. Wilson on Monday to proceed with a baseball stadium proposal. But that might involve only refurbishing the softball field to accommodate top-level youth baseball and softball tournaments.

Soccer Coach Marwan Ass’ad met with Ron Kopita, Northridge’s vice president in charge of student affairs, on Monday, guaranteeing that he could run his program at a profit if allowed one more season.

Ass’ad remains upbeat, which is more than can be said for those involved with the baseball and swimming programs.

Baseball coaches and players are already making alternative plans.

On Tuesday, outfielder Ryan Hurd received Bubb’s permission to talk to other schools. Hurd will meet with Long Beach State coaches later this week.

“The feeling I got from [Bubb] is that there is not going to be a baseball team,” Hurd said. “He said that if he could guarantee a program here, he wouldn’t give me a release.”

Coach Mike Batesole is interviewing today for a job at Iowa, one of the few Division I head coaching positions available. He is among five finalists, including two longtime Hawkeye assistants.

Tim Montez, pitching coach and recruiting coordinator, is interviewing at Arkansas for an opening as an assistant. He also has made inquiries at Santa Clara.

Pitchers Erasmo Ramirez and Benny Flores, the best returning players, were the first to bolt, transferring to Cal State Fullerton.

“Everybody on the team has talked to places to go and is planning on leaving,” Batesole said. “This program has been built on truth and now that part of the program has been destroyed. Now, I don’t think anyone will believe what is said.”

A few players are sitting tight.

“I’ll probably talk to Fullerton and San Diego State, but I haven’t done anything yet,” said Jason Gause, a freshman third baseman who batted .280. “Coach Batesole said to let him know where we want to go and he’d try his hardest to get us there.

“I’ve had no calls from Northridge. I found out what was happening during a summer game in San Diego. Guys on the opposing team told me about it.”

Recruits who signed letters of intent are unable to talk to other programs, a source of frustration because some schools have scholarship money available that was committed to players who were drafted and signed last week.

“This is one of the hottest recruiting times of the year, and I can understand how our guys are angry about being in limbo,” Batesole said.

Nick Garcia, a shortstop from Banning High, signed with Northridge in November, canceling recruiting trips to Nevada, Fresno State and UC Santa Barbara.

“I feel really, really bad for my son because I talked him into going to Northridge,” said Nick Garcia Sr. “The bad thing now is that other schools’ money is tied up with kids. I’m trying. I’ve been on the phone all morning to schools. Fullerton tells me now they need a middle infielder.”

Regardless of the program’s fate, Batesole will be paid the final two years of the three-year contract he signed before this season.

Northridge swimming Coach Barry Schreifels expects his program to be eliminated.

“My stomach hurts,” Schreifels said. “I talked to a few of my recruits last night. We are hanging tough. I will be relieved when this comes to an end. I pray to God it is [today]. They have left people hanging way too long.”

Schreifels said his program is the one with the least argument.

“In my mind, swimming is gone,” Schreifels said. “The only thing I can see them fighting for is men’s volleyball.”

That is the hope of Coach John Price, who has relayed only optimism to his players and recruits.

“I’m assuming we are going to have a program,” he said. “We go through this all the time and we haven’t been cut yet. I think it’s more likely we will make it than we won’t.

“I’m just anxious. I can deal with bad news. I will survive and move on. My players will live. It’s [lousy] that this is happening and the reason it’s happening is [lousy], but get on with it. Pull the trigger. Kill me or miss but get on with it.”

Ass’ad said he felt good about his meeting with Kopita on Monday. He proposed that he and his assistant, Terry Davila, work for a combined $10,000, and the program could operate on an additional $10,405. He promised more than $40,000 in income--$2,500 in guarantees, $22,000 in gate receipts from 11 home games and $16,000 from soccer boosters.

“I feel that the decision whether to play this year or not needs a reasonable person to look at it,” Ass’ad said. “[The school] is not going to lose money if we play. We gave them a proposal that realistically will have them in the black.”

Kopita would not say if Ass’ad’s appeal would save the program.

“I told him I appreciated the info and I would take it under advisement as we review the whole thing,” Kopita said. “ . . . I wanted to give him a chance to express his opinions and give me whatever he wanted to give me.”

Regardless of whether soccer survives this round of cuts, Ass’ad has conceded it will be gone in 1998, when gender-equity regulations have to be met.

Mike Preis, a freshman from Chatsworth High who was the Matadors’ leading scorer, has not thought much about where he might play if the program is cut.

“I always look at things in a positive way,” he said. “The only thing I can do is hope for the best.”

Perhaps most optimistic is golf Coach Jim Bracken.

“I am staying positive because there has been talk of making us a core sport in the Big Sky Conference,” he said.

Northridge was fifth in the six-team Big Sky last season but Bracken believes the Matadors can be perennial contenders.

Another reason the program might be saved is that it only involves eight athletes, who divide 1 1/2 scholarships. Ryan Shaffer, Ron Fowlkes and Tim Wren have eligibility remaining.

“If we don’t have a team, I have nowhere to play,” Shaffer said. “Most schools have signed all their players for next year. I work at Oakmont Country Club in Glendale and I have a chance to turn professional and give lessons. I don’t want to be forced into that, but I might be.”