Same guys, different Aggie team

Sunday, November 16, 1997

Same guys, different Aggie team

By SCOTT M. JOHNSON
Enterprise staff writer

UC Davis men's basketball coach Bob Williams knows there are greater tragedies than losing a leading scorer to graduation. Many of the best Division I coaches lose their best players in two years or less.

So life will go on without Dedrique Taylor, the Aggies' top scorer last season with an average of 11.1 points per game.

``Each season is a completely different entity,'' Williams said this week, paraphrasing Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski. ``Even if we have four returning starters, they're not carrying the burden of last year's team or the year before that.''

Taylor is the only starter missing and -- along with Marcus Knott -- one of only two players who graduated. Much of the nucleus returns for the three-time Northern California Athletic Conference champion. But it's not the same team that played in its third consecutive NCAA Division II tournament in March.

The 1997-98 Aggies will still rely heavily on the three-point shot, but they won't get pushed around inside. UCD made a commitment in the off-season to hit the weights.

UCD has many of the same faces from last season's 20-9 team but not the same bodies.

``We pretty much had to (bulk up),'' Williams said. ``We looked like a bunch of guys out of prisoner of war camps in Vietnam or something. We were skinny, skinny, skinny. We're still thin, but we're stronger.''

Seniors Justis Durkee, Jonathan Surface, Rick Gonzales and Chris Vlasic and sophomore Jason Cox have added muscle, while redshirt freshman Scott Darmstadt and junior-college transfer John Surina also bring needed size.

``We stressed that at the end of last year,'' Vlasic said. ``We had a meeting after the season and said that people had to make a commitment in the weight room to get in better physical condition. If you come in here in better condition, you stay healthier and you can play longer.''

But the team will still rely on one of the smallest players on the floor: 5-foot-9, 155-pound Dante Ross. Now a junior, Ross has passed the experimental stage at point guard and is expected to get the offense rolling, even if that means scoring only three or four points on some nights.

``Dante Ross is our first option, because he has the ball when he comes down the court,'' Williams said. ``He's the one that has to make things happen. He has to make smart decisions.''

Ross came to UCD as a shooting guard but, after a redshirt year and a year away from the team, was handed the ball and told to run the offense last season. He has not disappointed Williams. This season, he hopes to have the rookie mistakes behind him.

``It's been a lot funner (this season), because I know what's going on,'' said Ross, who averaged 8.9 points and 3.6 assists. ``That year of experience will really help.''

This is an experienced team with six seniors, plus returning starters Ross and Cox, a sophomore.

Despite that, the Aggies could get solid minutes from first-year players like Darmstadt, who reminds Williams of Cox at the same stage last season; Surina, a 6-6 transfer from Pima Community College in Arizona; and J.C. Timmons, a JC transfer who will challenge Vlasic as the starting shooting guard.

``This is a pretty easy year in transition for us in terms of we only lost one starter,'' Williams said. ``We're coming off a year when we lost three starters. And the year before that, we lost four starters. So this is kind of an easy adjustment.''

And when returning starters Durkee and J.P. Bergez graduate along with four other seniors, Williams will adjust again. But that may still be one final NCAC championship away.