Senior center Dan Jennings (35) did his best work last year against UCLA; has to learn a new Niner lineup. Photo courtesy of LBSU Media Relations
In the entertainment biz (and after all in the original concept for ESPN the “E” was for Entertainment and the “S” was for Sports) the line between the two was kept intentionally blurry.
So when I remind the readership that the best bang for your athletic bankroll comes when you have a top of the marquee sport surrounded by worthy opening acts. For Long Beach State the headliner is clearly men’s college basketball. The last President had all-comers open gyms, the current athletic director played and coached the game in small colleges back East, and the biggest checks the Beach has cashed have been from non-conference road trips (albeit painful) to the elite hoop heavens.
So that is our segue to the beginning of b-ball practice and the first live look at the 2013-14 LB lineup missing stars Tony Freeland and Keala King (dispatched to other places) and departing senior James Ennis, a Miami Heat draftee doing an apprenticeship in Perth, Australia. The Niners are adding a UCLA transfer in former all world prep guy Tyler Lamb and a couple of JUCO newcomers, Bronx big guy David Samuels (6-7, 225) and Kansas shooting star AJ Spencer.
The squad has a lot of other moving parts, like returning guards Mike Caffey and, just off the DL, ultra-quick floor general Branford Jones but the big spotlight will be on former West Virginia import, and, like Samuels a New Yorker, 6-9, 245 Dan Jennings. Jennings was an every game starter last season who blistered UCLA for 27 points and averaged nearly ten points and seven rebounds per game. Without Ennis to distract opponents Dan’s role this year is absolutely crucial.
Moving around the campus we salute another of the LBSU Fab freshmen this one being Celeste Dominguez of Women’s Soccer who scored the game-winner in the 86th minute of a 1-0 triumph over San Francisco to give the 49ers their third straight victory. This weekend the LB booters are at Cal Poly on Friday and at UC Santa Barbara on Sunday, 1PM.
Meanwhile the rollercoaster still continues for Women’s Volleyball (8-7) who beat UC Santa Barbara 3-2 then were swept at Cal Poly. Sophomore Alex Reid averaged 3.75 kills per set for Long Beach State over the 49ers’ first two conference matches. Next up is a TV date with #6 Hawaii Friday, 8PM in the Walter Pyramid and on Fox Sports West.
The lads of 7th ranked Men’s Water Polo (10-3) beat #11 Princeton 11-7 behind fine play from Carter Taylor, Devin Mefford, and Zacchary Kappos who each had three goals. The Beach has weekend tourneys at Whittier and Pomona. .
Women’s Tennis worked its way through the lower brackets of the ITA Women’s All-American show at UCLA and this weekend host their own Beach Tennis Fall Invitational Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the Rhodes Tennis Center.
DUST BUNNIES—So just one USC note, a couple of weeks ago Steven Spielberg was asked his favorite disaster movie and said, “The Washington State game.” Ironically Steven gives money to USC but actually graduated from LBSU. Long Beach State head women’s basketball coach Jody Wynn has new faces in her WBB suite, Kari LaPlante as an assistant coach and Tipesa Moorer as the director of operations. Tipesa replaced Lauren Kawahara and Kari replaced Laura Freimuth who moved up a notch as #1 assistant at Cal Lutheran. LaPlante recently returned from overseas where she played professionally for two years in Romania. In 2011-12, LaPlante, a 6-foot-5 center, was a member of BCT Alexandria where she averaged 14.8 points and 9.7 rebounds per game. She also earned MVP honors from Eurobasket.com for her performance in the final round of league play. Both of the new gals are big and tough and that is something the 49ers in the front court should use as a role model.
Last add, a nice tribute to the late local banker Al Fujimoto, a popular 49er fan-alum-stat guy etc. with his name on the soccer scoreboard at George Allen Field. Al’s son Cameron does double duty these days with Jet Blue at LGB and sports info at LBSU— DR. DAN