Unlike his peers, Foothill coach focuses on just Bay Area players

By Pete Borello, Town Crier Staff Writer

Coach Shanan Rosenberg is trying to rebuild the Foothill College men’s basketball team the old-fashioned way. With area players.

It’s a concept many of the community colleges in the Bay Area have gotten away from - particularly the successful ones. Rosenberg pointed out that all the top teams in Coast Conference, of which Foothill is a member, have players from outside the Bay Area.

Foothill was once caught up in the same recruiting strategy, bringing in players from as far as France. It ultimately cost Rosenberg’s predecessor Todd Petersen his job two years ago when the program was penalized by the Coast Conference for violating recruiting rules involving subsidization for the foreign players. As a result, Foothill dropped men’s basketball for the remainder of the 2001-02 season.

Rosenberg was brought in last year to resurrect the program. Starting from scratch just a few months before the season, the St. Francis High graduate scrambled to find enough players to field a team. He did, but it wasn’t much of a team. The Owls went 5-22 and finished last in the Coast Conference’s North Division.

Rosenberg is essentially starting over again this season, with only one returning player - Hillsdale High grad Josh Urbiztondo - on the 12-man roster. This time around, however, the coach had enough time to do some serious recruiting. Rosenberg sought players as far south as San Jose and as far north as San Francisco.

“Being able to recruit and having a calendar year with the team makes a big difference,” he said.

East Palo Alto native Erion Moore (from East Union High) and fellow 6-foot-6 player Ben Dondero (Hillsdale) provide inside scoring and rebounding. Swingman Kevin Ummel - Serra High’s all-time leading scorer - gives Foothill another polished scorer to go along with guard Urbiztondo, who averaged 19 points a game as a freshman. Rosenberg also expects Travis Harris (Fremont High), J.P. Passaglia (Sacred Heart Cathedral), Sam Obando (Serra), Mark Campbell (Terra Nova) and Derek Thompson (Eastside Prep) to play key roles on the team.

With 10 freshmen, the Owls are probably too inexperienced to challenge for the division title or make a run at the playoffs. But that’s OK with Rosenberg, who takes a big-picture approach to college athletics.

“If they’re passing classes and achieving at the highest level they can, that’s all I can ask for,” he said. “Success is not always measured in wins and losses.”

Foothill is off to a promising start, though. The team split its first four games and one of its losses came on a buzzer-beater.

“We didn’t win our second game until late December last year,” Rosenberg said.

The coach likes the team chemistry and the way the Owls can shoot the ball. It’s enough to make him believe Foothill can finish around .500 this season.

Next season should be even better. Beyond carrying so many players that will have a year of college experience under their belts, Rosenberg should have five redshirts to add to the mix.

Foothill competes in the Napa Classic this weekend (Friday and Saturday) and plays its next home game Dec. 17 (7:30 p.m.) vs. Hartnell.