Briefs: Fred Hoover dies
Fred Hoover, a former assistant baseball coach at UC Irvine in the early 1990s who spent the majority of his career as the head coach at Golden West Community College in Huntington Beach, died Friday at his home. He was 81.
Hoover compiled a 433-281 record in 21 seasons at Golden West, where he coached a handful of future major leaguers including Kevin Elster.
He became pitching coach at Cal State Fullerton in 1989 and was named an assistant at UCI in 1991, under then-coach Mike Gerakos. UCI disbanded its baseball program after the 1992 season, then it was revived for the 2003 season.
Hoover coached Orange Coast College baseball coach John Altobelli and current Rustlers head man Bert Villarreal at Golden West.
The GWC diamond is named Hoover Field in his honor.
Information on services is pending.
— Barry Faulkner
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Anteaters reunited
There will be a mini-reunion for three former UC Irvine men’s soccer standouts on Saturday, when the Minnesota Stars visit the Tampa Bay Rowdies in a North American Soccer League contest in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.
The Minnesota roster includes former Anteaters Amani Walker and Miguel Ibarra, both of whom are having solid seasons for the 5-5-2 squad that is in third place in the eight-team circuit, considered to be American soccer’s second division.
Andrew Fontein, a decorated goalkeeper for UCI where he amassed 29 career shutouts, is a rookie with the Rowdies, for whom he has yet to see game action.
Walker, a 6-foot-2 forward, shares the team lead with three goals and has a team-best three assists heading into Saturday’s contest. He had 27 career goals and 11 assists at UCI, where he was the 2010 Big West Conference Co-Offensive Player of the Year. He was drafted in the first round of the MLS supplemental draft in 2010 by the Chicago Fire, but did not make the team.
Ibarra, a first-team All-American in 2011, when the 5-7 midfielder had nine goals and eight assists to share Big West Offensive Player of the Year laurels, has two goals and one assist for the Stars. He was drafted in the second round of the 2011 MLS supplemental draft by the Portland Timbers.
Fontein was chosen in the third round of the MLS supplemental draft in 2011 by the Vancouver Whitecaps.
— Barry Faulkner
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Pavlik earns crown
Whitney Pavlik, who played women’s volleyball at UC Irvine, teamed with Jenny Kropp to win the Belmar Open, a Jose Cuervo Beach Pro Series event concluded Sunday in Belmar, N. J.
Pavlik and Kropp, the No. 1 seed, defeated New York resident Kristen Batt and Raquel Ferreira from Brazil, 20-22, 21-12, 15-4, in the final. It was their second triumph in two Jose Cuervo events this season, as they won the Florida Open in Ft. Lauderdale on May 27.
The Jose Cuervo Beach Pro Series continues on July 13-15 in Chicago. It comes to Hermosa Beach on July 20-22.
Pavlik was a former All-Big West Conference outside hitter with the Anteaters, where she played her final two collegiate seasons after two seasons at Montana.
— From staff reports
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Lynch leaves UCI
George Lynch, a former NBA player who was the UC Irvine men’s basketball team’s strength and conditioning coach last season, has been named assistant strength and conditioning coach at SMU.
Lynch, who was also an assistant athletic director for community relations for one year, before working with his former high school teammates and Anteaters’ Coach Russell Turner last season, was hired by SMU Coach Larry Brown. Brown, like Lynch a University of North Carolina alumnus, coached Lynch with the Philadelphia 76ers when they reached the NBA Finals in 2001.
Prior to coming to UCI, Lynch was director of Flight Nine Basketball, a non-profit youth basketball program in Dallas, from 2006 to 2010.
Lynch’s 12-year NBA career included stops with the Los Angeles Lakers (who drafted him in the first round, 12th overall, in 1993), the Vancouver Grizzlies, and the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets.
He was captain of North Carolina’s 1993 NCAA championship team.
Turner said he was not only a great help to his players, but as a trusted friend, was a great sounding board during his first two seasons as a Division I head coach.
— From staff reports