ANOTHER RECRUITING CHARGE AT SYLMAR : SAN FERNANDO FILES COMPLAINT.

Byline: Eric Sondheimer Daily News Deputy Sports Editor 

Sylmar High School's football program is facing a second allegation of recruiting violations, this one involving San Fernando junior linebacker Derrell Daniels.

School officials at San Fernando have filed a written complaint alleging that Daniels worked out in the Sylmar weight room last month in the presence of football coach Jeff Engilman, according to Tigers coach Sean Blunt.

The City Section Rules Committee will hear San Fernando's complaint on Thursday at the same time it looks into a complaint by Taft officials alleging that running back Donald Carpenter worked out in the Sylmar weight room earlier this year.

Carpenter has since applied to attend Sylmar under open enrollment. Daniels, considered one of the area's top linebackers for next season, is also trying to enroll at Sylmar under open enrollment, Blunt said.

``I can't let this man recruit my players at will,'' Blunt said. ``This hasn't been the first incident. Enough is enough.''

Engilman said Blunt ``is wrong'' to accuse him of recruiting.

Engilman admits that he saw Daniels working out last month in the Sylmar weight room. Engilman said he asked, ``Who is that guy working out?'' He then walked up to Daniels and said, ``How do you like the weight room?'' He briefly left, then returned and told Daniels, ``Now you know the difference between San Fernando and Sylmar.''

Engilman said he never tried to recruit Daniels. Complicating the situation is that this year, schools were allowed to open their weight rooms for workouts after school, and it's still unclear about a coach's responsibility when someone who doesn't attend his school shows up to use the facility.

``Anytime there's a disgruntled player on any program, they say, `I'm going to Sylmar,' and automatically I'm accused of recruiting them,'' Engilman said.

Engilman said open enrollment, the two-year-old state law that allows students to attend schools anywhere in their district, is creating turmoil in athletics.

``They've opened up a can of worms with open enrollment,'' he said. ``It's free agency with high school athletics.''

More transfers: In another twist in the era of open enrollment, two eighth-grade athletes have received interdistrict transfers to attend public schools far from their homes in the San Fernando Valley.

Zach Wasserman, a quarterback who lives in Tarzana, has received an interdistrict transfer to attend Westlake High School. Brandon Fullove, a 6-foot-4 basketball player who lives in Winnetka, has received an interdistrict transfer to attend a new magnet high school in the Simi Valley District and thus become eligible to play at Simi Valley High because the school has no athletic program.

Parents for both students said academics was the top reason for choosing schools more than 20 miles from their homes.

Charles Wasserman, Zach's father, said his transfer was approved because it is work-related. He said he is a psychologist with an office in Westlake Village. He said sports was not the primary reason his son would be attending Westlake, which boasts one of the area's top passing attacks.

The younger Wasserman had also considered attending Crespi in Encino. His father also inquired about attending Hart in Newhall, according to Indians assistant coach Rick Herrington.

Fullove, younger brother of Louisville girls' track star Shaluinn Fullove, is good friends with another Simi Valley incoming freshman, Brett Michel.

DeMars to USC?: Westlake High School linebacker Bobby DeMars, considered one of the state's top college football prospects for 1997, said he is close to making a college choice, with USC leading the way.

The 6-foot-4, 235-pound DeMars said he could make a final decision as early as this week.