COMIC COACHES SPEAK UP JOHN WOODEN TIP-OFF SPEECHES HEAVY ON LEVITY.

Byline: Vincent Bonsignore Staff Writer

When they stopped firing off one-liners and started getting down to the business of basketball Thursday at the John Wooden Tip-Off luncheon, coaches like UCLA's Steve Lavin and San Diego State's Steve Fisher proved one thing: As comedians these guys make pretty good coaches.

A week before practice starts, Lavin and Co. could afford to be lighthearted. There weren't any referees to scream at or inexperienced freshmen to cause frustration, so the mood was casual.

In a few weeks, that won't be the case, so all the Southern California coaches who took turns speaking about their teams Monday at the Los Angeles Athletic Club took full advantage to mix humor with statistics.

UCLA, USC, Pepperdine, Loyola Marymount, Long Beach State, UC Santa Barbara, Cal State Fullerton, Cal State Los Angeles, Northridge, Cal Poly Pomona, UC Irvine and UC Riverside were represented.

Bobby Braswell, whose Matadors play their final year in the Big Sky before moving to the Big West, could enjoy himself considering the strides Northridge has made since he took over five years ago. The Matadors barely missed winning the Big Sky tournament a year ago and advancing to the NCAA tournament. But Braswell remembers how things once were.

``When I took over at Northridge, I remember the advice I got from Jim Harrick,'' Braswell said. ``He told me, 'Why'd you take that job?; it's career suicide.' Sure enough, there were a few times I felt like committing suicide that first year.''

Braswell also tipped his cap to the two Pac-10 schools in Los Angeles.

``I do want to thank USC and UCLA for helping offset our budget every year,'' Braswell said, referring to the guaranteed money Northridge gets from playing the Bruins and Trojans. ``Hopefully we'll be in good enough shape to do some damage.''

Lavin didn't stay long, leaving right after he spoke to visit with Redondo Union High's Dijon Thompson, one of the top seniors in the nation.

But he couldn't help muse over what could have been for the Bruins this year, when NBA players Baron Davis, Jerome Moiso and JaRon Rush would all be juniors and seniors had they not left early to turn pro. Instead, they'll rely on super sophomore Jason Kapono, junior center Dan Gadzuric and incoming freshmen T.J. Cummings to compete with Pac-10 favorite Arizona.

Pepperdine and USC both have players among the 50 candidates for the 2000-2001 Wooden Award All-American team. The Waves' Brandon Armstrong and the Trojans' Brian Scalabrine are two of the top players in the nation.

Two local players are on the list - Arizona's Gilbert Arenas (Grant of Van Nuys) and Stanford's Jarron Collins (Harvard-Westlake).

Armstrong, a junior guard, led the Waves in scoring last year and was pivotal in their upset over Indiana in the first round of the NCAA tournament a year ago.

Ironically, Pepperdine opens against the Hoosiers at Indiana in the first round of the preseason NIT tournament, making the Waves the last team to play against the Hoosiers under Bobby Knight and the first to play them without Knight.

``It seems like there's been a lot of attention on that game since Bobby was finally (fired),'' Pepperdine coach Jan van Breda Kolff said. ``But obviously last year is a year gone by and right now we're focused on the upcoming season.''