COLLEGES:

The celebration that honored the NAIA Division I champion Vanguard women’s basketball team Friday at the school’s gymnasium produced not only some great moments, but also plenty of news.

Vanguard senior Brian Roberts, who completed a four-year career with the men’s basketball team last month, will join the staff of women’s coach Russ Davis as an assistant next season.

Roberts, known more commonly as Boomer, will bring energy, enthusiasm and dedication, as well as plenty of basketball knowledge to the job. His outside shooting prowess — he had 155 career three-pointers and shot 41.9% from beyond the arc on his way to 690 career points — also makes him the odds-on favorite to win any games of H-O-R-S-E that might break out on the practice floor.

Roberts will replace Kelly Schmidt, the former four-time All-American and NAIA National Player of the Year, who helped guide the Lions to the school’s first NAIA national title this past season as a first-year assistant.

Schmidt, who owns Vanguard career records for points (2,639) and rebounds (1,053), said she is returning home to Glendale, Ariz. and plans to either teach school or work in the church.

While addressing the estimated 300 in attendance Friday at The Pit, Davis said one of the most special things about the unexpected national title was seeing Schmidt celebrating with players and fellow coaches after the team defeated Trevecca Nazarene of Nashville, Tenn. in the title game.

Schmidt had been an anchor for the two top-ranked Lions’ squads that lost in the semifinals of the NAIA Tournament in 2006 and 2007.

Schmidt, who joked that she was going out on top as an assistant coach after one season, said she valued her experiences on the sideline.

“It was a big decision whether or not to come back and coach this year,” Schmidt said. “I remembered my freshman year we had assistant coaches who played the year before and they really helped me. I knew this was a young [2007-08] team and I wanted to try to help them. It was way worth it. Even if we wouldn’t have won the championship, it was worth getting to know all these girls and see them improve. It was a great year.”

 Though there are nine players returning next season, including starters Lauren Gregory, Sarah Boyd, Paige Halberg and Marissa Rivera, who missed all but three games with a knee injury, Davis said he has worked hard to secure a strong group of new additions.

Davis said Esperanza High senior Allison Burns, a 6-foot forward-center who averaged 12.8 points and 10.6 rebounds last season to earn second-team CIF Southern Section All-Division II-AA honors for the Aztecs, has signed to continue her career at Vanguard.

In addition, Davis said he has two or three Division I transfers lined up to join the program, though he declined to reveal their names, in fear that other schools could steal them away.

Burns, who had 13 double-doubles as a senior, unfortunately suffered a right-knee injury in one of the Orange County all-star games held at Ocean View High Saturday. Davis said Monday it could be a torn ACL, though the diagnosis would not be available until at least today.

 The Lions will be recognized tonight at the Orange County Board of Supervisors meeting.

 The Vanguard men’s team, also building toward next season, may soon see Elvis enter the program. Elvis Whitelow, a 6-3 sophomore at College of the Sequoias last season, is one of two recruits to verbally commit to play for Coach Fred Litzenberger.

Whitelow, a Fresno native, averaged 7.7 points and 4.5 rebounds in 31 games last season.

The other recruit is 6-10 Mitch Boyce, a native of Australia who averaged 3.9 points and 1.5 rebounds in 28 games, including four starts, for Nicholls State last season.

 The NCAA men’s volleyball championship comes to UC Irvine Thursday and Saturday, though, for the first time in three seasons, Coach John Speraw’s Anteaters, the reigning NCAA champions, are not competing in the Final Four.

Penn State (28-1) meets Ohio State (20-7) in one semifinal at 6 p.m. Thursday at the Bren Evens Center, while Pepperdine (16-10) faces Mountain Pacific Sports Federation rival Long Beach State (23-6) in the 8 p.m. semifinal.

The title match is scheduled for 4 p.m. Saturday.

Ticket prices are $25 for an adult all-session pass, $18 for an all-session youth-student pass. Single session tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for youth and students.

 The field includes some locals. Newport Harbor High product Sean Grubbs is starting at libero for Pepperdine as a sophomore.

Newport Harbor product Adam Schlesinger is a 6-5 senior opposite for Long Beach State, while the Penn State roster includes 6-4 freshman outside hitter Brad McCoy, out of Corona del Mar High.

Schlesinger has 18 kills in 26 games this season, while McCoy has played in four games, producing six kills.

 UCI men’s volleyball coach John Speraw is looking for a replacement for assistant coach David Kniffin, who notified Speraw last week that he will not return. Kniffin, a former setter for the Anteaters who spent two seasons on the UCI staff, told Speraw he was unsure whether he would remain in coaching.

BARRY FAULKNER may be reached at (714) 966-4615 or at [email protected].