Family affair

Steve Guiremand

Thursday, Aug. 19, 1999 | 11:32 a.m.

UNLV head coach John Robinson said he has a deal with former USC all-conference linebacker Ed Powell.

"I get his whole family, plus a vacation home in Bermuda, too," Robinson joked.

Powell, now known as Wali Abdul-Malik, starred at USC from 1972 through 1974, playing in three Rose Bowls and on two national championship teams (1972 and 1974). Robinson was an offensive assistant on those teams for John McKay.

Now Robinson finds himself having coached not one but two of Powell's children in college football during the past three years.

Robinson recruited DE/OLB Sultan Abdul-Malik to USC from Arcadia, Calif., High School in 1996. Sultan has led the Trojans in sacks each of the last two seasons and was an all-Pac-10 performer last year.

And now older brother Saeed Abdul-Malik will play for Robinson this year at UNLV.

The 6-5, 245-pound transfer from Pasadena City College is expected to start at defensive end when the Rebels open their season on Sept. 2 at North Texas. And despite the fact he sat out last season after coming up one math class short of earning the associate of arts degree he needed to play at Washington State, Saeed has been one of the most impressive newcomers on the Rebel defense thus far in fall drills.

"He's come out here and been tough and met the challenge," Robinson said. "We've all been impressed. It's just a learning process for him now."

Robinson, along with schools such as Colorado and Washington, had tried to recruit Saeed to USC out of high school but had to back off because of academics. A year later he got younger brother Sultan to Troy.

"They're both kind of edge players," Robinson said. "They're both players with upfield speed. This is really the first time that Saeed has played at this level, so I think he'll be learning as we go."

"I have a week or so under my belt now, but I'm still a little rusty," Saeed said. "I'm in shape, but not football shape, yet. It's just a matter of learning the plays and getting my feet right."

Despite that rust, Abdul-Malik is already practicing with the first team.

"I guess I'm good enough to be out there on the first team," he said. "But I still feel rusty and I'm not where I want to be or where (defensive coordinator Jeff McInerney) wants me to be."

If not for the fact he was a math class short of getting his A.A. degree last year, Abdul-Malik would be getting ready to begin his senior year at Washington State. Instead, he had to sit out last season to garner his degree and wound up with Robinson at UNLV.

"Pullman would have been a nice place to play, and this is a nice place to play," Abdul-Malik said. "I just wanted to play somewhere where I could contribute and play college football and go to college. I'm sorry Pullman didn't work out. I was really enthused about getting up there, but the grades didn't work out."

Abdul-Malik said the Cougars held no bitter feelings about his decision to move on to UNLV this fall once he acquired his A.A. degree.

"They were a little indifferent, which I can kind of understand," he said. "They wanted me to be up there at a certain time and that kind of fell through. I kind of understand where they're coming from. They have a business to run. They've got to get players in and out and get the job done. I just didn't get it done. There's no hard feelings with them."

Abdul-Malik's youngest brother, Hassan, is expected to start at safety at Cal State Northridge this year for ex-Rebel assistant Jeff Kearin. He says his father has already put together a master schedule to watch his three sons play as often as he can this season.

"Since I've been here, I've been so busy with two-a-days that I haven't had a chance to talk with him," Saeed said. "But I know he plans to come out here and see some games."

Saeed was born in 1976, two years after his father earned all-Pac 8 honors at SC. But he has seen his fathers' championship rings and has also caught a few of his old games on ESPN's Classic cable shows.

"They do a couple of the Rose Bowl games now and then," Saeed said. "My dad will get up and rush to the VCR and tape the games. He's like, 'Hey, check this out.' He should be proud of what he accomplished. That was quite a run he had there. It's great to get a chance to see him play like that."