Former UNLV player Sanders making name at San Jose State

Steve Carp

Tuesday, Jan. 12, 1999 | 12:09 p.m.

OK, so maybe things didn't go the way Ben Sanders had originally planned.

Then again, maybe they did. Maybe the dream just needed to be relocated to come true.

He was a highly touted player out of Los Angeles and was expected to have a brilliant career at UNLV, scoring lots of points and becoming part of Rebel lore.

But the spotlight never shined on the 6-foot-4 guard. He struggled with injuries and playing time. And in 1996, he parted ways with Bill Bayno.

Yet, he never lost sight of the dream. He had to make a stop along the way at Fullerton Junior College, but he landed square in the spotlight in the most unlikely of places -- The Event Center at San Jose State.

That's right. San Jose State. A place Sanders never would have considered four years ago when he was killing opponents at Westchester High School became a hoops sanctuary. Nobody was asking him to change the world, just score enough baskets and play enough defense so that he didn't give up at the other end what he was putting in.

He is relaxed and happy. He likes the Bay Area. He even lives in the old brick dormitories along San Carlos Street across from the gym where Sanders' career was reborn under first-year coach Phil Johnson.

"I'm a diffferent person now," Sanders said. "I've grown up a lot. I feel like a veteran."

At UNLV, he struggled to see the court. At San Jose, he is the Spartans' leading scorer and assist man, averaging 13 points and 4.2 assists. He has scored in double figures in 11 of the Spartans' 14 games. Most important, he is one of the catalysts that have brought about one of the nation's biggest turnarounds.

A year ago under Stan Morrison, San Jose State was the worst team in the Western Athletic Conference at 1-13 and one of the nation's worst programs at 3-23. Johnson, who had been an assistant to Lute Olson at Arizona, replaced Morrison and one of the people he brought in to rebuild the program was Sanders.

"I knew about Ben from when I was at Arizona," Johnson said. "We weren't in a position to be real picky when we took over. The team needed scoring and Ben has done that.

"He's been a great kid to work with and we're glad to have him with us."

With Sanders playing major minutes and contributing nightly, the Spartans are 8-6 overall and got off to a huge start in the WAC last week with a mind-blowing 91-64 win over Fresno State.

"I saw San Jose as an opportunity to pick up a program that was down and be a key player," Sanders said. "I was ready to go to Arizona State or Oregon State. I was a day away. But after talking to Coach Johnson and seeing this was a chance for me to play, I went with him. I just needed a place where I could play some major minutes.

"That's why I left UNLV. I didn't see a future for me there. I felt I needed to play to grow as a player and I didn't think I was going to get that chance."

Bayno said had Sanders stayed, he probably would have gotten that chance.

"I think had Ben stuck it out here, he could have been a good backup point guard," he said. "But he wanted to start and I'm glad things worked out for him."

Things did indeed work out for Sanders. And for another former Rebel as well. Center Eric Lee, who left the team in 1996 for Southern Mississippi, eventually wound up at Oklahoma City where he is playing his senior year, averaging 12.1 points and 9.7 rebounds for the 13-1 Chiefs.

Sanders still follows the Rebels. From time to time, he'd venture back to Las Vegas to check in on his old team. He'd like to make another trip to Vegas this spring, sometime around the first week in March.

"I'm looking forward to coming back to the Thomas & Mack," he said of being part of the WAC tournament March 2-6.