Monday March 6, 2018

The Health Issue Look inside for stories on mental, sexual and physical health.

The Student Voice of California State University, Fullerton

Monday March 5, 2018

Democratic California candidates for the 39th District spoke at a Saturday forum.

One was excluded.

News

2

Surfing isn’t the best choice for California’s state sport, despite being an obvious fit.

Opinion

Volume 103 Issue 18

Cal State Fullerton men’s basketball has problems to fix heading into the Big West Tournament.

5

Sports

8

Awosika dreams of becoming a big baller The Titans guard plans to use CSUF as a steppingstone to enter the NBA. HARRISON FAIGEN Web Editor

Nineteen-year-olds partying with NBA stars like Lonzo Ball during NBA All-Star Weekend might be tempted to feel like they’ve already made it. Dancing in the background of a music video as one of their best friends raps on stage might be enough to leave them feeling satisfied.

But not Austen Awosika of Cal State Fullerton men’s basketball.

Most nights Awosika isn’t found on Instagram stories with his childhood-friend-turned-megawattLakers star. Instead, he’s is in the gym, sweating and trash talking with three other Titans who joined the team at the same time he did.

Late at night in Titan Gym, teammates Awosika, Dwight Ramos, Davon Clare and reigning Big West Freshman of the Year Jackson Rowe, engage in spirited games of two-on-two that both sides claim they win almost every time.

Awosika said he and Clare “destroy” Ramos and Rowe, while Ramos claims that his friend is just “mad” because he and Clare “lose every time.” The one thing the two

GABE GANDARA / DAILY TITAN

Guard Austen Awosika was removed from the Titans’ starting lineup after the season-opening loss to USC. After working his way back to being a starter, with the help of his trainer Marquis Washington, the team has a 6-4 record.

sides can agree on is that Awosika is a relentless trash-talker on and off the floor, telling anyone who makes a shot while he’s in their airspace that they’re “lucky.”

That trash talk is just one piece of evidence of the competitiveness

that drives Awosika to not be satisfied as a mere backup dancer. He might be averaging just 7.6 points and 2.7 assists for the Titans this season, but he wants to be a star.

“He wants to be Big West Conference Player of the Year,”

Ramos, one of Awosika’s best friend’s said of his future goals.

“I know he wants to play in the NBA.” The drive started from the moment Awoksika’s mother, Darlene, put the ball in his hands at the park

around age four in an effort to give the hyperactive child something to expend his energy on.

But by the time he reached middle school, basketball had become more than an outlet for Austen, who had started to work with the man who would become his personal trainer, mentor, confidant and everything in-between: Marquis Washington, from his middle school in Long Beach.

Washington told Austen early on that basketball could take him anywhere, from a Division I school to overseas to play professionally, or even the NBA. There was just one caveat: Austen would have to work, and not only in their practices with his travel team.

He’d have to sign up for extra, grueling, two-hour-a-day sessions of private practice with Washington after school before going just as hard at team practices two days a week.

“He said that he was going to do everything it took and from that day forward we started working out four to five times a week,” Washington said.

Right after school, Austen would hop into Washington’s car and head to a local gym, where they would spend two hours working up a sweat as Austen tirelessly practiced his ballhandling, shooting, floaters and conditioning.

SEE COMMITTED

6

Women’s rights conference held in Titan Student Union

PRISCILLA CARCIDO / DAILY TITAN

The musical event at Aliso County Beach in Laguna was started over a decade ago and continues to draw in new guests.

People jive to drums by the ocean The Full Moon Drum Circle encourages guests to let loose and dance.

LAUREN DIAZ / DAILY TITAN

Mitra Samani, a women’s rights activist who was imprisoned by Iranian Revolutionary Guards, spoke about her gruesome experiences as both a woman and a political prisoner.

Advocates gathered to criticize the treatment of women in Iran.

LAUREN DIAZ Staff Writer

The California Women’s Society for Democracy in Iran held its annual conference Sunday at

the Titan Student Union to celebrate International Women’s Day and promote change for women’s rights in Iran.

“Women are the forefront of the opposition to the tyranny in Iran,” said Nasser Sharif, president of California Women’s Society for Democracy in Iran.

“Women, A Pivotal Force for Change,” featured messages from activists and a performance from

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Iranian singer-songwriter Hellena Rezai.

In the past 30 years, 120,000 people have been executed in Iran. The country has been condemned by the United Nations for violation of human rights 64 times because of medieval punishments such as gouging eyes and amputating arms, Sharif said.

SEE CHANGE

3

PRISCILLA CARCIDO Staff Writer

The smell of bonfires and sound of crashing waves is typical of a beach visit, but with every full moon, beachgoers can expect to find a different sound at Aliso County Beach in Laguna.

Open to the public, the Laguna Beach Full Moon Drum Circle is an event where people sing, dance and play their instruments by the ocean under the moon.

Deanna Cook used to visit larger drum circles in Miami and Lake Worth, Florida, but she said she prefers Laguna’s more intimate size. A follower of the moon cycles, she’s been coming to the drum circle in Laguna on and off for a few years.

“The full moon is really beautiful. To be at the beach with the full moon, the music, the tide rolling in and all the energy — it’s beautiful,” Cook said.

Individuals of all ages, genders and interests gathered around a fire to shake off their cares and absorb the energy in the air that seemed to surge through the circle Thursday night.

SEE JIG

4

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2 News

MONDAY MARCH 5, 2018

Congressional candidate excluded from forum Ted Rusk left out of panel of democrats hoping to win Rep. Ed Royce’s seat.

JACOB TATHAM Staff Writer

GABE GANDARA / DAILY TITAN

Ted Rusk, a Democrat hoping to win California’s 39th Congressional District seat, protested his exclusion from the panel hosted by the College Democrats of Cal State Fullerton. Club president Andrea Guzman said the decision was spurred by Rusk’s proposed policies on undocumented immigrants.

health care was agreed upon across the board but hit especially close to home for Janowicz, a former CSUF chemistry professor who explained how he had an emergency appendectomy that would have been otherwise unaffordable if not covered by the California Faculty Association.

“I didn’t go bankrupt because of a medical necessity. That’s an experience that everyone should have,” Janowicz said.

Discussions also tied back to CSUF when the candidates were asked about their stance on hate speech versus free speech, particularly regarding the controversial visit of Milo Yiannopoulos to campus in October.

“We don’t have to like it and

we can advocate against it, but I don’t think we should ever cut them off,” Cisneros said.

Tran agreed with the importance of free speech based on her experiences growing up in communist Vietnam, but felt there is an exception in the case of Yiannopoulos because the rhetoric in his speech affected the safety and security of the community.

Thorburn thought the booking of Yiannopoulos had less to do with free speech on campus and more to do with poor judgement by college administrators, especially when public money is being used.

“When students invite a speaker, I think they’re covered by free speech, and I agree with Sam that

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speakers should pay their own security costs,” Thorburn said.

Of the six candidates in attendance, all are running for office for the first time except Chen, who lost the general election for the 39th District in 2012.

“I think that’s really important because Congress isn’t an entry-level job,” Chen said. “You need experience working with the other side, getting things passed, working with constituents. I think at the end of the day, voters are going to want to see that in their candidate.”

The six will be competing against other Democrat and Republican candidates in the primary election on June 5. The top two candidates from that primary,

“

You need experience working with the other side, getting things passed, working with constituents. I think at the end of the day, voters are going to want to see that in their candidate.

“

The College Democrats of Cal State Fullerton held a candidate forum for the 39th Congressional District of California in the Titan Theatre on Saturday. They hosted six Democratic candidates looking to win the seat soon to be left open by retiring Republican incumbent Ed Royce.

Congressional candidates Jay Chen, Gil Cisneros, Sam Jammal, Mai Khanh Tran, Andy Thorburn and Phil Janowicz were in attendance.

Although the candidates are running against each other, there was a sense of unity against Republican opposition, particularly the incumbent Royce.

“Ultimately it’s about getting a Democrat elected in this seat.

It’s not about personal ego. It’s not about titles. It’s about moving this district forward,” Jammal said.

Ted Rusk, another Democratic candidate for the 39th District protested his exclusion from the forum outside of the venue.

“If you ask these candidates: ‘Will you secure a border in exchange for getting green cards for all the undocumented?’ they won’t answer that. I will,” Rusk said.

College Democrats President Andrea Guzman said Rusk was not invited because the College Democrats did not like some of his previous statements, especially regarding the Latinx community. However, she added that Rusk and other candidates were also excluded from the forum due to lack of space in the theater.

During the forum, candidates took turns answering submitted questions from the audience regarding topics such as gun control, health care, immigration, hate speech and the #MeToo movement.

A strong stance on affordable

JAY CHEN 39th California Congressional District Democratic candidate regardless of party, will compete for the seat in the general election on November 6.

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Free lecture by

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First Church of Christ, Scientist 1300 North Raymond Avenue Fullerton 92831 (714) 525-4062 christiansciencefullerton.org csfullerton@sbcglobal.net Christian Science is a Bible-based religion.

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News 3 Activists of all kinds start from ground up MONDAY MARCH 5, 2018

Panel argues that everyone has the capacity to advocate for issues.

TREVA FLORES Staff Writer

Dolores Huerta worked side by side with Caesar Chavez during the farmworkers movement and coined the famous Spanish phrase, “Sí se puede.” She led many activists in their fight for the rights of agricultural workers in the United States.

The Cal State Fullerton Associated Students, Inc., Association for InterCultural Awareness hosted an activist panel discussion and documentary screening of the film “Dolores” on Feb. 28.

The documentary featured several of her children who recounted memories of their mother’s activism, which has widely gone unrecognized.

During the panel, Rida Hamid from Latino Muslim Unity said all mothers are activists because they have to “raise good human beings.”

“I don’t think we have to think of activism as only grassroots organizers, but we have to think of the capacity that every person has to be an activist in their space to make cultural and social change,” Hamid said.

As a single mother who is both Latina and Muslim, Hamid has fought very hard against stereotypes that are aimed toward her communities.

“I refuse to be identified based on someone else’s perception of myself,” Hamid said.

Gwen Alexis, professor of African American studies at CSUF shared her experience of growing up in the ghetto.

“I didn’t think of myself — and I still don’t think of myself

TREVA FLORES / DAILY TITAN

The film ‘Dolores,’ based on National Farm Workers Association co-founder Dolores Huerta, inspired the main theme of the panel that ordinary people can dedicate time to become activists.

— as an activist. I think of myself as someone who saw a need and wanted to help,” Alexis said.

She helped create after-school programs when she saw that the children in her community had nowhere to go when school ended. She also helped start a soup kitchen and taught dance and drama.

Johnathan Ryan Hernandez, from the Roses in Concrete Community School in Oakland, grew up in a less fortunate neighborhood as well.

“What do you expect of a kid who was born into the concrete?

I had more opportunities to be a gang member than I did to go to

college,” Hernandez said.

After opening up about his mother’s struggles with methamphetamine and his father’s absence, Hernandez said he became desensitized to seeing regular heroin use in his house whether it was needles in the bathroom or watching his uncle overdose.

Hernandez said the key to escaping his neighborhood was education.

“What I’m most passionate about is encouraging young people to get educated. But come back to the concrete and then we’ll have rose gardens,” Hernandez said.

Susan Chang, a member of the

Korean Resource Center, found her activism through school.

“I got into the work that I do now mainly from classes, I started out not knowing anything.

Three years ago I wasn’t even registered to vote,” Chang said.

Over time, Chang became more involved through education about social issues happening in Orange County, like Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals.

At the end of the panel, the activists were asked how students could become involved in activism.

Hairo Cortes from Chispa said that something as small as signing a petition helps activists in

knowing how much support they have and helps others stay informed about current issues.

“You don’t have to wait. You don’t have to wait to graduate, you don’t have to do this for a career, but you can dedicate some time,” Cortes said.

After all, activists like Huerta and Chavez were just ordinary people who wanted to make a difference.

Hernandez said there are people that “see this as their job” and then there are people that “see this as their life.”

“Don’t do this to make a living. Do this to make a life,” Hernandez said.

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The California Women’s Society for Democracy in Iran has been an active advocacy group in the U.S. for over 30 years.

Change: Speakers decry Iran’s brutality CONTINUED FROM

1

“Iran is the number one executioner per capita in the world,” he said.

Former Iranian political prisoner Mitra Samani spoke about her time in prison where she said she was raped, deprived of sleep and flogged on the soles of her feet.

“The practice of rape of female prisoners has been a systemic form of torture,” Samani said.

The organization seeks the immediate release of all prisoners and political support from the U.S. for Iranian people,

Sharif said.

The Iranian protesters need support, with about 8,500 currently in prison, Sharif said. The main goal of the organization is to educate Congress and the public on these issues.

Sharif said there’s been improvements in the Iranian government, despite a tough, uphill battle.

“We’re trying to bring justice for the victims and victims’ families,” Sharif said, “You can’t force people in the 21st century what to think, what to wear, what to do.

The change is coming.”

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4 Lifestyle

MONDAY MARCH 5, 2018

MUSIC

Jig: Beachgoers dance under the full moon CONTINUED FROM

1

The drum of choice is usually a djembe, an instrument that originates from West Africa. Djembes of all sizes were brought to be played at the event. Whether the larger sizes, which helped carry the beat, or the handheld variety that provided a quieter rhythm, the djembes brought cadence and life to the circle.

Though it’s called a drum circle, all instruments were present. Tambourines, mini electric guitars (with amplifiers) and a Latin instrument called güiro brought a variety of sounds that added to the atmosphere.

No matter the instrument, the music they played almost dared everyone to ignore the beat.

Whether they were standing up and shaking their hips or sitting down and bobbing their heads, people couldn’t help but feel the music.

As the full moon ascended, everyone seemed to shed their inhibitions and enjoy the vibe.

“

To dance a little bit in front of the fire on the sand — you don’t get that very often.

“

RAQUEL FRANKSON Beachgoer

More visitors found their way into the middle of the drum circle where they danced, laughed and enjoyed each other’s company.

Someone who was in the middle of the action was Raquel Frankson, who has attended the event on and off for the past eight months.

As she danced by the fire, she felt a sense of spirit and freedom. She said it wasn’t always like that; her first few drum circles were spent watching instead of dancing. Over time, she built the confidence to start moving to the music.

“To dance a little bit in front of the fire on the sand — you don’t get that very often,” Frankson said.

The camaraderie also came from the drummers as they encouraged each other to play louder and harder. They even let some of the dancers hit a few beats from their drums. Most often, though, they just closed their eyes and played to the beat they felt.

The drum circle isn’t just for drumming and dancing; many visitors chose to sit on the outskirts and watch. A few passerbys even hung out for a few minutes to check out the scene.

The next drum circle will gather on April 29 for everyone who wants to bring instruments, a sweater and enjoy the music.

PRISCILLA CARCIDO / DAILY TITAN

While authorities have tried to halt the beat on several occasions, the Laguna Beach Full Moon Drum Circle continues its mission statement to help guests engage with the rhythms of their bodies.

MOVIES

‘Red Sparrow’ flies below expectations

The novel-based film excels in its visual appeal and authentic storyline, but its attempts to empower women fall embarrassingly short of expectations.

LAUREN JENNINGS Staff Writer

“Red Sparrow,” the thriller starring Jennifer Lawrence, follows a Russian ballerina turned murderous spy. If at surface level that sounds cliché, it doesn’t get much better once the audience delves deeper into it.

The film is an adaptation based off the 2013 book, “Red Sparrow” written by former CIA operative Jason Matthews. The book was received well by many and even had some positive reviews about its authenticity regarding its depiction of the CIA. Matthews sold the movie rights, and thus this film was born.

Lawrence plays a Russian ballerina, Dominika Egorova, who performs in the renowned Bolshoi Theatre. During a performance, Egorova suffers a career-ending injury, which takes away her only form of income.

She goes to her uncle, Vanya (Matthias Schoenaerts), for help, who holds a position in foreign intelligence and tells her about an undercover job to apply for. With no money and a very sick mother, Egorova seemingly has no other options. She takes her uncle up on his offer to act as a honeypot in order to get closer to a man that is of government interest.

The Russian government requires her to do much more than she originally expected when what unfolds during her encounter brings her to the decision to either die or become a sparrow.

During the opening scenes and throughout the film, director Francis Lawrence seizes every opportunity he has to use variations of the color red to remind the viewer of her character. Egorova adorns a red leotard during the ballet, wears a brilliant red dress during her first undercover mission and sometimes flaunts a red lip from time to time. Even

the male spies in the film wear red ties. In every opportunity that Francis Lawrence was able to showcase the color red, he did.

During the film, Egorova’s ability to hold her own against the male spies seems geared toward women empowerment; however, the film misses that mark for a couple of reasons.

Yes, she is a trained spy who isn’t going to let the government, let alone a man, tell her what to do, but she also plays into the stereotype that women have to use their bodies in order to get what they want. The message that women can do what they want with their bodies is an important one, but in this instance she wasn’t really given that option, so it works against the intended message.

Her character is a lot like Black Widow in a few ways, and not only because of the color and animal name combination, their Russian descent or ballet careers.

Black Widow was trained in the Red Room along with other girls to become spies, and Red Sparrow also underwent similar training. Both characters believe they are doing the right thing, the only difference is that Black Widow doesn’t seem to use her body as leverage nearly as much as her skill.

And because of that, Red Sparrow was a little disappointing.

The film was gorgeous and the constant play on the color red was a nice touch, even in its most subtle moments. However, Red Sparrow’s character could have been so much more, but instead the focus was on manipulation through sex.

The book has been approved to be adapted into a sequel, and the hope is that the next adaptation shows improvement.

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Opinion 5 Making surfing the state sport leaves others in wake MONDAY MARCH 5, 2018

Basketball or snowboarding may be more ideal choices.

JASON ROCHLIN Asst. News Editor

As a legendary rock band from Hawthorne, the Beach Boys likely picked up some good vibrations when District 66 Assemblyman Al Muratsuchi introduced a bill in January that would make surfing the official sport of California.

Surfing is inexorably linked with the state’s DNA through artists like the Beach Boys, movies like the 1991 Kathryn Bigelow classic “Point Break” and tourism ads suggesting people live out the California dream in places like Malibu Beach.

However, the idea of making surfing the one and only representative activity of the Golden State at a constitutional level discounts the richly diverse tapestry of Californians and the sports they enjoy.

Certain aspects of surfing’s prevalence in popular culture can be considered problematic, said adjunct American studies professor and Studio for Southern

California History director Sharon Sekhon.

Tourism focuses primarily on the narrative of the “great white man,” Sekhon said, which leaves out the stories of women and Asian surfers especially.

It is also an expensive hobby for people who don’t live next to the beach or own a surfboard.

“Surfing does seem to be the (sport) you would immediately go to when you think of California,” Sekhon said. “But I grew up in Orange County and Fullerton, and getting access to the beach was very difficult.”

It also isn’t the only sport that can be regarded as something intrinsically connected to the beaches of California.

Olympians Kerri Walsh Jennings and Misty May-Treanor, who both come from California, have been designated the “greatest beach volleyball team of all time” by the United States Olympic Committee after they won three consecutive gold medals in 2004, 2008 and 2012.

However, the beach is only one facet of California’s landscape and identity.

California is the only state where people can snowboard at Big Bear in the morning and surf in Hermosa that same afternoon.

It only takes about three or four hours to go between the mountain resort community and the beachside city.

Those who decide to brave the shifting snowpack over the shifting sand dunes have brought California into the limelight as well. Look no further than Chloe

JASON ROCHLIN/ DAILY TITAN

Surfing as the state sport will neglect the diversity of California’s climate and the sports played in the region.

Perhaps there’s no single sport that represents the wide range of people and cultures that exist in the state.

Kim, the 17-year-old Torrance resident who won a gold medal in the Ladies’ Halfpipe at this year’s Winter Olympics in PyeongChang.

The acclaim brought back to California by snowboarders is just one example of how the sport deeply pervades the culture of one sect of the state just as much as surfing defines another.

But there is something missing from solo sports like surfing and snowboarding that also characterizes the ideologies of the Golden State: a push for collectivist diversity. For Sekhon, that hitch makes the answer to

what would be an ideal California state sport simple.

“It would have to be something that was a team sport,” Sekhon said. “I think about who has access to it and who do we see representation from every sphere of our population: basketball.”

Basketball, while in part promoting the power of teamwork, is another sport that represents California’s consciousness. For many, the Los Angeles Lakers are a household name thanks to the players they made famous: Shaquille O’Neal, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson, Kobe Bryant and so on.

Team sports like basketball

might be more apt choices for a state sport in terms of representing the state’s diversity, but they doesn’t quite scream “California” as much as surfing. Plus, the same problem of only showcasing one facet of the myriad of interests across the state remains.

Perhaps it would be best to borrow from Occam’s razor: The simplest solution is often the preferred one. If no sport represents the entire diverse tapestry of California culture, maybe no single sport should be chosen through legislation.

Besides, Hawaii has already claimed surfing to be its official individual sport.

Hollywood remakes and sequels are bland and lazy Directors’ attempt at nostalgia fail to impress audiences.

LAUREN DIAZ

Asst. Opinion Editor

In Hollywood’s current climate, it’s rare to find a movie that makes audiences fall in love its creative plot or can transport them into another world or make them re-evaluate their perspective on life. The wow factor that comes from fresh storylines has sadly faded.

It seems in the past decade or

so, every movie that has been released is either based on something else or an extension of a never-ending series. Hollywood directors are running out of movie ideas and producing desperate and disappointing content.

In the case of remakes, directors use nostalgia as a ploy to bring in audiences who may associate the movie with childhood memories and experiences.

This can be seen in movies such as “Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle” and “Jurassic World,” where the plots were kept similar to the original, but the directors added a new twist and included everyone’s favorite actors.

Sometimes they try to bring back movies that already had their due time in the limelight.

One example of a horrible movie sequel that was released in 2017 was the movie “Rings.”

Not only did the first movie “The Ring” come out 16 years ago, but “The Ring Two” which came

out in 2005 wasn’t even popular among fans or critics.

“Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales,” the fifth movie in the series, didn’t fare any better when it was released in 2017 as it was the worst Pirates of the Caribbean movie, according to the scoring system on Rotten Tomatoes.

When directors aren’t ruining movie classics, they needlessly string out plotlines to multiple movies or lazily borrow from printed content, capitalizing on already popular book series and comics.

Who knows what Hollywood would have done if they didn’t have Marvel and DC at their disposal?

While preferring the book to the movie may be subjective, people have watched amazing books crumble on the big screen as actors fail to re-enact the story with the same emotional depth.

An example of this would be

the film, “Maze Runner: The Death Cure”, which was a #1 New York Times bestselling book series by James Dashner, but failed to perform at even a mediocre level in the film arena.

Another example of failed books turned movies was the “Fifty Shades of Grey” trilogy. With an initial fan based already created, it seemed these movies would be a hit, but critic consensus was that “it was a less than satisfying experience on the big screen,” according to Rotten Tomatoes.

Moviegoers have become complacent in their viewing experiences and despite the lack of originality, consumers pour their money into these movies anyway, allowing Hollywood to produce more of these films.

Sure, some can argue that going to the movies is a fun hangout spot and bad movies can still make for great jokes afterwards,

but who really wants to spend $14 to $20 on a movie that’s bad?

Sometimes sequels are successful and end up doing as well or better than the first. These rare exceptions include “Toy Story 2” and “The Dark Knight.”

But instances like these are too few and far between to justify the amount of sequels being pushed out by the film industry.

This also isn’t to say that original movies are obsolete. Oscar-winning “Get Out,” which came to theaters last year, was a wildly creative movie directed

by Jordan Peele, who isn’t readily known for directing.

Hollywood has the potential to release intriguing and interesting films, or else there wouldn’t be award shows that celebrate film as an art form, but when directors get caught up in making money-grabbers, they churn out bland, boring content that falls flat more often than it succeeds.

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6 Sports

MONDAY MARCH 5, 2018

GABE GANDARA / DAILY TITAN

Since re-entering the starting lineup on Jan. 25, point guard Austen Awosika has averaged 8.0 points on 41.1 percent shooting from the field, but he’s more concerned with proving himself as an asset outside of scoring as he’s also averaged 3.9 rebounds and 2.3 assists.

Committed: Awosika is all-in on basketball 1

Some days that was all they would do, but on Wednesdays and Fridays they would head to Subway or Wendy’s — because they were the closest dining options to the gym, Washington said — after which they would head back to the gym for practice with the travel team Washington also coached Awosika in, running another two hours.

During those quick meal breaks from their marathon practice sessions, Washington and his pupil would chow down on cheap fast food while talking about their goals for Austen’s future.

“It was mainly basketball conversations but he always related it back to life: never giving up, always go hard. Those things made me who I am today,” Austen said.

But Austen’s relationship with Washington wasn’t always happy-go-lucky. Washington would coach him as hard as he coached any player, something he continues to do in postgame rap sessions over the phone or by text.

Once, when Austen was in high school, Washington didn’t think he was playing hard enough. The coach didn’t hold back on his most dedicated student.

“I looked in his eyes and I told

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him that he didn’t really love the game anymore,” Washington said. “He was content. I told him he should go home and not play basketball until he felt like he had his passion back. I yelled across the gym and told his mom she should just take him home because he’s not here mentally and until he can find his hunger again, he shouldn’t even play basketball.”

But rather than wilting, Austen fought back. The week after he called Austen out, Washington found him at a local 24 Hour Fitness in Chino Hills (where Austen moved for high school) lifting weights and getting shots up on his own, in an effort to prove to his coach and mentor that he was worth all of the time they were investing and that he would do everything in his power to reach his full potential.

It turned out Austen didn’t mind being coached hard, because he comes from a competitive and hardworking family that starts with his mother. She would drive him 30 to 40 minutes every day from Carson to Long Beach to go to middle school and be coached by Washington.

Austen remembers the plans his mom cancelled so she could chauffeur him around to his games and watch him play. She decided to move them to Chino Hills so he wouldn’t have to go to high school in Carson, which Austen described as not a bad town or good town, but somewhere in-between.

Darlene’s sacrifices meant enough to Austen that he specifically asked that her impact on his journey be included in his story because he knows he couldn’t have made it this far without her.

“Honestly (she) makes me look at women differently,” Austen said. “I owe her everything.”

Darlene’s reward for all the travel and cancelled plans was getting to watch her son play. It takes “something serious” for her to miss a game, Austen said, and the rest of the time, she’s usually a quiet observer. That is, until someone talks about her son.

Once, when Austen was in high school, an opposing guard was complaining incessantly about Austen fouling him, leading the father of the player to shout at referees to kick Austen out of the game.

It wasn’t long before Darlene responded, snapping back at the father, “Tell your son to stop being so soft!”

Trash talk runs in the family, with Austen’s teammates describing him as a trash-talker both on the floor, where he tells his opponents much worse than they got “lucky,” and off, where he

“

I know that I need to have a plan B, which I’ll figure out soon, but 100 percent of me is in basketball.

“

CONTINUED FROM

AUSTEN AWOSIKA Titans point guard argues nonstop with Clare, Rowe and Ramos over whether LeBron James (his personal favorite player and choice as the greatest player of all time) is better than Kobe Bryant or Kevin Durant, pulling up stats on his phone to drive his point home.

Austen’s teammates are just sparring partners, however. They are practice for the Big West guards he loves to try to get in the heads of. He’s never more satisfied than when those opponents finally crack.

“Going forward I have an edge over him,” Austen said. “Either they hesitate and they don’t look to do anything anymore, or they try to do too much and they disrupt the flow of their offense.”

And while the relentless trash-talker hesitated before identifying the names of players he had made crack before, Austen did laugh and offer to name their schools, until he was advised not to do so by an Athletics Department official. Anyone curious can just watch him play and see him try to get in the head of every player in his path.

Austen’s teammates say all the trash talking, bickering and dry humor belies one of the nicest people they’ve ever met.

“People think he’s mean, but he’s always joking around,” Ramos said. “Something new happens everyday with us. If I’m by him, I got to have Snapchat ready just in case he does something I have to catch him real quick.”

But Austen’s humor turns off when it’s time to work. After a rough 1-6 showing in which he scored 2 points and posted 3 rebounds, 1 assist and two turnovers in the Titans’ season-opening loss to the USC, Austen was subsequently benched, a reminder that he’d have to scrap for whatever minutes he’d get.

“It really gave me the wake-up call that I needed,” Austen said.

“It just made me work harder and want to prove to myself and to my coaches that I deserved the job.”

During Austen’s time coming off of the bench, Washington stayed in his ear, telling him it was because he wasn’t good enough to be a starter, that he’d gotten away from the habits and work ethic that got him to CSUF, pushing his pupil to be better just like he had since middle school.

Eventually Austen fought his way back into the starting lineup, since which the Titans are 6-4, but

Washington kept pushing him to be better over the next few weeks, to do whatever it took to help his team win.

“I told him that he doesn’t play defense, that he is one of the worst defenders on the team,” Washington said. “If you actually played defense then the coaches would respect your defense more and you could go out there and guard the other team’s player, but right now you’re terrible at defense.”

Austen responded with a career-high 6 steals in the next game, after which he texted Washington, “‘Well, I guess I can play defense.”

From playing defense to emphasizing things like rebounding, setting up his teammates or swiping steals, Austen is focused on impacting areas of the floor outside of scoring, a focus Washington pushed him toward from a young age.

“I’ve always tried to tell him that when it comes to basketball, everybody is scoring,” Washington said. “Throw the ball at the rim enough times and it’ll go in, but what can you do when the ball is not going into the basket?”

Austen hopes he can continue his basketball journey by proving himself as an asset outside of scoring. From getting asked to tryout for the Nigerian national team due to his father being of Nigerian descent (an opportunity he turned down because of summer school commitments at CSUF) to getting recruited to play for the Titans, Austen looks like he could have a shot in making it to the next level of basketball.

He certainly hopes so, given that he doesn’t have a backup plan just yet.

“I know that I need to have a plan B, which I’ll figure out soon, but 100 percent of me is in basketball,” Austen said.

For now, summer workouts against Ball — who he became close friends with after playing against in high school — give Austen the confidence that he can follow his dreams, that he can be more than a backup dancer or side character and that he can grind his way to the league no matter how far off that seems.

“Being in the gym with Zo and playing against him a lot I know where to measure myself at. I think I definitely have a chance,” Austen said.

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MONDAY MARCH 5, 2018

GABE GANDARA / DAILY TITAN

Kyle Allman has been the steadying force for the Titans this season. The guard’s production does not drop off, regardless of the game’s outcome. In wins, Allman averages 19.8 points per game and his average only drops to 18.7 points per game when the team loses.

Titans struggle entering Big West tourney Men’s basketball hopes to right its wrongs before the conference tournament.

HARRISON FAIGEN Web Editor

When Cal State Fullerton men’s basketball lost to UC Riverside a week ago, Head Coach Dedrique Taylor wanted the team back on the practice courts immediately once the buses returned to Fullerton.

The only problem was Taylor’s two daughters who were waiting for him on the bus, an effort to guarantee he’d go home that night.

Instead, Taylor was forced to settle for a fiery film session the next day where he told the Titans he wasn’t just mad because they

had lost to Riverside, one of the Big West’s worst teams this season, he was most upset that his players bought into the wrong things.

He told his team they were focused too much on what NBA players were wearing and not enough on the work it took to even get to the fringes of the league. He also told them they didn’t see the work it took for players like former CSUF guard Bobby Brown to even get close to that level before getting cut by the Houston Rockets.

Taylor even read guards Khalil Ahmad and Kyle Allman, the Titans two leading scorers, their free-throw percentages while reminding the team that everyone, even their best players, would need to be better if the team was going to fulfill its goal of winning the Big West championship.

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Guard Dwight Ramos said the film session was “definitely” more fiery than normal, a way for their coach to remind them that they “f---ed up” by losing on the road to the Highlanders.

“Maybe we were getting a little complacent,” Ramos said.

“Coach Taylor woke us up.”

The Titans’ wake-up call worked, well, for two games at least.

CSUF defended homecourt against rival Long Beach State before going on the road to knock off Cal State Northridge, but the Titans couldn’t keep rolling and fell to Hawaii 68-60 in their final game of Big West play, falling to fourth place in the Big West.

“Cal State Fullerton, back to our old selves, we continue to just take out a gun and blow our own foot off. You can’t play as selfish as we’ve played tonight

... and expect to have a chance to win,” Taylor said.

The Titans (10-6 in conference play) have scored the third-most points per game (73.9) of any team in the Big West, but they rank sixth in 3-point percentage (34.4 percent), a weakness that came back to bite them in a loss to the Rainbow Warriors in which they shot 2-17 from distance.

But the Titans’ lack of shooting concerns Taylor less than the types of “piss-poor” shots he said they’re taking, an issue he highlighted as a consistent problem this season and something he said he doesn’t know how to fix.

“If I had that answer to that, I’d be a millionaire, because I’m sure every coach across the country is probably experiencing the same type of scenario at

some level,” Taylor said.

Despite his obvious frustration with his team’s play against Hawaii, Taylor does think the Titans can win big games. In fact, he thinks they can win the whole Big West tournament — which starts Thursday, March 8 when the Titans take on Long Beach — if they have a solid week of practice.

“I believe when my team is at their best we’ve proven that we can play with anyone,” Taylor said. “It’s a matter of how much they believe in winning and how much they’re willing to sacrifice for the end product and what goes into the intangibles of what’s required to win.”

Taylor was happy to share what he feels those intangibles are.

“Being selfless,” Taylor said.

“I think I might go get a tattoo of that on my forehead.”