Bruce Chapman

Bryce Alderton

After 25 years of the beige desert sands, Bruce Chapman looks

toward greener pastures, as in Oregon.

The former Costa Mesa High, Orange Coast College and University of

Nevada Las Vegas basketball phenom has purchased 6 1/2 acres of land

in Oregon with plans of building a home there.

“Las Vegas is all asphalt drive,” Chapman, 55, said last week upon

returning from a trip to Hawaii, where he and his partner took third

place in a handball tournament. “I need a green fix from time to

time.”

Chapman represented the green and white of Costa Mesa well,

helping lead the Mustangs to the CIF Southern Section Playoffs in

1966 -- his senior season -- before losing to Long Beach Poly,

109-81, which he said was the equivalent of going up against the

Lakers.

He averaged 20 points per game as a junior at UNLV and 17 as a

senior for Coach Roland Todd’s squad, which in 1970 was nicknamed the

Runnin’ Rebels.

“We didn’t have the three-point shot back then and we still

averaged more than 100 points per game,” said the 6-foot-8 Chapman.

“Now you look at the NBA and not many teams score (more than) 100

points. There are so few shooters left in the country, it’s all about

power.”

The NBA’s Detroit Pistons and the ABA’s Utah Stars both drafted

Chapman in 1970, but he opted instead to play overseas.

Once, in Laguna Beach, Chapman played with Wilt Chamberlain in a

three-on-three game. During the game, Chapman broke his kneecap, one

of his 22 broken bones.

Injuries don’t seem to keep this free-spirited man grounded for

very long.

“I still play golf two days a week and handball two or three times

a week,” he said.

Chapman shot a 79 at the Poipu Bay Golf Course in Kauai, where he

spent time with Pamela, his wife of 10 years.

When he was 18, Chapman survived a surfing accident off 17th

Street in Newport Beach that left him paralyzed from the waist down

and blind for two days before fully recovering.

“A 15-foot wave left me lying in the sand with no water under my

chest,” Chapman recalls. “(Friend Bart Carrido) lost me and I go

unconscious and break my neck.”

Chapman credits Carrido for saving his life.

“Luckily I wasn’t crippled,” he said.

He has lived in the same house for the past 26 years with Pamela.

Both are part of a charity that raises money to help children get

through school.

Chapman parted ways with Candlelighters for Childhood Cancer, a

group that provides support and resources to parents and children

facing life-threatening illnesses, after what he terms a bitter

dispute between a new board of directors.

“I was stabbed in the back and it turned into a horrible political

mess,” Chapman said. “Like any good thing, it must come to an end.”

Following a career in advertising, Chapman is now a consultant for

a wireless Internet communications company.

In 26 years in Sin City, Chapman has noticed a decline in

attendance and attention to sports in the area.

“We used to play in the Las Vegas Convention Center and it was

full every night we played,” Chapman said. “Now, they can’t get

10,000 in the (Thomas and Mack Center). People here are fickle over

winning. Now we’re on our fifth professional football team (Arena)

and we’ve tried (minor league) baseball. There is no reason for

sports as long as gaming is here. Someone who has $20 will spend

money in a casino with free beers and go home, not invest $10 on a

ticket, and $5 each to park, buy a beer and get a program.”

As of today, the UNLV men’s basketball team stands at 13-6, 2-4 in

the Mountain West Conference.

The Thomas and Mack Center can seat 18,500 for basketball compared

to the 6,000 capacity at the convention center.

But the convention center still holds memories for Chapman.

“I played in the last game at the convention center,” Chapman

said. “We played Loyola. I had a good game but fouled out and, at

first, didn’t realize it was my last game.

“Soon they stopped the game and there was a five-minute standing

ovation. I shook hands with people in the stands. I was mad because I

never fouled out, but was surprised we won the game.”