Whitaker’s winding road

It’s not where you start, it’s where you finish. But where you finish has a lot to do with whether or not you will start.

Kody Whitaker can attest to both, as the personification of the often uncertain road that unfolds before community college football players.

Whitaker, a sophomore quarterback at Orange Coast College, has both benefited from and been burned by the unpredictable and ultra-competitive nature of the two-year collegiate athletic landscape.

After his senior season at Redlands High, his only stint as a varsity starter, Whitaker planned to play at San Bernardino Valley College. But during spring practice there, he learned then-coach Kevin Emerson had just been hired at Orange Coast College.

Whitaker, then a 17-year-old freshman, came with Emerson to OCC and planned to greyshirt the 2014 season to develop, acclimate and mature.

He was fourth on the depth chart for the preseason scrimmage, but a string of injuries and defections thrust him under center in Week 3. He started the final seven games, helping the Pirates rank No. 7 in the state and No. 4 in Southern California with 262 passing yards per game.

Whitaker’s 2,093 passing yards and 175 completions ranked No. 3 and No. 2, respectively, in OCC single-season annals.

Despite his credentials, Whitaker was pushed for the starting job in 2015 by Humboldt State bounce-back Mason Dossey, who incidentally had flirted with Golden West College before landing at OCC.

A shoulder injury and a concussion limited Whitaker to just two games and 20 passing attempts, spanning the first three weeks, before he was sidelined for the 2015 season.

With Whitaker earning a medical redshirt [not using a year of eligibility], Dossey completed 202 of 325 passes for 2,457 yards and 21 touchdowns, with just four interceptions to earn first-team all-conference honors. Dossey led OCC to a 7-4 record and the program’s first bowl berth since 2006.

Whitaker then elected to explore offseason options, which led him to compete in spring practice at El Camino College. A coaching change there, however, prompted his return to OCC, where he began a battle for the starting nod with freshman James Harrelson.

Whitaker initially lost that battle, but came off the bench to sparkle in OCC’s season-opening win over East Los Angeles.

Whitaker started last week’s 42-19 loss at Canyons, but his run at the controls will be interrupted this week. He said he will sit out Saturday’s nonconference home game against Ventura with a concussion sustained against Canyons, though he is hopeful he may return for the Sept. 24 game at Santa Monica.

“It was disappointing [to slip to the backup designation for the season opener], because as a competitor, you want to be out there,” said Whitaker, who is 34 for 50 this season for 363 yards and three touchdowns. “But you just have to take it day-by-day and do your best. I trust the coaches and they made the decision they thought was best. They always say you have to compete and just wait for your opportunity. I took my opportunity and ran with it.”

Will Harrelson now do the same?

Vance should be OK

Opportunity arose at Golden West this season, when returning starting quarterback Adam Vance was lost for the season with a broken elbow sustained in the opener. Or at least that was the initial report. A second opinion has revealed no break and Vance may return as soon as the Sept. 24 home game against Cerritos, Rustlers Coach Nick Mitchell said.

Freshman Adam Carr started the Rustlers’ Week 2 loss to Riverside, during which freshman Angel Matute, who had been starting at tight end, provided a spark as a reserve quarterback.

Carr starts again Saturday at Chaffey and, with Vance’s impending return, Mitchell said Matute would return to tight end.

Freshman Da’jon Dinkins moves up to No. 2 at quarterback.

Davis in Hall of Fame

Vanguard University women’s basketball coach Russ Davis will be inducted into the NAIA Hall of Fame, it was announced Thursday.

It’s well-deserved.

He has averaged more than 26 wins in his 20 seasons at the Lions’ helm, won 11 Golden State Athletic Conference titles, earned 18 berths in the NAIA Tournament and won the national championship in 2008. The nine-time GSAC Coach of the Year has a 525-129 record for an amazing .802 winning percentage.

Davis, who had a successful stint coaching girls’ basketball at Estancia High, is, quite simply, one of the best coaches, in any sport, that I have observed in my 30 years on the local sports scene.

UCI in the GCC

The competitive waters in which the UC Irvine men’s water polo team has competed for decades became significantly less turbulent during the offseason, when the Anteaters joined the newly formed Golden Coast Conference.

Formerly a notch below the elite teams of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation — led by the “big four” of USC, UCLA, Stanford and Cal — UCI is now aligned in the GCC with Long Beach State, Pepperdine, UC Santa Barbara, Pacific and San Jose State.

An automatic NCAA Tournament bid to the conference champion is expected for the new conference within a couple years.