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APTOS — Cabrillo College men’s basketball coach Tony Marcopulos is looking to turn his Seahawks team inside-out. And then maybe back in again.

When Marcopulos arrived at the college three years ago, the program and the facilities were in shambles. The team didn’t have uniforms or a locker room, and his office was little more than a storage closet.

Two years of hard work, including personally revamping an old bathroom into a locker room worthy of a Division I school, have made Cabrillo look a little better on the outside.

As a team, the Seahawks finished 9-23 overall last year and 2-10 in the Coast conference. While those numbers don’t sparkle, they do show improvement over the 8-21 record the team bore after the 2000-01 season (five games better than it did in 1999-2000). What they don’t show, Marcopulos said, is how much more competitive the team was in its losses.

Still, those baby steps aren’t enough.

"I don’t want to participate," Marcopulos said. "I want to win."

Which is why he’ll have the Seahawks looking inside-out and back inside on offense when they open their season today at Modesto.

The addition of 6-foot-11 center Matt Towsley has given Cabrillo a whole new inner dimension this year. Adding transfer guard Demar Walton makes it dangerous from the perimeter.

Towsley, a Division I transfer from the University of the Pacific, will add some heft to the Seahawks’ roster this season. Weighing in at 255 pounds, the sophomore will make the Cabrillo program a little harder for conference bullies like San Jose City College and West Valley College to push around.

He’s a hard man to miss, and Marcopulos said he hopes Towsley will capture the attention of their opponents.

"My philosophy always is mixed outside and inside attacks," he said. "That puts a lot of pressure on the defense. If a guy is going to have to double down on Matt, that leaves our outside shooters open. If not, well, that leaves Matt."

And Marcopulos doesn’t mind having the ball left in the hands of Towsley, who has already given a verbal commitment to play for Division I Montana State University next season.

Marcopulos also doesn’t mind having the ball left in the hands of transfer guard Walton. He calls Walton, a 6-2, 175-pound transfer from Bakersfield College, one of the best athletes he has ever coached.

Perhaps what Marcopulos likes best about both players, however, is that they share their coach’s stubbornly zealous outlook on the season ahead.

"We’re like every other team, we want to win it all," Towsley said Wednesday. "We’re shooting for the top. We’re going to try to get as high as we can, and I think we can reach the top.

"We have some great ball handling in Demar and some great scoring."

Two homegrown players will help in those realms, as well as the defense and rebounding that Marcopulos has been known to emphasize. Santa Cruz High graduate Tyler Williams and Harbor High’s Brandon Keith, both sophomore guards, should be seeing quite a bit of time on the court.

Keith said he, too, is excited about Towsley’s arrival.

"Matt will establish himself and (6-foot-5 post player) Aaron (Dawson) continues to play well. That opens it up not only for me. but for all the guards," he said.

The Seahawks will need Walton, Keith and Williams to make their outside shots if they are really serious about going to the top. That is, if the top means becoming the Coast Conference champions.

Last season the Seahawks finished sixth of seven schools in the South Division. West Valley (9-3 in conference) finished first and San Jose ended up third (8-4). But in a preseason poll, San Jose was selected to be one of the top 10 community college programs in the state.

In other words, if ever there were an underdog, Cabrillo is it. And that’s a position Towsley relishes.

"It’s kind of nice not having a reputation," he said. "You’re coming in as the underdog and if you win it’s not because you’re from a good school."

Contact Julie Jag at jjag@santa-cruz.com.

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