in high school but went on to a long, pro career. Lubin's uncle, Frank, played on the 1936 U.S. Olympic basketball team. Lubin's encouragement led Eaton to enroll at the community college in 1978 and try out for its basketball team. After his freshman year at Cypress, Eaton was selected by the Phoenix Suns in the fifth round of the 1979 NBA draft with the 107th pick. He was eligible to be drafted because he was already four years removed from high school. However, he opted to return to college basketball. Eaton developed into a solid junior college player. He averaged 14.3 points per game in two seasons at Cypress, and led the school to the California junior college title as a sophomore in 1980. Eaton transferred to the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in 1980, but did not see much action in his two seasons with the Bruins. He played sparingly under head coach Larry Brown in 1980–81. The tallest players in the starting lineup were Darren Daye and Cliff Pruitt at , but Eaton was too slow for the team's fast-paced offense. In Eaton's senior year in 1981–82, new coach Larry Farmer vowed to give him a shot to start, but heralded freshman Stuart Gray got the nod instead. Eaton played just 41 total minutes that season, averaging 1.3 points and 2.0 rebounds in 11 games. Farmer did not play him at all towards the end of the season and did not allow him to travel with the team on their last road trip to Oregon and Oregon State. "If I ever felt cheated, that was the time I felt the worst," recalled Eaton in 1985. "I had worked so hard and it wasn't like I was causing any problems." Eaton was initially disappointed with his inability to play effectively in college. At a summer pickup game, Wilt Chamberlain saw his frustration, and encouraged Eaton to focus on protecting the basket, getting rebounds, and passing the ball to quicker guards, rather than trying to compete with smaller, quicker players in scoring. Eaton cited Chamberlain's advice as the turning point in his basketball career. Professional career Because of his lack of playing time at UCLA, few NBA teams had interest in Eaton after he finished his college career. He paid for two tryout camps, but only received an offer of $15,000 to play in Israel and another for