Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, April 2, 1995 TAG: 9504040036
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZYK
DATELINE: SEATTLE LENGTH: Medium
But as UCLA's basketball coach, Harrick has accomplished something Gene Bartow, Gary Cunningham, Larry Brown, Larry Farmer and Walt Hazzard couldn't do.
He's survived seven seasons - seven very good seasons, capped by this one with a No.1 ranking in the final poll, a 30-2 record and an 18-game winning streak with one to play.
After Saturday's Final Four semifinal triumph over Oklahoma State at the Kingdome, Harrick has the once-dominant Bruins in only their second NCAA basketball championship game in two decades.
Still, Harrick coaches in the shadow - no, make that the total eclipse - of John Wooden, working below the 10 NCAA championship banners that have hung above every coach's head in more ways than one from the rafters at Pauley Pavilion.
Five Wooden successors in 13 years came and went. Brown, the only UCLA coach between Wooden and Harrick to take the Bruins to a Final Four (1980), almost came back.
Harrick, 56 and a former UCLA assistant under Cunningham, was in nearby Malibu, winning big at Pepperdine. He wanted the job, but how could UCLA consider a guy from West Virginia, a graduate of Morris Harvey?
Brown was asked back to Westwood, but in a rarity in his career, wouldn't pack his bags. The late Jim Valvano and Louisville coach Denny Crum - another Wooden protege - were candidates.
``Everyone knows Jim wasn't our No.1 choice,'' UCLA athletic director Peter Dalis said. ``We talked to Denny, who ended up pushing [for] Jim. I've often bounced ideas off Denny, so what he said about Jim had an influence.''
Few people know it, but Harrick's first seven years with the Bruins have included more victories than the first seven guided by the Wizard of Westwood.
``When I started at UCLA, everybody looked at me like I'd be the next guy passing through,'' Harrick said. ``I'm still here. Hopefully, I will be here for a long time.''
Harrick takes a 167-55 record at UCLA into Monday night's final. The Bruins have been to the NCAA in every Harrick season, and Wooden has done nothing but support the latest coach to wrestle with his legacy.
``I've had no vindication at all [in reaching the Final Four],'' said Harrick, 56, who has coached at least 21 victories in each of his UCLA years. ``I learned from Coach Wooden a long time ago that if you listen to too much criticism it will hurt your coaching and if you listen to too much praise it will do the same thing.
``The more people talk about it, the bigger it becomes. I really didn't care what people said. For a couple of years it was the talk of the radio [in Los Angeles], and that's gone away now.
``I've had a great run all of my coaching career, but people keep writing about [following Wooden] and the more they write the bigger it becomes.
``Certainly, it's a tough job. I thought I was prepared with nine years of Division I head coaching experience, but the magnitude of this job is even greater than I expected.''
Harrick has recruited well and won two Pacific 10 titles. The days of a beachboy like Cherokee Parks snubbing the Bruins for an official visit seem to be history.
In recent years, the Bruins have beaten Duke, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisville, Kansas, Missouri and Connecticut. Harrick has coached in 11 NCAA Tournaments and two NITs. His Morningside High School teams in Los Angeles in the early '70s were 103-16.
So, what's enough? Probably one NCAA title isn't. Harrick, however, is more comfortable in his job, if not so comfortable in his surroundings. Harrick went to the Academy Awards ceremony last Monday night.
``I was out of my league,'' he said.
It isn't just a spectacular season that has made Harrick more comfortable. He's gotten the support of his peers, many of whom are rooting for him at the Final Four because they understand what he's gone, and is going, through with Wooden, 85, observing from a Pauley courtside seat.
``I think people are settled into the fact that we run a sound, solid program,'' Harrick said. ``It will never be to everyone's liking, but I think people have accepted that.''
The vote isn't unanimous, but so what if Harrick isn't Wooden? No one else has been, or will be. Wooden's Bruins once won 38 straight NCAA Tournament games. The only other coaches who have won more NCAA games are Dean Smith, Bobby Knight and Mike Krzyzewski.
Not long ago one afternoon in Pauley, Harrick was filming his part of a deodorant commercial. He supposedly was coaching his team, and sweat was glistening from his face, running down his cheeks.
His perspiration was just an act. Then, it certainly wasn't a stretch for Harrick.
by CNB