It would make a great trivia question: Who are the only two basketball coaches to win a national championship in UCLA history?
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| 'I still wear my ring, and I still go to the games,' former UCLA coach Jim Harrick said. (US Presswire) |
John R. Wooden, of course, won 10 titles for the Bruins; Jim Harrick won the other one.
"I still wear my ring, and I still go to the games," said Harrick, who won the national championship in 1995 and was last seen coaching the Developmental League's Bakersfield Jam until January, when he resigned to spend more time with his wife and nine grandchildren. "I'm very connected to the program; I think Kevin Love should be the No. 1 pick of the draft."
Harrick's story is equal parts glory and humiliation. At UCLA, he was let go for lying about his expense report, and at Georgia, where he coached for five years, he left in 2003 after being accused of academic fraud. Now 69, he's retired in Southern California, but his ties with UCLA coach Ben Howland run deep.
In the spring of 2003, when Howland was hired, one of his first calls was to Harrick.
"Ben was in a hotel in Los Angeles," Harrick said. "I drove up from Orange County and talked to him for six hours. He still has me speak to the team once a year."
Harrick has always been an excellent coach. Twenty-five years ago, he led Pepperdine to the NCAA tournament where the Waves lost to eventual champion N.C. State in the first round in double-overtime. Harrick led the University of Rhode Island to a regional final and went to the tournament consecutive years with the Georgia Bulldogs.
What he sees in freshman Love, Harrick has only seen twice before in a UCLA uniform.
"I say to myself, 'Be careful, Coach Harrick,'" he said, "but I've seen every UCLA game this year and I've coached for 30 years. Only Lew Alcindor and Bill Walton had Kevin Love's tenacity and talent. This guy is a force."
Harrick has known the Love family for 30 years (yes, including Mr. California Girls himself, Beach Boy Mike Love, Kevin's uncle). Harrick said that Love was ready for the NBA, but when David Stern raised the age limit, "there was only one place for him to go -- UCLA," where Ben Howland "is the perfect coach for him."
Harrick said no one, except for the great John Wooden himself, has Howland's combination of stubbornness, knowledge and complete lack of interest in becoming a celebrity.
"Ben and I meet once a week and we talk about everything," Harrick said. "There isn't one thing phony about Ben, he's all basketball. And he has those kids playing crushing defense, just cutting the heart out an opponent. He reminds me of Coach Wooden."
Harrick is also close to the legendary icon. He and Wooden have breakfast together and talk often on the phone. They share a love for the blue and gold.
"Coach is as stubborn as ever," Harrick said. "He's 97, and last year he renewed his driver's license for five years! I called him last week, he's still recovering from his fall, and I said, 'How are you Coach?' and he said, 'OK, I'm kind of uncomfortable.' I said, 'Didn't they give you any painkillers?' And he said, 'Oh, yes, but I don't take them.'"
As for the team's chances to win a national title, Harrick thinks this is the best of the three straight Final Four appearances.
"On the negative side," he said, "some of the players aren't shooting well from the perimeter. No one ever zones UCLA and I don't know why. You pressure them you play right into their hands. On the positive side, they are just spectacular on defense. They have great hands, and I've always thought great teams have to have great hands.
"Teams get shocked when they experience UCLA's defense," he added. "Look at Xavier ... they were deer-in-the-headlights shocked. Western Kentucky looked like a Mack truck hit them."
Harrick will be in San Antonio for the Final Four, sitting in the UCLA section, rooting for another coach to bring a title home to Westwood.