In Public Apology, Hazzard Says Remarks Weren’t Aimed at LSU

In the latest installment of the hottest series of media breakfasts in town, UCLA basketball Coach Walt Hazzard apologized Wednesday to Coach Dale Brown of Louisiana State.

Hazzard, who had seemed to imply at last week’s meeting that someone had been offering former Crenshaw High star John Williams cash during Williams’ recruitment, said it certainly had not been Louisiana State, where Williams is now enrolled.

Hazzard apologized in a prepared statement, which he read. It said:

” . . . I made some comments regarding John Williams. . . . At no time did I intend for those remarks to be interpreted as a criticism of LSU head Coach Dale Brown or his program. Obviously, Coach Brown knows his program much better than I do.

“In addition I never intended to imply that LSU had given John money to attend school there. I stated that we (UCLA) told John we would not recruit in that manner, but I never said or meant to imply that LSU recruited in that way.

“I have already personally apologized to Coach Brown via long-distance telephone and, at this time, I want to make a public apology to Dale for any inconvenience my comments may have caused him. We had a nice talk on the telephone and I hope to meet him in the near future.”

To which Hazzard added extemporaneously:

“And I’m very sorry if it caused trepidation to John Williams and his family. And that’s all I want to say about that.”

Brown had initially praised Hazzard’s stand last week, saying: “I just think he said what was in his heart. . . . I’ve been saying the same thing for 20 years. . . . We all know it (money) was (offered). You’d have to be on the planet Uranus not to think that top athletes are getting offers of money and other things. . . . I applaud (Hazzard) for it. I hope he keeps that attitude. I’m not offended by anything he said. I don’t think it has any relationship to LSU.”

As the story circulated around the country, however, and phone calls to Baton Rouge piled up, Brown’s applause diminished to the sound of one hand clapping.

Replying to Hazzard’s accompanying criticism of Brown’s use of Williams as a player, Brown said: “I’ve always found that if you throw some dirt, you lose some ground.”

Brown then called UCLA Athletic Director Peter Dalis, who is an old friend. Williams’ mother, Marie Matthews, now living in Baton Rouge, called Hazzard last week in Arizona, where the Bruins were playing. Finally, things were ironed out in a three-way telephone call among Brown, Hazzard and Dalis.

The Bruins, 4-2 in the Pacific 10, will play Cal tonight at 7:30 in Pauley Pavilion.

The Bears haven’t done real well in the series. So far they’re 0 for the 1980s, 0 for the 1970s and almost 0 for the 1960s, too. Cal got its last win in the series 50 games ago, in 1961, when the Bears still had three starters from Pete Newell’s ’60 team that lost to Ohio State in the NCAA tournament final. Since then, the Bears have gone through four coaches.

Of course, the Bruins are on their sixth.

Hazzard, asked about the possibility of his players letting down after beating Washington, said: “I’m not concerned about them letting down. I’ll kill ‘em.”

The Bears are 9-6 this season, but 1-4 in the conference. They’ve lost road games by 18 at Washington and 19 at Washington State.

They’re small across the front line (6-9, 6-8 and 6-4), have been outrebounded in the conference by three a game, and have allowed opponents to shoot 51.3% from the floor.

Cal’s top players are Leonard Taylor, a 6-8 freshman from St. Bernard who was recruited by UCLA last spring, and sophomore guards Chris Washington and Kevin Johnson. A year ago, Washington and Johnson led an effort at Berkeley that carried the Bruins into overtime before UCLA won.