COLLEGE BASKETBALL ‘89-90 : UCLA PREVIEW : New Faces and Depth to Benefit the Bruins

The grace period is over for UCLA basketball coach Jim Harrick.

Harrick begins his second season at UCLA with a team ranked among almost everyone’s top 20 and expected to remain there for as long as he blows his whistle in Westwood.

That shouldn’t be too difficult, at least through this season.

Four starters return from last season’s 21-10 team, including the top forward tandem in the Pacific 10 Conference, and Harrick and his staff have recruited a freshman class ranked among the nation’s best.

But standing in the Bruins’ way will be Arizona, conference champions three of the last four seasons. And the Bruins are young--eight of their 12 players are freshmen or sophomores.

But their schedule, featuring 15 of 27 games at Pauley Pavilion and trips to Notre Dame and Louisville, shouldn’t be too taxing, and the talent and depth are plentiful.

Last season, the Bruin starters played against walk-ons in practice. This season, they’re facing former high school All-Americans.

“Each day, it’s like a game situation,” said Trevor Wilson, a senior forward who led the Pac-10 in rebounding the last two seasons. “Last year, we didn’t have anyone to practice against and it was hard to stay focused mentally.”

Harrick said he didn’t think the Bruins could unseat Arizona as the conference champion last season.

And this year?

“We have a realistic chance,” he said.

A look at the Bruins:

FORWARDS

Unquestionably, the Bruins’ greatest strength.

“We’ve had some fierce battles at the position, probably as intense as I’ve ever seen,” Harrick said.

Wilson and Don MacLean, last season’s Pac-10 freshman of the year and the Bruins’ leading scorer and No. 2 rebounder, will be challenged for playing time by freshmen Tracy Murray and Zan Mason.

Murray ended his career at Glendora High School as the state’s all-time leading scorer, averaging 44.3 points last season. Mason is an aggressive rebounder and defender from Westchester High School.

Said Harrick of the freshmen: “They’re far enough along that they could probably start in our program.”

But not this season.

CENTERS

Returning starter Kevin Walker, the Bruins’ all-time three-point shooter, has improved his inside game, Harrick said, but the most pleasant surprise has been the development of Keith Owens.

“There are days when he’s the best player on the floor,” Harrick said of the former walk-on from Birmingham High.

Walker, a 6-foot-10 senior, will start, but he will share the position with Owens, a 6-7 junior and a superior defender, Harrick said.

“I would like to play them equally, but I probably won’t,” Harrick said. “I tend toward the starter a little more, but they’re both our starter.”

GUARDS

Darrick Martin, who started 22 games last season with playmaker and all-time Bruin assist leader Pooh Richardson, is expected to blossom as he returns to his natural position of point guard.

“He’s young and he’s got a lot to learn yet,” Harrick said of the 5-11 1/2 sophomore. “But he has a court presence that I really like.”

The other guard will be sophomore Gerald Madkins, who sat out last season after breaking his pelvis in a traffic accident 16 months ago, or freshman Mitchell Butler from Oakwood School in North Hollywood.

Madkins has recovered, but the equally gifted Butler has pushed him in practice.

“His experience is the only thing that gives him an edge,” Harrick said of Madkins, who would have started last season if he hadn’t been injured.

Kevin Williams, who started before giving way to Martin a month into the season, is back for his junior year.

“He looks better at times than Madkins and Butler,” Harrick said.