COLLEGE BASKETBALL / GENE WOJCIECHOWSKI : Harrick Can Find Reason for His Predicament in Mirror

UCLA’s Jim Harrick Under Siege--Day Five:

As job security goes, Harrick is tied with Zoe Baird’s Peruvian gardener. Then again, the gardener did not lose to California by 22 points last Sunday, the worst loss in Pauley Pavilion history.

Harrick has a year left on his contract, but it might as well have been written in invisible ink. If UCLA wants him gone at season’s end, then gone he will be, another fatality of the Bruin version of Dead Man’s Curve.

For the most part, Harrick has himself to blame for his predicament. He is the Larry Smith of UCLA, which is to say he never knows when to leave well enough alone.

Last year Harrick complained about his $400,000 salary and suggested he deserved pay equal with Indiana’s Bob Knight, Louisville’s Denny Crum and Arizona’s Lute Olson.

Uh, oh. Combined Final Four appearances and national championships for Knight, Crum and Olson: 13/5. Final Four appearances and national championships for Harrick: Ze/ro.

When USC’s Smith was forced to resign after a humiliating Freedom Bowl loss to Fresno State, Harrick used the opportunity to fret about his own employment status. He called UCLA basketball one of the toughest coaching jobs in America, which is true enough. But it isn’t any more difficult than the demands placed on Kentucky’s Rick Pitino or Kansas’ Roy Williams.

Pressure isn’t confined to the boundaries of the Westwood campus. Pitino inherited a program in far worse shape than Harrick did at UCLA and, despite the debilitating effects of NCAA probation and other related sanctions, has positioned the Wildcats for runs at national championships. In fact, with fewer scholarships, reduced television exposure and recruiting restraints, Pitino’s record during the last four seasons is almost identical to Harrick’s.

Meanwhile, Williams, who took over the Kansas program the same year Harrick accepted the UCLA job, has won 34 more games and advanced to the NCAA championship game. Like Pitino, Williams endured the effects of NCAA probation.

And please, no more mention of losing Don MacLean and Tracy Murray to the NBA. Arkansas lost four players to the pros, were without their top freshman, Corliss Williamson, until about two weeks ago, and lost another would-be starter at season’s beginning. Yet, Nolan Richardson has led the Razorbacks to a 12-4 record and No. 16 ranking.

Harrick--Part II

At times, it seems as if Harrick fights Bruin basketball tradition rather than embraces it. Truth is, his future isn’t in question because of a single loss to Cal last Sunday or the absence of a national championship banner during his 4 1/2-season tenure. He is tie-clasp deep in controversy mostly because he often says the wrong things at the wrong times.

Yes, the UCLA program is in better condition than it was when Harrick arrived in 1988. But how much better? And what part has Harrick played in UCLA’s standing as the third-best program in the West, behind Arizona and Nevada Las Vegas and barely ahead of USC, Utah, Brigham Young, Cal and Oregon State?

And if the record speaks for itself, as Harrick says it does, then why do we hear the constant echo of his voice, reminding anyone and everyone of four consecutive Bruin visits to the NCAA tournament? By the way, that same record also shows that UCLA’s worst defeat at Pauley Pavilion, worst defeat in regular-season play and worst defeat in postseason play all came with Harrick on the sidelines.

But what people want to know most is if last year’s UCLA appearance in the NCAA tournament round of eight was a sign of things to come or the high-water mark of the Harrick regime? At last check of the Pacific 10 standings and the two national polls, Harrick’s finest UCLA moment might be in the past tense.

Harrick--Part III

Facts are facts: This is a so-so year in the Pac-10 and the Bruins are stuck in fifth place. . . . Harrick has yet to recruit a true center. True centers don’t leave last Sunday’s game against Cal with a linescore that reads: 12 minutes, four turnovers, five points and two rebounds. . . . Harrick’s reputation as a developer of talent remains a concern. . . . Harrick isn’t the most popular person among UCLA administrators, athletic department officials and alumni.

Now then, will he retain his job for the 1993-94 season? Will he want to?

If we were Harrick, we’d stick it out. If were Peter Dalis, UCLA athletic director, we’d let him.

Fair is fair--UCLA hired him through next season, so UCLA ought to keep him through next season. Harrick’s record has earned him that right.

But some suggestions:

--You know how Harrick puts a choke hold on the game program he carries on the sideline? He ought to do the same to his vocal cords each time he’s tempted to discuss: A) salary, B) security, C) expectations, D) Knight, Crum and Olson.

--With the exception and Shon Tarver and Ed O’Bannon, who Harrick signed after they changed their minds about UNLV, Bruin recruiting has been a mess, especially when it comes to local stars and big men.

Word is, however, that Harrick might soon receive a commitment from Artesia’s Charles O’Bannon, one of the top two or three recruits in the country. If it happens, Harrick deserves a round of applause, but also a warning: don’t waste the talent.

--And as silly as it might sound, lighten up. Lose the game program before you rear back and smack center Richard Petruska with it. Don’t be afraid to admit that mistakes have been made. In short, start over. It might not be too late.

The halfway point of the season deserves some halfway point awards. The short list:

Coach of the Year

Utah’s Rick Majerus, Kansas’ Williams, Florida State’s Pat Kennedy and George Washington’s Mike Jarvis were our preseason favorites. Since then, Vanderbilt’s Eddie Fogler, Arkansas’ Richardson, Wisconsin’s Stu Jackson, Virginia’s Jeff Jones and North Carolina’s Dean Smith have joined the list.

The choice: Fogler. Every season needs a sleeper team and Fogler’s Commodores are it.

Starting Five

A preseason lineup would have featured Duke’s Bobby Hurley and Tennessee’s Allan Houston in the backcourt and Kentucky’s Jamal Mashburn, Duke’s Grant Hill and Michigan’s Chris Webber in the front court. Things change.

The starters: Memphis State’s Anfernee Hardaway and Vanderbilt’s Billy McCaffrey in the backcourt and Mashburn, Webber and Indiana’s Calbert Cheaney in the front court.

Reserves

Hurley, Hill, North Carolina center Eric Montross, Purdue forward Glenn Robinson, Cincinnati guard Nick Van Exel, Wake Forest forward Rodney Rogers, Seton Hall guard Terry Dehere and UNLV forward J.R. Rider.

Player of the Half-Season

A tossup between Webber, McCaffrey and Cheaney. The choice: Cheaney.

For the first time since 1974, Wisconsin finds itself ranked in a national poll. Considering where this program has been--mainly at or near the bottom of the Big Ten all these years--the Badgers’ No. 24 rating in the most recent USA Today/CNN coaches’ poll is cause for celebration.

Entering Wednesday night’s game against Illinois, Wisconsin had beaten three consecutive top 25 teams, beginning with Minnesota, then Ohio State and then Michigan State. Suddenly a 17- to 20-victory season doesn’t seem out of the question, nor does an NCAA tournament bid, which would be the school’s first since 1947.

Attendance is up at the 11,895-seat UW Field House. Two of the last three Badger games were sellouts and the other one was 150 short only because of an ice storm. People are even buying tickets for seats where the views are obstructed by beams in the 63-year-old building.

Responsible for the Wisconsin resurgence is first-year Badger Coach Stu Jackson, who junked Steve Yoder’s walk-a-thon offense and, instead, inserted an attack that is remarkably similar to the one used by his former Providence and New York Knick boss, Pitino. You’ve seen it: heavy on the three-pointers, heavy on defense, light on slowdown tactics.

So far, Wisconsin has had three 100-point-plus games, which matches the number of triple-digit scores by the Badgers in the 12 previous seasons combined.

“We have so far to go, it’s not even funny,” Jackson said. “We’re still not pressing as well as I’d like for us to do and we’re still not running as much as I’d like. But we’ve only been together since Nov. 1, so mentally we have a long way to go.”

Still, Jackson isn’t silly enough to ignore the program’s early accomplishments. His team includes sophomore wingman Michael Finley, who is averaging 20.4 points and 6.2 rebounds. “Somebody you should watch,” said Jackson, who compares him to a cross between Danny Manning of the Clippers and Larry Nance of the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Then there is the Badger recruiting class of 1993. UCLA’s Harrick should be so lucky. In one of the biggest surprises of the college basketball year, top 10 prospect Rashard Griffith, a 7-foot center from Chicago, chose upstart Wisconsin over everyone else.

“He didn’t mind being part of a program that hadn’t already achieved national prominence,” Jackson said. “To his credit, those needs and objectives are not like most of the blue-chip stars that come out these days. Not to generalize, but there are a lot of kids out there who want the instant quick fix.”

Wisconsin is no powerhouse, but in the next couple of seasons the Badgers have the chance make up for lost time.

“This is a town that is starved for a winner,” Jackson said. “When I took the job, everyone pointed out the negatives. But look at the positives of this place. It’s a sleeping giant.”

In honor of Chris Street, the Iowa star forward who was killed in a recent automobile accident, Iowa State’s Johnny Orr has instituted a new team policy. As long as there is a native Iowan on the team, that player will wear No. 40, Street’s jersey number. Said Orr, when he first heard the news of Street’s death: “I listened to it at home. I kept waiting for it to be a mistake.” . . . Arkansas’ Richardson said he and Harrick discussed their respective situations during an off-season gathering sponsored by the shoe company whose sneakers they endorse. The two friends compared rosters, goals and expectations. “I think the biggest thing we talked about is, win enough games and hopefully take a team to the NCAA (tournament),” Richardson said. “If you do something like that, you really feel you accomplished a lot.” Added Richardson: “Sometimes you feel you have a chance and the pieces don’t fall together.”

Top 10

As selected by staff writer Gene Wojciechowski

No. Team Record 1. North Carolina 17-1 2. Indiana 18-2 3. Kentucky 14-1 4. Michigan 16-2 5. Kansas 16-2 6. Cincinnati 14-1 7. Duke 14-3 8. Vanderbilt 15-3 9. Arizona 11-2 10. Nevada Las Vegas 11-1

Waiting list: Utah (14-2), Seton Hall (15-4), Iowa (12-3), Arkansas (12-4), Purdue (11-3).