UCLA’s Young Says Winning Isn’t the Key : College basketball: Bruin chancellor cites academics, direction of the program as criteria for judging Harrick.

Although heavy emphasis has been put on Jim Harrick’s record this season, the victories and defeats might have little bearing on his future as UCLA’s basketball coach.

Chancellor Charles Young, speaking publicly about Harrick’s situation for the first time, said that academics, team conduct and adherence to NCAA regulations are equally as important as winning, according to a published report in Tuesday’s Daily Bruin.

“There’s no scientific balancing of all those factors, but they’re all taken into account,” Young said during a student news conference last week.

Asked whether he is satisfied with the basketball program, Young said: “I don’t think anybody is satisfied with all elements of it and I don’t think the coach would be above all levels of it. The question is whether it’s going in the right direction.

“The academic level of the people who are being recruited, the academic accomplishments of the students while they’re here, the ways which the team, the players, and the coach represent the university on and off the basketball court--those would be the more important things.”

Overall, Harrick’s recruits have proved to be model citizens, unlike some Bruin football players who recently were arrested for carrying concealed weapons. And most of the basketball players have successfully handled the academic rigors.

Young, a member of the influential NCAA Presidents Commission, has long advocated such values in collegiate athletics. But in Westwood, he has had to delicately balance his views with alumni who will settle for nothing less than Final Four appearances.

Harrick, who has led the Bruins to four consecutive NCAA tournament bids, is in the final year of his contract. However, terms of the contract allow school officials to drop Harrick without cause.

Pete Dalis, UCLA athletic director, and Young, who was attending meetings in Sacramento on Tuesday and was unavailable, will ultimately determine Harrick’s future. Dalis has said he will evaluate Harrick’s performance at the end of the season, as he does with all his coaches.

Young, when asked if there was any reason that Harrick’s contract would be terminated or bought out, said: “I can’t say under no circumstance we would leave it.”

Although the Bruins are 18-7 overall and second in the Pacific 10 Conference at 8-5, Young is well aware of the discontent expressed by many boosters. Attendance is off, as is television interest, even though UCLA has won four games in a row. Officials are expecting better results this week as UCLA plays host to USC on Thursday night and travels to Duke for a nationally televised game Sunday.

But a week after an embarrassing 0.9 local rating for the UCLA-Oregon game, the Bruin-California game received a 2.1 mark among Southland viewers. Professional bowling, on at the same time, posted a 5.9.

Some prominent boosters have gone so far as to give the chancellor’s office a list of coaches they would like to see replace Harrick next season. The public outcry against Harrick has been difficult to handle, Young said.

“I think the overall attitude, to the extent it affects the program in a negative way, yes. . . . Some of the (criticisms) are probably fair and some of the things are not fair,” he said.

“(Sport is) so important to the American public that it is hard to control.”