COLLEGE BASKETBALL / GENE WOJCIECHOWSKI : Extension of Harrick’s Pact Comes Without a Safety Net

The cruel truth is that Jim Harrick’s new contract extension changes nothing. It is a deal written in invisible ink. It is a promise waiting to be broken. It is a short-term solution to a program with long-term concerns.

Realize this: UCLA had no choice but to extend the deal. After all, what had Harrick really done wrong, other than not be John Wooden Jr.?

His record is 114-44, which is better than what Wooden produced during his first five seasons. Each of Harrick’s four Bruin teams have advanced to the NCAA tournament, and another one is on its way. His players generally have earned degrees. And NCAA investigators wouldn’t know their way to Westwood unless they had a map of the stars.

Still, it is doubtful that UCLA Athletic Director Peter Dalis arrived home from work Tuesday and chirped, “Honey, pop open the good stuff--I just signed Harrick for three more years.”

Dalis was stuck. Had he fired Harrick, UCLA would have been put on a spit and broiled over the heat of national outrage. It would have been the Lou Campanelli-California Controversy to the nth power. Imagine the wailing--and all of it justified, especially with the Teflon coach, UCLA’s Terry Donahue, still around with a 23-21 record and one bowl appearance during the last four seasons.

So Dalis stood by his man--that is, if you allow for the arm’s distance.

Is it a good sign when your athletic director says you’ve accomplished the minimum goal? Is it reassuring when he reminds you that college coaches aren’t judged the same way that college professors are? That there exists, in essence, a double standard?

That’s what Dalis did. With one hand he offered Harrick the extension the coach craved, with another he dropped several ominous hints that nothing is chiseled in stone, only in sand.

Harrick--Part II: A new deal means new pressures, new expectations of Harrick and his staff.

Harrick said he needed the extension to ease the fears of top-rated recruits. Now that he has it, what happens if Charles O’Bannon decides to sign with Kentucky and Artesia teammate Avondre Jones chooses to accept Michigan’s scholarship offer? Then what? What’s the excuse then?

What happens the next time UCLA gets beat by 30 points in the NCAA tournament? What if attendance at proud Pauley Pavilion continues to slip? What if Harrick pops off about his salary again?

The possibilities are endless, but the bottom line isn’t. Harrick must produce. He has accomplished the minimum--which would be the maximum at most other schools--and now he is being asked to do more. At resource-rich, tradition-laden UCLA, it is not an inappropriate request.

So back to the Bruin sidelines Harrick returns. He should understand that his new contract represents more of a reprieve than a reward. Should he need a reminder, he can simply consult Campanelli, who can detail the many vapor qualities of contract extensions.

Harrick’s signature is on a piece of paper, but nothing is different. At least, not yet it isn’t. Harrick is still a coach working without a safety net. He remains a target and a victim all at the same time. Some of it is his own doing, some of it is the curse of Wooden, some of it is the product of Dalis’ reluctance to make a decision.

Harrick doesn’t have time to celebrate. Instead, he must--rightly or wrongly--continue to glance over his shoulder. There he will see the assembled critics, both inside and outside the UCLA program, waiting for the next perceived mistake.

Through it all, an image remains. You’ve seen it: Harrick near the bench, his right hand gripping a game program as if it were a baton. Now the question: Is he simply waiting to pass it on to the next guy or is it truly his to keep?

Put it this way: it won’t take three more years to find out.

The end of the regular season means the beginning of All-American teams. Here’s ours:

FIRST TEAM Guards--Duke’s Bobby Hurley, Vanderbilt’s Billy McCaffrey. Forwards--Indiana’s Calbert Cheaney, Kentucky’s Jamal Mashburn. Center--Michigan’s Chris Webber.

SECOND TEAM Guards--Cincinnati’s Nick Van Exel, Tennessee’s Allan Houston. Forwards--Memphis State’s Anfernee Hardaway, Nevada Las Vegas’ J.R. Rider. Center--Wake Forest’s Rodney Rogers. Player of the Year--Cheaney. Coach of the Year--Indiana’s Bobby Knight.

Awards--Part II: No, we’re not Indiana grads. And yes, a legitimate case could be made for Hurley, McCaffrey, Mashburn, Webber or Hardaway for player of the year and Vanderbilt’s Eddie Fogler, Arizona State’s Bill Frieder or Oklahoma State’s Eddie Sutton for coach of the year.

Cheaney’s choice was relatively simple. In the 13 games Indiana has played against top 25 opponents, Cheaney has averaged 23.9 points. He scored 34 against Florida State, 36 against Seton Hall, 26 against Kansas, 29 against Kentucky and 33 against Purdue. If he were at Purdue, he would be doing what first-year sensation Glenn Robinson has done--lead the Big Ten in scoring. If he were at Michigan, the Wolverines would own a national championship.

Instead, he is at Indiana, where he has been asked to stay within the lines drawn by Knight. With the exception of Oklahoma State sophomore center Bryant Reeves, Cheaney might be the most improved player in Division I. And when it became apparent that guard Damon Bailey wasn’t going to be the leader Indiana had hoped for, the shy, soft-spoken Cheaney promptly asserted himself.

Cheaney can’t be judged by his 22.1-point scoring average alone. He is an accomplished defender, a good rebounder (6.3 per game) and creative on offense. In a season when little separates the very best players, Cheaney is the choice.

As for Knight, consider: He began the season with one true star (Cheaney), no real inside game and a killer schedule. He has since lost center Alan Henderson indefinitely because of a knee injury and is down to nine roster players. Ranking? No. 2. Overall record? 27-3. Record in the ultra-competitive Big Ten? 16-1.

Fogler did a masterful job this season, as did Frieder and Sutton. But Knight received the vote--and just barely over Fogler--because of the strength of his conference, the nurturing of Cheaney’s game, the recent absence of Henderson, the past No. 1 ranking, the overall record and his ability to make do with a suspect bench.

Already a bit on edge because of his team’s tenuous NCAA tournament status, Georgia Tech’s Bobby Cremins nearly popped a neck vein when asked about rumors of his return to his alma mater of South Carolina.

“I could (not) care less about South Carolina,” he snapped. “All I care about is the Georgia Tech basketball team.”

That’s probably true. Cremins’ loyalty to Tech is above reproach. But if the reports are accurate--a 6-8-year offer from South Carolina worth $600,000 annually--it might be hard for Cremins to ignore, especially since it comes from Mike McGee, new Gamecock athletic director. McGee had nothing to do with the 1991 dismissal of George Felton, former South Carolina coach and Cremins’ friend.

Cremins said he has spoken to his team about the situation, but said the issue is closed until further notice.

“That’s exactly right, I’m ignoring (it),” he said.

With a starting lineup that includes two sophomores and two freshmen, Cremins can’t afford distractions. The Yellow Jackets are 16-10 overall and 8-8 in the Atlantic Coast Conference. A loss to Duke Friday in the quarterfinals of the ACC tournament could place Georgia Tech in an even more precarious position.

“The No. 1 criteria ought to be strength of schedule,” said Cremins, whose team was ranked 19th in the March 1 Rating Percentage Index.

The RPI is a key indicator used by the NCAA men’s basketball committee to help determine the 34 at-large teams and appropriate seedings.

Speaking of seedings, not much has changed. North Carolina, even if it doesn’t win the ACC tournament, should be No. 1 in the East Regional. Indiana will get the No. 1 spot in the Midwest, and Michigan is the likely choice in the West, with Arizona seeded No. 2 there. Still to be determined is the Southeast Regional, where Kentucky or Vanderbilt might finish as the No. 1-seeded team. An outside possibility? Duke, if it wins the ACC tournament. Blue Devil swingman Grant Hill is expected to return to action Friday. . . . Vanderbilt’s McCaffrey, who transferred from Duke after the 1990-1991 championship season, left reluctantly because he or--depending on the source--his parents were unhappy with his lack of playing time. Said Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski of the result: “It’s apparent that decision was a good one, and all of us have done well because of that decision.” . . . The 16 finalists for the John R. Wooden Award: Indiana’s Cheaney, Duke’s Hurley, Kentucky’s Mashburn, Vanderbilt’s McCaffrey, Cincinnati’s Van Exel, Michigan’s Webber, Seton Hall’s Terry Dehere, Duke’s Grant Hill, Memphis State’s Hardaway, Tennessee’s Houston, Arizona’s Chris Mills, North Carolina’s Eric Montross, Purdue’s Robinson, Kansas’ Rex Walters, Iowa’s Acie Earl and Utah’s Josh Grant. The winner will be announced April 7 at the Los Angeles Athletic Club. Wake Forest’s Rogers and UNLV’s Rider were withdrawn from the list of candidates because they failed to meet Wooden Award academic requirements.

Top 10

As selected by staff writer Gene Wojciechowski

No. Team Record 1. North Carolina 26-3 2. Indiana 27-3 3. Michigan 25-4 4. Kentucky 23-3 5. Vanderbilt 25-4 6. Seton Hall 24-6 7. Duke 23-6 8. Kansas 24-5 9. Arizona 22-3 10. Cincinnati 22-4

Waiting list: Florida State (22-8), Arkansas (19-7), Wake Forest (19-7), Utah (22-5), Iowa (21-8).