COLLEGE BASKETBALL / GENE WOJCIECHOWSKI : Harrick’s Critics Should Ease Up

Last spring, maybe a day or two before the Artesia High School basketball banquet, we called UCLA Coach Jim Harrick. Harrick was going to the banquet, not because he cared about Artesia, but because forward Charles O’Bannon and center Avondre Jones, two of the most sought-after recruits in the country, had yet to make public their choice of colleges.

Harrick wouldn’t be alone. Kentucky’s Rick Pitino, who like Harrick desperately wanted to sign O’Bannon, also would be there. In fact, Pitino had agreed to be the guest speaker. Pitino didn’t do it out of the kindness of his heart; he did it because he needed a forward to take Jamal Mashburn’s spot.

Michigan Coach Steve Fisher would be there too. With Chris Webber leaving for the NBA, Fisher had to have a center. The same went for USC, which would send assistant coach Charlie Parker as its emissary.

In all, four grown men--with combined earnings of easily more than a million dollars a year--would be stuck at a high school banquet trying to look as if they cared who won the junior varsity hustle award.

“What exactly do you do at one of these things?” we asked.

“We’ll sit in the back and make faces at Pitino,” Harrick said.

“Weird job you got there,” we said. “Sportswriting is weird, but what you do. . . . “

“Yeah, buddy,” Harrick said matter of factly, “be careful what you wish for.”

For Harrick, words to live by.

HARRICK--PART II

Harrick wished for the UCLA job, got it and now has the scar tissue to prove it. Despite five consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances (and a sixth one on the way), a 19-4 record this season, a No. 15 ranking, a boffo recruiting class last year, another one this year and a 135-50 career record at UCLA, Harrick still flinches when someone yells his name.

If disappointing USC somehow pulls off its second consecutive upset and beats the good-but-not-great Bruins tonight at the Sports Arena, it only will get worse for Harrick. The anti-Jims will howl across the talk show airwaves, and all because the Bruins will have lost five of 24 games.

If Trojan Coach George Raveling went 19-5, USC would name an arena after him--that is, if USC had its own arena.

Meanwhile at UCLA, where spoiled fans and boosters are trapped in some sort of 1960s and ‘70s time warp, the Harrick-stinks mentality is only a loss away.

Strange how this works. Indiana lost by 50 to Minnesota earlier this week and nobody was calling for Coach Bob Knight’s head. OK, a few Hoosier fans were, but those are the same yahoos who list Mother Teresa, John F. Kennedy and Kent Benson as the three most influential people in their lives.

North Carolina, the defending NCAA champion, has the most pure talent of any team in the country, though you wouldn’t know it by its six defeats and another handful of near-misses. Yet, Coach Dean Smith still walks with a halo above his head.

At Temple, John Chaney suffers a postgame meltdown and nobody seems too upset, including the school’s administration, which suspends him for only one game. In fact, when he returns, students wave “We Love Chaney” posters.

And at USC, Raveling’s failure to make good on his preseason hype and lead the Trojans to an NCAA bid earns little more than an “Oh, well, maybe next year.” As it stands now, the Trojans are reduced to sweating out an NIT bid.

Of course, if Harrick missed the NCAA, he’d be meeting with his Century 21 agent to discuss listing prices.

The simple truth is this:

Harrick isn’t the best coach in the country. Then again, UCLA wasn’t the best program when he inherited it five seasons ago.

He isn’t the best recruiter, but he was smart enough to hire one of the best, assistant coach Lorenzo Romar.

He isn’t the best X’s and O’s man in the business, nor is he the most popular. Nobody asked him to be in “Blue Chips,” or chat with Lesley Visser at halftime. Even his own athletic director treats him with mild indifference.

In short, Harrick is a solid basketball guy who got his wish. Or in recent weeks, his nightmare. He hasn’t done anything to make us forget John Wooden, but he has eased the memory of Larry and Walt what’s-their-names. Consider it a wash.

Of course, if you want better, talk to Peter Dalis, the guy in charge of the hiring. In the meantime, Harrick is doing the best he can, which, all things considered, deserves something new to these parts: The benefit of the doubt.

HELP WANTED

The resignation of Tennessee Coach Wade Houston doesn’t come as a surprise, but the people’s choice of a replacement might.

According to a vote by viewers of a Knoxville television station, 53% want Tennessee Athletic Director Doug Dickey to hire a well-known local coach who has won three national championships and 525 games.

Two problems: the coach is Lady Volunteer legend Pat Summitt, and she doesn’t want the job.

“I’m not interested in coaching men’s basketball,” she said.

Too bad. Summitt, whose team is ranked No. 1 in the country, might have been able to make the transition. She certainly couldn’t have done much worse than Houston, a decent man who is in the middle of leading Tennessee to its worst season in more than 30 years.

Actually, Summitt had her chance five years ago, before Houston was hired. Intrigued by the idea of coaching the men, Summitt discussed the possibilities with her husband, but later decided not to pursue the opening.

“I don’t know if I was really serious about it,” she said.

Instead, Summitt said she is more interested in “closing the gap” between the popularity of the men’s game and the women’s game.

“I want to see women’s basketball grow,” Summitt said.

One day it will happen: A woman is going to take the plunge and that will be that. It just won’t be Summitt.

“I think when that happens, it will be important to put together the right staff,” Summitt said. “Recruiting, to me, would be the biggest hurdle, the biggest challenge. You’re talking about convincing young men that she knows the game and that she can prepare you for the NBA. It would take a real strong staff.”

There is hope. Pitino’s coaching staff at Kentucky includes Bernadette Locke-Mattox, a fourth-year assistant who is learning the game from one of the best.

“I’m proud for Bernadette,” Summitt said.

Meanwhile, the search for Houston’s replacement commences immediately. The most recent Tennessee wish list includes Charlie Spoonhour of St. Louis, Kevin O’Neill of Marquette, Ralph Willard of Western Kentucky, John Calipari of Massachusetts and Pete Gillen of Xavier.

One rumor to forget: Roy Williams of Kansas. He’s not going anywhere, especially to Tennessee.

However, here are two other names that eventually might come up: Arizona’s Lute Olson and Texas’ Tom Penders. And don’t be surprised if Iowa State’s Johnny Orr and/or Michigan State’s Jud Heathcote call it quits at season’s end.

THE BIG EIGHT GROWS UP

The merger between the Big Eight and the four Southwest Conference defectors--Texas, Texas A&M;, Texas Tech and Baylor--isn’t perfect, but it will do for now.

League officials have acquired the trademark for the name Big 12. If that’s the case, the Big 10 Conference, which actually has 11 members and eventually wants to expand, might have a problem, unless they go to 14 teams.

Anyway, here’s the early reaction among assorted Big Eight coaches:

From Oklahoma State’s Eddie Sutton, who spent a decade in the SWC with former member Arkansas--”I think it’s a tremendous day for the Big Eight. I think this league will be the best conference in America. Just go down the line on every sport.” As for the so-so basketball reputation of the four newcomers, Sutton said, “Some people think that their basketball programs aren’t quite up to the level of the Big Eight. But if they’re not . . . I can’t help but believe that they’ll be on an even keel with us.”

From Oklahoma’s Billy Tubbs--”I personally think it’s a really good move. Personally, I think it will help (with recruiting in Texas). It doubles our conference population. More players are in the conference area and more players will want to play in this area.”

And this from Kansas’ Williams: “From a basketball perspective, I’m not sure it’s going to help. But from an athletic department perspective it might help. It’s going to make it harder for me to recruit Texas.”

THE REST

Williams, who rescued the Jayhawk program from NCAA probation five years ago and has since won three Big Eight Conference championships and made two Final Four appearances, is still steamed about a recent letter he received from a Kansas faculty member. The letter criticized Williams’ 11th-ranked Jayhawks (22-6) and deemed a recent and rare three-game losing streak as “totally unacceptable.” Williams, easily one of the top five college coaches in the game, couldn’t believe his eyes. “I was really disappointed that a faculty (member) would write me a letter,” he said. “If the faculty requires that we win a game, then there is no place for Roy Williams in college athletics.” Knowing Williams, it isn’t a threat, but a promise. . . . Temple’s Chaney, the subject of an exhaustive Sports Illustrated profile, hasn’t seen a word of the story. “I’m afraid to read any articles,” he said. “I don’t read papers or listen to the radio during the season at all.” Chaney also offered advice to any coach looking to copy his habit of loading up on tough nonconference opponents. “I wouldn’t recommend this to young guys,” he said, adding: “If I were at another job, I might go another direction.” . . . Pitino, the former New York Knick coach, on the new NCAA rule that allows players to test the pro market before deciding to stay or leave school: “I think it’s going to be pandemonium in certain cases. In all likelihood, you’re going to see a lot of people putting their names in to see what happens. I’m hearing everything from sophomores, even freshmen putting their names in.”

The Top 10

As selected by Gene Wojciechowski

Team Record 1. Arkansas 23-2 2. Michigan 20-5 3. Duke 22-3 4. Missouri 23-2 5. North Carolina 23-6 6. Connecticut 24-3 7. Kentucky 23-5 8. Arizona 23-4 9. Purdue 23-4 10. Louisville 24-4

Waiting list: Massachusetts (24-6), Syracuse (20-5), Kansas (22-6), St. Louis (22-3), Marquette (20-7).