Harrick Spends Evening With Some Star Players

He was a “Gump” guest, and, mingling wide-eyed among the glitterati, Bruin Coach Jim Harrick had himself a tuxedo-clad night to remember at the Academy Awards on Monday night.

“It was awesome, it was truly awesome,” Harrick said Tuesday, after attending with his wife, Sally, as a guest of Wendy Finerman, executive producer of the Oscar-winning picture, “Forrest Gump.” Finerman is the daughter of UCLA team physician Gerald Finerman.

Saying it was his first and probably last chance to go to the Oscars, Harrick said he was most impressed by “our newfound friend, Jack Nicholson,” who has shown up for a few UCLA games this season, and Sylvester Stallone.

And even among such a crowd, the Final Four was a hot topic.

“Let me tell you something, there were a lot of Bruin fans there,” Harrick said. “A whole bunch. And a whole bunch in the stands walking in. They started screaming and yelling, walking in on the red carpet, and then even at the ball afterwards.

“We couldn’t go anywhere . . . every table had somebody that started screaming and yelling and clapping.”

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When his players looked sluggish in Tuesday morning’s workout, Harrick decided to lighten the workload heading into Saturday’s game against Oklahoma State.

“I feel we’ve had about 19 straight heavyweight matches--especially Ed (O’Bannon) and Tyus (Edney),” Harrick said. “They don’t need to practice.

“I don’t want my team getting stale. And we were heavy-legged today and lethargic in practice and that tells me a little story.”