Harrick Didn’t Break Any Rules

The Pacific 10 Conference has found no evidence that UCLA basketball Coach Jim Harrick violated NCAA rules when his son Glenn sold a car to the sister of a recruit.

Athletic Director Peter T. Dalis said at a news conference Monday that Harrick may still face disciplinary action from the school for not disclosing the transaction.

Dalis said he always believed UCLA did nothing wrong in its recruitment of point guard Baron Davis, a highly regarded senior from Santa Monica Crossroads High.

“There were interesting circumstances surrounding all of this because of the timing and what appeared to be at least on the outside a violation,” Dalis said. “We are gratified it was not.”

The Pac-10 launched its week-long investigation Oct. 9, following a Times report that Jim Harrick’s 1991 Chevrolet Blazer was sold to Davis’ sister, Lisa Hodoh, on Sept. 20, two days after Davis orally committed to UCLA. Harrick said he bought the car in 1991 for Glenn and that his son sold it to Hodoh without his knowledge. Dalis also said Jim Harrick said he signed over the title this summer.

Dalis said an NCAA representative “listened in” on some of the interviews conducted by the Pac-10 and that the NCAA is satisfied with the conference’s findings.

Dalis said he would submit a report to Chancellor Charles Young on whether to discipline Harrick for not informing school officials of the transaction. According to NCAA procedure, athletic officials at NCAA schools must report possible violations.

“There have been no sanctions [to Harrick] as yet. These matters are typically discussed with Chancellor Young,” Dalis said. “In as much there are no violations the sanctions will, in my opinion, rest on Jim’s judgment.

“I told Jim that I felt he should have come forward and I talked about that. But something of this magnitude really needs to be discussed with the people who supervise both Jim and the program.”

Athletic department sources said the school could discipline Harrick by withholding his allotted tickets to UCLA games, not honoring contract bonuses, or issuing him a letter of reprimand. Dalis gave no timetable on when a decision will be made.

Harrick said the reason he didn’t report the car sale was that he was sure no rules were broken.

“I probably used poor judgment,” said Harrick, who spoke at the news conference for about five minutes. “I am required to tell violations and certainly in hindsight I wished I had. But there was no violation.”

Dalis said paramount to the investigation was the value of the car, which Hodoh purchased for $5,000. Dalis said three car dealers estimated the fair market value of the car during the investigation to be between $4,500 and $4,785. A survey conducted for the Times by the Vehicle Information Network on Oct. 8 found no cars of that make and model for sale in the Los Angeles area for less than $6,500.

Dalis said the Pac-10 also investigated how Hodoh obtained the money to purchase the car and how she came to be employed by the Associated Students of UCLA in late March while her brother was being recruited by the Bruins and found no violations.

Under NCAA policy, Glenn Harrick was required to make the car available to the general public, and Dalis said Pac-10 investigators were satisfied that he did so by offering it to friends and his brother in-law.

Dalis said UCLA did not release copies of the postal money orders on Oct. 10, as assumed by the Times in its report of the release. He said the school released postal money order carbons that were filled out by Hodoh after the transaction. Hodoh purchased the car using seven $700 and one $100 money orders made out to Glenn Harrick’s wife, Michelle Chisholm.

“[Lisa Hodoh’s] husband [Dean] gave Michelle the original. The husband then brought the receipts back and [Lisa] just filled them out after the transaction,” Dalis said. “They were separated and her husband brought them back to her and she signed them, and the NCAA and the Pac-10 investigator were happy with that answer.”

Dalis also said Hodoh signed the checks using both her maiden and married names because she used both regularly.

Dalis was asked in Monday’s press conference if investigators had asked Glenn Harrick for a bank deposit receipt of the $5,000. Dalis said “No, we did not check that.”

Dalis later reported to The Times that he phoned Pac-10 investigator David Price and Price had responded that his notes showed that he asked Glenn Harrick that question, and Harrick said he deposited the money on Sept. 23, three days after the transaction. It was not clear whether Price had seen the receipts.

There was little reaction to the Pac-10’s finding Monday. Most members of the Pac-10 declined to comment but one who did backed the investigation.

“If [Pac-10 investigator] David Price says it’s clean, it’s clean,” said Bill Moos, athletic director at the University of Oregon. “We know he works around the clock. We know he knows the questions to ask and the people to ask them of. If his conclusion is that there is not an infraction, we are more than comfortable with that.”

Times staff writer Jim Hodges contributed to this story.

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Pacific-10 Conference statement, issued Monday:

The Pacific-10 Conference has determined, based upon the information obtained during its investigation, that no NCAA rules violation occurred when Glenn Harrick sold a 1991 Chevrolet S10 Blazer to Lisa Davis-Hodoh, sister of prospective student-athlete Baron Davis. Central to this decision was the determination that the car was sold at a fair market price.