Harrick Finds Smooth Sailing on the East Coast

Jim Harrick knew things were different as soon as he took over as coach at Rhode Island.

“I looked at our schedule and saw our first two conference games were at Temple and at St. Joe’s and I thought ‘Welcome to the East Coast,”’ he said Sunday after his No. 23 Rams won the first of those two games, 74-64 over Temple.

Harrick spent almost all of his college coaching career on the West Coast. He coached Pepperdine from 1979-88 and then UCLA from 1988-96, a stop that included the 1995 national championship and a bitter parting when he was fired just before the 1996-97 season.

After a year out of coaching, Harrick went to Rhode Island. The Rams are 8-2 with the only losses coming to Connecticut and Stanford, definitely among the best teams on either coast.

So, is there a difference between West Coast basketball and East Coast basketball? Or is that a creation of the media and fans?

“People say it’s different but I don’t understand that,” Harrick said after starting his Atlantic 10 career with a win and with a visit to St. Joseph’s next Tuesday night. “I haven’t played everybody, but I’ve seen enough to know it’s just basketball.”

What about style?

“There is no difference,” he said. “I have not seen any difference at all. They say the Big East is physical. None of those teams have played Stanford. They are unbelievably physical, the biggest team in the nation.

“You go with the personnel you have. I’ve seen no such thing as East Coast, West Coast. You think [Arizona guard] Michael Bibby couldn’t play anywhere in the country. Some guys go East, some guys go West. Basketball is basketball.”

Then there has to be a difference in officiating, right? After all, Harrick didn’t have a whole lot of praise for the referees after the Rams’ one-point loss to Stanford in the opening round of the Cable Car Classic in San Jose, Calif.

“Only in the talent level of officials,” Harrick said. “Good officials let you play, others don’t.”

There must be something that differentiates the teams that play in EST from the ones that play in PST.

“It all comes down to having the players,” Harrick said with a smile.

And he has those at Rhode Island. Against Temple, Cuttino Mobley tied the school record with eight 3-pointers and had 29 points, while backcourtmate Tyson Wheeler had 17 points and 10 assists.

“Our only losses are to top 10 teams and we’re getting better,” Harrick said. “Winning at a place like Temple is something very special. Now we have to build on that.”

Spoken like a true coach, East Coast or West Coast.