The Common Bond Between USC, UCLA

The folks at USC are going to hate this, but their baseball program is a lot like the basketball program at UCLA.

Both set the standards of championship excellence for their sport, coached by legends in their field. UCLA won 10 championships--seven straight at one point--under John Wooden, and USC won the College World Series 11 times under Rod Dedeaux, including a stretch of six in eight years during the 1970s. The recreation center at UCLA and the baseball diamond at USC bear their names.

“I’ve often said in various conversations that Rod Dedeaux and John Wooden have a lot in common given the history of the two programs and the dynasties of the two programs,” current USC baseball Coach Mike Gillespie said.

For the past 12 years Gillespie has shared the common bond with all of those who followed Dedeaux and Wooden, that legacy of huge expectations that can only be fulfilled by winning more championships.

Yes, Gillespie could sympathize with the basketball coaches at his school’s cross-town rival. He and former UCLA basketball coach Jim Harrick went way back, to the late 1960s and early 1970s, when they were both coaching in the same league. Gillespie coached baseball at Rolling Hills High School (now Peninsula), and Harrick coached junior varsity basketball and varsity baseball at Morningside.

“He was a good baseball coach, by the way,” Gillespie said.

Still, Harrick made the right career choice. It was Harrick who finally brought UCLA basketball out from Wooden’s long shadow by winning the NCAA tournament in 1995.

“I was happy for him that they did that,” Gillespie said. “Here I was an SC guy; I’m not supposed to like those UCLA guys. I’ll never forget, we were in an airport when Tyus Edney went baseline to baseline [for the game-winning basket to beat Missouri in the second round], and I loved that.”

Like Harrick, Gillespie had some talented teams that didn’t do much in the postseason. USC won the Pacific 10 in 1991, 1995 and 1996 but made it out of the regionals only once, in 1995.

Finally, Gillespie’s time came. All of the pressure, all of the waiting for that first championship since 1978 ended Saturday when the Trojans beat Arizona State to win the College World Series title.

“You can’t be in this job without knowing that there are certain people that have the expectation that this should happen and probably should have happened before it did happen,” Gillespie said. “I’m cognizant of that. We really felt over the years that we’ve had teams that have given a very good account of themselves. Even though we hadn’t gotten this thing done, we have had success.

“Among the things I enjoy about it, that at this place where we’ve had all this success and heritage and tradition, that we can tack one up and add to it,” Gillespie said.

Gillespie helped contribute to that tradition by playing on the 1961 championship team. Until this year, however, was that he had truly learned from the master and was a worthy successor.

And it’s one thing to prove it to the alumni and fans. It’s quite another to live up to the expectations of a legend like Dedeaux, whom Gillespie succeeded when Dedeaux retired in 1986. “One of the things that I was mindful of when I came into this job--and certainly as the thing has happened--is that I certainly hoped that he would think that the program was in good shape and he liked what he was seeing,” Gillespie said. “We’ve had these near-misses. We’ve had these good teams that have not gotten it done, and I’m sure he’s shared his frustrations. I’m sure that he is delighted that we won.”

Dedeaux was in Omaha to see it, just as Wooden watched from the Kingdome stands when Harrick won in Seattle in 1995.

Gillespie did the managing, though. This USC championship team bore his distinct stamp. In an era of aluminum bats and big bashers, his players focus on the fundamentals.

That’s not to say the Trojans don’t have their gimmicks. In Gillespie’s first visit to the College World Series, his team pulled the hidden-ball trick. It would have worked, but the umpire missed the play. In Saturday’s championship game, with two out and the Trojans holding a three-run lead, Gillespie called for Morgan Ensberg to steal home. It worked.

Gillespie estimates he has made that call some 35 times in his coaching career and it’s failed him only once. Then again, he never tried it in as crucial a situation as the championship of the College World Series.

“I’ve actually thought about that in the past,” Gillespie said. “If we had a chance to do that, would I be able to pull the trigger? Would I have the courage and convictions? I was telling my wife when that situation developed, I had to talk myself into it.”

He had prepared for that situation, but not for a championship celebration. “I could not have predicted how I felt,” Gillespie said. “It was kind of a tremendous relief and release and just a great sense of ‘We did it! We did this and we got this done.’ Our guys all together last night. About every five minutes, somebody said, ‘We won the national championship!’ ”

The wait is over at USC. Now the clock is ticking on the other side of town. It has been three whole years since the basketball team won a championship at UCLA.