farm519

SoCalHoops Memorial Tribute

Things Are Movin' and Shakin At URI:
Farmer Is Gone. . . Who's Next?--(May 19, 1998)

Tomorrow morning, Loyola of Chicago will name Rhode Island assistant Larry Farmer as its new head basketball coach.

And favorite son Jim Cleamons, who had been considered the frontrunner for the Loyola job, was named last week as the new head coach of the new Chicago franchise in the American Basketball League.

So, just as we predicted, Farmer is gone. And former URI/Texas coach Tom Penders is probably on his way to URI as we write this. Maybe we should all just go out to LAX and wait for Harrick to arrive. It shouldn't be too long now.

Farmer's record with Rhode Island was brief but impressive: A 25-9 overall record and an appearance in the Elite Eight of the 1998 NCAA tournament. Before coming to Rhode Island, Farmer worked five seasonsas a television commentator, and before that he began his college coaching career as an assistant at UCLA in 1975, eventually becoming head coach for the Bruins in 1981. As head coach, Farmer guided UCLA to a 61-23 record over three seasons, including an NCAA tournament appearance, a Pac-10 title in 1983, and an NIT bid in 1984. Farmer played at UCLA under coach John Wooden from 1970-1973, when the Bruins won three NCAA championships and three Pac-10 titles.

Loyola fired Ken Burmeister after he compiled a record of 40-71 in four seasons with the Ramblers. Loyola is coming off a 15-15 season, its highest number of victories since 1991-92, but was bounced from the Midwestern Collegiate Conference tournament in the first round for the eighth straight year.

Ok, so call us nuts, but we still think you'll be seeing Donald T. Sterling and Harrick together next year in SoCal. Or maybe not.