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SoCal College & Recruiting Report

Harrick Still May Not "Get It"-- Or Maybe
He Just Can't Shut Up--(October 28, 1997)

Well, there it was today. Frank Burlison's story in the Long Beach PT concerning the NCAA's final report on the violations which occurred at UCLA during Harrick's tenure. And there it was on the wire services, including AP, an almost identical write-up on the NCAA Investigation at UCLA. Headline: "Harrick Details Violations--Former Coach Terms Irregularities Minor."

There it was in black and white. Harrick again saying that the violations were "very minor . . . not even minor."

Harrick's gotta believe that because he's not at UCLA any longer, that there's nothing the NCAA can do to him anymore, and thus he can continue to try to minimize what happened. Wrong again, James. Either he really doesn't get it yet, or he just doesn't know when to stop talking: While the NCAA can still deal some form of sanction to UCLA (something it's not expected to do until December or January at the earliest, and then only in a minor way, primarily because UCLA got rid of the problem by firing Harrick), the NCAA also can still levy sanctions against Harrick at URI. If there's any doubt about that, witness the sanctions, albeit far more severe than those anticipated here, which wee levied against Tod Bozeman after Cal had fired him. And come to think of it, while Bozeman drew his eight year banishment from NCAA sports for lying and covering up his conduct (which consisted of paying money to one of his player's parents), I'm not sure how much more fundamentally different those violations were than what Harrick was accused of doing, i.e., lying to his administration and covering up a violation of NCAA rules during an investigation.

Jim, want some totally unsolicited advice? Shut up. Just put a sock in it. Stop talking.

Harrick probably ought to just keep his mouth shut about what he thinks happened, and stick to coaching at URI for now. Probably smarter than rubbing the NCAA's collective nose in it.

So what's in the report? At least seven NCAA rules violations for starters, including these four:

1. Harrick's lying to UCLA administrators;

2. His players receiving free food in a Westwood sandwich shop;

3. Exceeding the NCAA allowable number of phone calls to potential recruits; and

4. Giving an NCAA Championship ring to a Southland youth coach, identified by Burlison as Pat Barrett, coach of the Southern California All-Stars (gee, there's Pat Barrett again! Twice in one week--first on 60 Minutes, and now in Frank Burlison's column. Hey everybody, get off his back already, he's actually a pretty good coach.). Gee, do you think that by wearing an NCAA Championship UCLA ring, that this gives Barrett any "special" credibility with youngsters like Tyson Chandler? Probably. Does it give UCLA any recruiting "advantage" with kids such as Tyson? Probably not. (Actually, I probably agree with Harrick on this one. . . Minor. . . I call this one a draw).

All of these violations were termed by Harrick as "very minor. . . not even minor. . . This is all Dalis," said Harrick. "But they can't hurt me any more than they already have." Wrong again, James.

Burlison reported that Harrick said the following:

"I don't think it (the NCAA) will do anything," he said. "The Pac-10 didn't think much (of the violations). But the NCAA just wants to put its stamp of approval on it."

Boy, he better hope that he's guessing right on this one, because if he's wrong (c'mon, Harrick's never wrong is he? Well, is he?), somebody just might get a bit pissed off reading arrogant comments like these from Harrick. If I were Harrick, I'd just, as they say in Texas "be still".

Harrick is still potentially subject to NCAA-ordered sanctions by Rhode Island, which hired him in May this year. The NCAA's "Show Cause" penalty allows for a coach at one institution to be sanctioned for violations that occurred at his former school while he was in charge.

According to both the AP report (in the San Diego Union-Tribune, and in Burlison's version in the Press-Telegram) the NCAA Investigation found that Harrick's lying to school investigators about the circumstances of the Oct. 11, 1996 recruiting dinner was the most serious of the violations-- "unethical conduct" as it was phrased by the NCAA- in that it took place during an investigation of possible rules violations.

The other violations were all detailed previously, but were repeated by Burlison and AP. They included:

1. Charles O'Bannon and Cameron Dollar, seniors on the UCLA team last season, were present at the infamous recruiting dinner at Monty's and their meals were paid for by the school (through Harrick), although they were not "hosting" any of the three recruits present at the dinner;

2. Several team members received free food at a submarine sandwich shop in Westwood Village. Burlison claims that according to one UCLA player, "just about everybody" on the team was forced to make restitution last spring, several of them paying more than $100;

3. On the ring allegedly given to Pat Barrett, he was a longtime friend of Harrick's and the rings, valued at $200 each, were distributed to team members, coaches and administrators by the school, and made available for purchase to other "support personnel". In giving the ring, Harrick said he expected to be reimbursed by Barrett "but he stiffed me. Everyone was supposed to pay for them." According to the Press-Times (AP did not confirm this) Barrett allegedly said he believed the ring was a gift.

4. Two UCLA players, while serving as recruiting hosts, took "potential student-athletes" (i.e., recruits) to Lakers' games and purchased tickets in excess of the NCAA maximum allowable $20 per recruit per day in entertainment allowances;

5. Last fall Harrick allegedly made telephone recruiting calls in excess of the NCAA allowable one per week to prep players Baron Davis and Earl Watson. It must have worked, because they are both freshmen at UCLA.

6. "Excessive" complimentary tickets to UCLA games were given by Harrick and his staff to youth basketball coaches, including, according to Burlison, Barrett. NCAA rules allow for potential recruits to be given three comp tickets per game, while others may only get two. Harrick said he stopped the practice once he originally learned it was a rules violation.

Not content with his own deep denial (while now admitting that these things did occur, he denied that they were meaningful at all), Harrick also levied some of the blame directly on his former players, according to Burlison, who quoted Harrick as reportedly saying, "Do schools and coaches have to be responsible for all the stuff kids do?" he said. "They are told the rules and sign (statements saying they understand them). But (when they make mistakes), it becomes the coach's fault."

Sounds like he still doesn't get it. Or if he does, he really should just say, "Hey, I'm sorry, I screwed up", and move on. At least that's what we think.

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