BRUINS WISELY WANT MORE THAN W'S.Byline: Kevin Modesti Jim Harrick Jim Harrick (born July 25, 1938 in Charleston, West Virginia) is a former college basketball head coach who coached at Pepperdine University, UCLA, the University of Rhode Island and the University of Georgia. didn't have a won-lost record Noun 1. won-lost record - (sports) a record of win versus losses athletics, sport - an active diversion requiring physical exertion and competition worse than 14-6 after 20 games in any of his eight seasons as UCLA's head basketball coach. But he was never popular with administrators and boosters. Steve Lavin Steve Lavin (born September 4,1964), a San Francisco, California native is a former college basketball coach and current ABC and ESPN TV analyst. As UCLA head basketball coach from 1996-2003, Lavin compiled a record of 145-78. is 13-7 in the 20 games since he replaced Harrick. But he was just promoted from interim to ``permanent'' head coach amid the kind of praise usually reserved for returning war heroes. Question: Has UCLA UCLA University of California at Los Angeles UCLA University Center for Learning Assistance (Illinois State University) UCLA University of Carrollton, TX and Lower Addison, TX lowered its standards? Answer: No, it has raised them. With their announcement Tuesday, athletic director Athletic director (commonly, "athletics director") is a position at many American colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, which oversees the work of the coaches and related staff involved in intercollegiate or interscholastic athletic Peter Dalis and Chancellor Charles Young
For the school that has won 11 men's national basketball championships, this might have been its biggest victory yet, and certainly its biggest upset. Imagine - a major university demanding more of its coach than just a spot in the NCAA tournament NCAA Tournament can mean: Men's Sports
Lavin is 32. He'd never been a head coach before Harrick was fired for an ethical lapse in November and his former junior assistant was asked to clean up the mess. Nobody knows if he has the skill and luck it takes to go to the Final Four in this or any future season. But we know this from the first 20 games and all the practices in between: He is a coach UCLA can be proud of. He is a coach we all can root for. The same can be said of his players. Now, there's a switch. Under Harrick, the Bruins had a reputation as arrogant, swaggering swag·ger v. swag·gered, swag·ger·ing, swag·gers v.intr. 1. To walk or conduct oneself with an insolent or arrogant air; strut. 2. To brag; boast. v.tr. , whining kids. You didn't have to be a Trojan to dislike them. Referees didn't like them. Some of the blue-and-gold faithful didn't like them. ``It was a style they had on the court that offended some people in and outside UCLA,'' Dalis said after the press conference in the Morgan Center. They strutted and flexed after dunks. They yelled at officials. They showed up late to practice. When they lost, they sulked. It was a matter of priorities. Discipline wasn't No. 1. Of course, rarely was UCLA. ``I think Steve makes it a priority,'' Dalis said Tuesday, casting a proud glance at Lavin, who was surrounded by reporters across the room. ``He's very old-fashioned in some ways. He knows that if you don't establish discipline, when, at a critical moment, you ask them to do one particular thing, if they're not listening, you're in trouble.'' In Lavin's code of conduct, ``listening'' is at the top. Then come ``enthusiasm,'' ``work'' and ``stance . . . mentally and physically.'' He was reared this way - son of a USF USF University of South Florida USF Universal Service Fund (often part of phone bill in US) USF University of San Francisco USF University of Sioux Falls USF University of St. basketball Hall of Famer who wrote 13 books on education. No wonder Steve Lavin talks about ``teaching'' as often as ``coaching.'' This is what won him the job, and sooner than anybody could have reasonably expected when he stepped into Harrick's choppy chop·py 1 adj. chop·pi·er, chop·pi·est Having many small waves; rough: choppy seas. [From chop1. wake 99 days ago. UCLA liked what it saw between baskets. ``I think what Steve Lavin has done . . . is unbelievable,'' Young said, praising him for ``molding a group of young men into a team that represents the university as it should be.'' Dalis said his mail and phone calls indicated that UCLA fans ``have been hungry for an environment and behavior they can be proud of.'' UCLA liked what it saw after the team lost - by a school-record 48 points - at Stanford last month. The Bruins brushed off their uniforms and went on a four-game winning streak Noun 1. winning streak - a streak of wins streak, run - an unbroken series of events; "had a streak of bad luck"; "Nicklaus had a run of birdies" . The letters and phone calls urged Dalis not to let Lavin get away to another school, the way football assistant Rick Neuheisel Richard Gerald "Rick" Neuheisel, Jr. (born February 7, 1961 in Madison, Wisconsin) is an American football coach. Formerly a college head coach, he is currently the offensive coordinator for the NFL's Baltimore Ravens, after being promoted from quarterbacks coach on January 15, left UCLA and found early success at Colorado. ``I've been in this job 14 years,'' Dalis said, ``and I've never had such an overwhelmingly positive response (to a coach).'' Lavin is down to earth, uncomplaining, seemingly guileless. A team hampered by the Harrick crisis and a shallow bench has come together for its young coach. Lavin speaks of his hope that the players will ``remember this difficult year as something special beyond the jump shots, when they're in some profession or they're in coaching.'' Lavin doesn't only have his hair in place. He has his head on straight. Let's hope he's allowed to keep it. As Lavin - guileless but not naive - said Tuesday: ``How long can I go 13-7?'' |
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