NCAA Basketball: Ranking the last 25 national title winning head coaches
By Joey Loose
We’ve seen names like Larry Brown, Ben Howland and Steve Alford unable to match what Jim Harrick did at UCLA. In 1995, Harrick led UCLA to its first national championship since John Wooden’s retirement.
He had led an impressive coaching career, though it’s been a bit overshadowed by NCAA issues he faced at both UCLA and Georgia. Regardless, Harrick did win that elusive title, something the Bruins have been unable to capture since then.
His head coaching career began in 1979 at Pepperdine and was filled with success. He led the Waves to four NCAA Tournament appearances and was hired by UCLA in 1988. He would make the NCAA Tournament in all eight seasons with the Bruins, marching to a national championship in 1995 on the backs of Ed O’Bannon and Tyus Edney.
Harrick built a championship team at UCLA, though his tenure would not continue with success. Months after a stunning first-round upset loss to Princeton in the 1996 NCAA Tournament, Harrickwas fired by the Bruins after covering up improper benefits at a recruiting dinner.
Fortunately, this wasn’t the end for Harrick. In 1997, he was hired by Rhode Island and experienced impressive success. He led the No. 8-seeded Rams to the Elite Eight in his first year and then recruiting Lamar Odom to the Rams in his second year.
Harrick left for Georgia in 1999 but failed to find success at the SEC school. His career with the Bulldogs ended due to violations, seemingly fitting the theme of Harrick’s career.
Today, Harrick is an assistant coach for former aide Mark Gottfried at Cal State Northridge. He built an impressive title team in 1995, though recruiting violations put a dark shadow on his career.
He was accomplished at every stop (except Georgia) though there’s just one Final Four on his résumé. No matter what you think about those violations, he did win big at UCLA and made impressive strides at both Pepperdine and Rhode Island.