Jim Harrick
Jim Harrick (born July 25, 1938)
Teams coached: Pepperdine Waves, UCLA Bruins, Rhode Island Rams, Georgia Bulldogs
Pepperdine record: 167-97 (.633)
UCLA record: 182-62 (.756)
Rhode Island record: 45-22 (.672)
Georgia record: 66-52 (.559) **
Overall record^: 470-233 (.669) **
Career Accomplishments:
- NCAA National Championships: 1 (1995)
- NCAA Tournament Appearances: 15 (1982, 1983, 1985, 1986, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2001) **
- NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen: 4 (1990, 1992, 1995, 1998)
- NCAA Tournament Final Four: 1 (1995)
- NIT Championships: 0
- NIT Appearances: 1 (1980)
- WCC Regular Season Champion: 5 (1981, 1982, 1983, 1985, 1986)
- Pac-12 Regular Season Champion: 3 (1992, 1995, 1996)
- Atlantic 10 Tournament Champion: 1 (1999)
Awards:
- Naismith Coach of the Year: 1 (1995)
- NABC Coach of the Year: 1 (1995)
- Pac-12 Coach of the Year: 1 (1995)
- WCC Coach of the Year: 4 (1982, 1983, 1985, 1986)
Coaching Career (head coach, unless noted):
2018-2021 | Cal State Northridge (asst) |
2006-2007 | Bakersfield Jam |
1999-2003 | Georgia |
1997-1999 | Rhode Island |
1988-1996 | UCLA |
1979-1988 | Pepperdine |
1977-1979 | UCLA (asst) |
1973-1977 | Utah State (asst) |
Jim Harrick Facts
- James Richard Harrick
- Born July 25, 1938
- Hometown: Charleston, West Virginia
- Alma Mater: Morris Harvey College (BA, 1960) / University of Southern California (MA, 1966)
- Is of Lebanese descent; grew up in Charleston, WV where he attended Stonewall Jackson High School
- Graduated in 1960 from Morris Harvey College, now known as the University of Charleston (West Va.)
- Started coaching in 1963 as an assistant at Morningside HS in Inglewood, CA; became head coach in 1969, a position he held for four seasons
- First college coaching jobs were as an assistant to Dutch Belnap at Utah State and to Gary Cunningham at UCLA
- Became head coach at Pepperdine in 1979; went on to win 5 WCAC titles, go to 4 NCAA Tournaments and finish with a record of 167-97 in 9 seasons
- Took over as UCLA head coach in 1988 to replace the fired Walt Hazzard
- Won at least 21 games and made it to the NCAA Tournament in each of his eight seasons as the Bruins’ head coach
- The highlight of his UCLA career was the 1994-95, as he led the Bruins to a 32-1 overall record and a win in the 1995 NCAA title game
- His tenure would end just a year later, amidst a minor scandal around a falsified dinner receipt
- Took the head coaching job at Rhode Island in 1997, winning 25 games and making a run to the Elite Eight with the Rams in his first season
- Moved onto Georgia in 1999, where he would finish out his college coaching career amidst scandal once again; this time the issues revolved around his son, assistant coach Jim Jr., covering $300 in expenses for a UGA player, as well as some academic inaccuracies from a class his son taught
- Because of a show-cause penalty from the NCAA, he was unable to get another coaching job in the college ranks for many years
- Became head coach of the Bakersfield Jam (D-League) in 2006; resigned mid-season after starting 2-14 for personal reasons
- Came out of retirement in 2018 to become an assistant at Cal State Northridge under Mark Gottfried, a former assistant of his own
- In 2021, Gottfried and his staff were placed on paid administrative leave as the school investigated potential rules violations
- Along with his late wife, Sally Lee Harrick, has three children
Jim Harrick Coaching Tree
- Tom Asbury (Pepperdine, Kansas State)
- Jerry DeGregorio (Rhode Island)
- Cameron Dollar (Seattle)
- Larry Farmer (Loyola IL)
- Tony Fuller (Pepperdine, San Diego State)
- Mark Gottfried (Cal State Northridge, NC State, Alabama, Murray State)
- Jonas Hayes (Georgia State, Xavier)
- Brad Holland (San Diego, Cal State Fullerton)
- Paul Landreaux (Saint Mary’s)
- Steve Lavin (San Diego, St. John’s, UCLA)
- Darrick Martin (Reno Bighorns)
- Lorenzo Romar (Pepperdine, Washington, Saint Louis)
- Greg White (Charleston WV, Marshall)
- Marty Wilson (Pepperdine)
^ overall record includes head coaching positions at the NCAA Division I level only
** Listed accomplishments for this coach do not include wins or appearances later vacated by the NCAA