Memories From The Past In UCLA Shocker Over Oregon

In loving memory of two former great college basketball coaches, my father Dick Harter and Gene Bartow, whose paths crossed many years ago and spirits came to life in UCLA’s improbable win over Oregon in Eugene Thursday night.

In what would prove to be the most unusual, “getting out of bed,” experience in my entire life, I went to sleep Thursday night thinking Oregon had prevailed over UCLA in a Pac-12 matchup in Eugene. Turned off the TV with just over two minutes remaining after the Ducks hit a three-pointer to go up 13.

Before going to bed, fired off a text to my old coaching friend Murry Bartow, the interim coach at UCLA, “tough one Murry, hang in there.” Upon waking up the next morning, noticed a text back from Murry, “Thanks Jim! In honor of my dad who called the Oregon fans deranged idiots. Ha.”

Murry’s father, Gene Bartow, had been the coach at UCLA more than 50 years ago, taking over for legendary John Wooden in perhaps the most difficult following act in college basketball history. My father, Dick Harter, just happened to be the coach at Oregon at the time. After one particularly intense battle between the two teams, Bartow had called the fans at Oregon’s old arena nicknamed “The Pit,” deranged idiots.

Perhaps being a little slow on the intake without my first cup of coffee, didn’t pick up on what Murry was getting at in his text and responded, “yes, remember that! Hope you can regroup against Beavers (next game was with Oregon State) Murry.” Within seconds, was shocked by Murry’s return, “You know we won last night, right?”

OMG, was I still dreaming? Quickly went to my phone and discovered UCLA had come back to beat Oregon in overtime, 87-84. The Bruins rallied from nine points back with less than a minute remaining for the biggest comeback in Pac-12 history.

Fortunately, I had actually recorded the game because I knew I would be getting home a few minutes after tip-off. Immediately went downstairs and watched the ending, my jaw-hanging in utter disbelief. Everything that needed to go right for UCLA, did, and everything that could have gone wrong for the Ducks, absolutely did. Remembering back to my childhood and the fanatical fans at “The Pit,” it was hard not to think that Gene was looking down from above, with his spirit willing the Bruins to victory in this one.

My father’s Oregon teams had been a thorn in Bartow’s side many years before, winning three of the four games in the two seasons against the Bruins. Which wouldn’t have been that big of a deal in almost any situation, except following Wooden at UCLA, anything less than perfection was not good enough. Bartow went 52-9 in his two years at UCLA, including a trip to the Final Four, before wisely finding a way to escape the pressures as Wooden’s successor by beginning a new program at Alabama-Birmingham (UAB). Imagine following in the footsteps of Wooden, who had won 11 NCAA titles in his last 13 seasons at UCLA before retiring in 1975?

Bartow did a remarkable job building the UAB program from scratch. In Bartow’s fourth season at UAB, his Blazers knocked Ralph Sampson’s Virginia team out of the NCAA’s and he came within one game, a tough loss to Louisville, from becoming the first coach in NCAA history to lead three different programs to the Final Four. Before arriving at UCLA, Bartow had taken Memphis State (now Memphis) to the 1973 championship game, falling to Wooden’s UCLA team. On his way to 647 career college wins and a well-deserved 2009 induction into the Basketball Hall of Fame, Bartow led UAB to nine NCAA appearances before turning the program over to his son, Murry, in 1996.

When I decided to get into coaching in 1989 and began pursuing graduate assistant opportunities, I never would have imagined my first job would be working for Gene Bartow, my father’s old nemesis in the Pac-8 (later to become the Pac-12). Making a more than 1,000-mile drive in an old Toyota Corolla with no AC (not a good fit for Birmingham weather!) I had purchased on the cheap, I arrived on Bartow’s steps after the long journey. It was a beautiful house on a golf course on the outskirts of Birmingham, a place where his surviving wife, Ruth, still lives. With a friendly smile on his face, Bartow arrived at the front door in his bare feet. All in all, a pretty unpretentious greeting from a famous coach who was easily the most humble I would come across in my nearly 30 years of college coaching. Years later, I would speak to him on the phone in difficult circumstances when he was battling stomach cancer. Not one complaint, and at the end of the conversation, he told me he would have to buy me a steak dinner when he came to New York.

When I arrived at UAB, Murry Bartow was an assistant on the staff, and I would have the good fortune of learning tons of basketball from him early in my coaching career. Murry was a tireless worker and a very good teacher of the game. He had learned from one of the best just a few years before, working for Bobby Knight as a graduate assistant when Indiana won the national championship in 1987.

Once a ball boy for his father at UCLA, a twist of fate has led Murry to the top spot on the Bruin bench. He took over for his longtime friend Steve Alford, the star of Indiana’s ’87 title team, less than two weeks ago. While the expectations were overwhelming for his father, the situation is much different for Murry. There is certainly no pressure to win any NCAA championships — the Bruins have captured just one since Wooden left ages ago. During the TV broadcasts, the announcers are constantly talking about who will be UCLA’ s coach next year. A national search is already underway. Not nearly enough respect is being given to Murry, who is a good coach and led both UAB and East Tennessee State to multiple NCAA appearances.

After the Oregon thriller, UCLA is 3-0 under Murry and playing inspired basketball, especially compared to a few weeks ago when the Bruins dropped a 15-point decision to Liberty at home. With a team that has length and excellent athleticism, Bartow has given the Bruins more freedom on the offensive end and simplified matters on the defensive end with a 1-2-2 three-quarters court press back to 2-3 zone.

So the obvious question — is Murry more like his father or Bobby Knight? The senior Bartow used to joke his son when he was coaching at UAB by calling him “Little Knight.” From my vantage point, I would say a combination of the two, perhaps even leaning a little to Knight.

With the Bruins struggling and trailing Oregon by double digits the other night, Murry jumped up and took a 30-second time out. In a gutsy move for an interim coach, Murry challenged his players aggressively in Knight fashion during the timeout. He stomped his foot and barked out a few choice words before calming his troops. The Bruins responded and a found a way to hang around for the wild finish.

Al Michaels once asked us if we believed in miracles during the 1980 Winter Olympics when the United States won gold over the Soviets. Well, after watching UCLA’s shocker the other night, I am starting to believe in miracles and beginning to wonder if Murry can find his gold by earning the Bruin job permanently. Certainly would make his father proud.

OVERTIME COACH-COUCH TALK:

Sorry Hoosier and Terrapin fans, was too hard to pass up the opportunity to cover UCLA’s win over Oregon. So no coverage of Maryland’s 78-75 win over Indiana last night. The young Terrapins, who also won impressively at Minnesota earlier in the week, are playing at a level with the best teams in the Big 10 and are worthy of future coverage!