Monday, June 15, 1998
Bruins find highs, lows in four fun years
RETROSPECTIVE: UCLA thrives, struggles through many surprises,
obstacles
By Traci Mack
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
From championships to heartache, from suspensions to
celebrations, from "We hope …" to "we will …"; the past four
years in the world of UCLA sports have been turbulent, to say the
least. Over their four years here, graduating seniors have had a
chance to witness a Bruin athletic evolution of Darwinian
proportion.
Many would compare these last four years to a roller coaster
ride, but they are actually more like a seismograph: full of sharp
peaks and valleys, replete with dizzying highs and depressing lows.
UCLA teams have gone from the Pac-10 basement to NCAA championship
hopefuls, or from standing atop the NCAA to scrapping for a playoff
spot. Some have been consistent champions, upholding a tradition of
excellence all four years; others are barely recognizable from the
ones that existed in 1994.
Perhaps nowhere is the up-and-down nature of the last four years
more evident than with the women’s basketball team. In 1994, the
Bruin women were a young team with an up-and-coming head coach with
little experience. Kathy Olivier was just welcoming her first
recruiting class to campus, one that included Aisha Veasley, Jamie
Oenning and Tawana Grimes. Despite consistently drawing quality
recruits and competing well in a tough conference, the team’s the
next three years held no playoff berths for the team.
"Every year it was something different," recalled Olivier. "One
year, we lost some crucial games, the next, we’re missing our star
point guard (All-American Erica Gomez, who redshirted in ’96-97 due
to injury). This year, everything came together."
However, everything that came together for the UCLA women’s
basketball team fell completely apart in their first NCAA
tournament in six years. A botched call by the referees at the end
of their game against Alabama led to their elimination in the
second round, even though the call was later admitted to be wrong
by the NCAA.
Controversial decisions by the NCAA have peppered the last four
years of Bruin athletic history. The softball team was stripped of
their 1995 national title and suspended from NCAA tournament play
because of recruiting violations. The men’s basketball team also
felt the wrath of the NCAA when top recruit Schea Cotton had his
SAT score revoked and was subsequently disallowed from
participation on the team.
Not all Bruin squads have been shafted by the NCAA, however.
UCLA has amassed 11 national championships in six different sports
from 1995-1998, proving Bruin superiority once and for all. Women’s
water polo and men’s volleyball, perennial championship teams,
continued to reach the pinnacle of excellence, each winning three
championships in the space of four years. Conversely, the women’s
gymnastics team took home their first national title ever after
making a name for themselves by dominating their competition in
virtually every meet. Yet another championship was gathered up by
men’s soccer, their first in eight years. Bruins were not without
individual accolades this year either, with athletes such as
Mebrahtom Keflezghi and Selaila Sua bringing home individual NCAA
titles in cross-country and discus, respectively.
Over the past four years, the emotional lifts of winning a
championship have also been balanced by somber moments for the
men’s water polo team. They started off with two consecutive
championships in 1995 and 1996, but those moments were somewhat
overshadowed earlier this year by the death of former team member
and standout Jim Toring. An outpouring of sentiment and love once
again united the team but under completely different
circumstances.
"He was a future Olympian and a gift to all who knew him … I
know I am not alone when saying that he will be missed greatly.
Jimmy was a teammate, but mostly he was a good friend, and I love
him," stated teammate Mike Coppin, summing up the sentiments of all
who knew Toring.
Change has been the one constant for Bruin athletics in all
aspects these past four years, and football is definitely no
exception. UCLA has never been known as a "football school," but
the football team exemplifies the evolution of Bruin sports over
the past four years. In 1994-1995, the UCLA team was coming off of
a Rose Bowl season, with high expectations for such veterans as
Heisman candidate J.J. Stokes, Sharmon Shah (now Karim Abdul
Jabbar) and Wayne Cook. However, Stokes suffered a deep thigh
bruise in the first game of the season, and from that point the
entire season seemed to go downhill. The next two years were marked
by so-so recruiting, sub .500 records and slim Bowl hopes. No
matter how mediocre the team however, UCLA still managed to
maintain a winning streak over crosstown rival Southern Cal.
In 1997, everything fell into place for the Bruins. Under
second-year coach Bob Toledo, now-departed defensive coordinator
Rocky Long, and the popular newly installed strength and
conditioning coach Kevin Yoxall, a new team took shape, and they
would soon erase all memories of past disappointing seasons.
A team that was not even ranked in the preseason shot out of the
gates, overcoming close losses to Washington State and Tennessee,
and ending the year tied for first in the Pac-10, ranked fifth in
the nation. As a result, the Bruins landed what many experts call
the best recruiting class in the nation. The progression from a
losing team to a championship contender is a prime example of what
a difference four years as a Bruin can make.
The men’s basketball team could certainly testify as to the
trials and tribulations that four years can bring. In 1995, the
team, led by Tyus Edney, Cameron Dollar and Ed O’ Bannon, rode a
wave of emotion all the way to a national championship. It was a
victory that many believed would confirm Jim Harrick as the next
"Wizard." He would lead the Bruins to multiple titles, silencing
his critics … or so we thought. Post-victory, Harrick went so far
as to thank Athletic Director Peter Dalis and Chancellor Charles
Young for their support.
"I’m really happy for them because they stuck by me through
thick and thin, and they’ve always been here for me … this is the
pinnacle for me," said Harrick, unaware of the irony that his words
would take on in the future.
The championship also spurred "rioting" in the streets of
Westwood, and a mobbing of the student store for anything remotely
concerned with the team. Students’ school spirit reached an
all-time high.
"We want to show our pride in this school," fifth-year political
science student Jerome Garret was quoted as saying during the
swarming of Ackerman Union. "Everyone will know I’m a Bruin. They
will bow down at my feet. I’m a Bruin and I want my shirt!."
High expectations met the Bruins the next year, which came
crashing down when the team was ousted from the NCAA tournament by
upstart Princeton.
The next season was no less remarkable, beginning with the
firing of Harrick and the hiring of assistant coach Steve Lavin as
a replacement, a decision that was much debated. The season went
on, however, climaxing with the signing of the No. 1 high school
player in the nation, Baron Davis.
In 1997-1998, Davis led an all-freshman backcourt that teamed up
with the veteran nucleus of Toby Bailey, Kris Johnson and J.R.
Henderson in a quest for a return to glory. The path back to the
Tournament was not smooth, as Johnson and Jelani McCoy were
suspended just as the season kicked off. McCoy would ultimately
quit the team, but this did not stop the Bruins from posting an
impressive season. The team came back and fought with all the heart
they could muster, running over higher-seeded Michigan on their way
to the Sweet Sixteen.
Although UCLA did not defeat Kentucky and advance, Coach Lavin
and his team proved their guts, heart and conviction.
Lavin followed by landing the top recruiting class since
Michigan’s famed Fab Five.
The memories of these last four years in Bruin athletic history
will not soon be forgotten.
Our teams have proved their worth time and time again, despite
adversity and extreme circumstances.
At times, it seemed as if certain obstacles were insurmountable
for Bruin teams.
Over the last four years, however, they have proved that nothing
is impossible for the "gutty little Bruins".
After winning the 1996-1997 national
championship, the women’s
gymnastics team returned home and was greeted at the airport
with congratulations from their fans.
JAMIE SCANLON-JACOBS/Daily Bruin
Carly Funicello is blocked while attempting to make a layup.
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