It’s been a long time coming for UCLA
Ed O’Bannon named Most Outstanding Player, Bailey makes
all-tournament team
By Randy Satterburg
Daily Bruin Staff
SEATTLE, Wash. — Trophy comes west again.
UCLA won its first national championship since 1975 and now has
won a total of 11 NCAA titles, the most of any school. Indiana and
Kentucky are tied for second with five each. The Bruins became just
the fourth team west of the Mississippi River to win a national
championship since UCLA’s last title in 1975. They also became the
first Pac-10 team to win a title since that same year. The Bruins
finished with a record of 31-2. The 31 wins is the most in school
history. UCLA won 30 games on four occasions under John Wooden.
* Championship notes:
It was the 12th time that UCLA has played in the NCAA
Championship game and the Bruins are now 11-1 in those games. UCLA
entered the tournament ranked No. 1 in the nation at the end of the
regular season, and in the eight times (including this year) that
UCLA has entered the Final Four ranked first in the final
Associated Press poll, the Bruins have won the championship every
time.
* All-Tournament Team:
Bryant Reeves (Oklahoma State)
Corliss Williamson (Arkansas)
Clint McDaniel (Arkansas)
Toby Bailey (UCLA)
Most Outstanding Player:
Ed O’Bannon (UCLA)
* Farewell to the seniors:
The game marked the last time in a Bruin uniform for UCLA’s
three seniors  Tyus Edney, George Zidek and Ed O’Bannon. The
senior trio finished their careers with a cumulative record of
102-25 (.803), two Pac-10 titles and four NCAA tournament
appearances including trips to the Final Eight and championship
game. O’Bannon finished fourth among UCLA’s all-time career scoring
leaders with 1,815 points. Edney finished second on the all-time
UCLA assist list with 652, and holds the UCLA record for the most
steals (224) in UCLA history.
* Jim Harrick:
After his seventh and most successful year at UCLA, in which he
was named the 1995 Naismith National Coach of the Year, head coach
Jim Harrick now owns a school-record of 168-55 (.753). UCLA’s
record in the NCAA Tournament under Harrick stands at 13-6.
It was his first collegiate national title.
* Commander in Chief vs. the Wizard:
President Clinton stayed in Little Rock, Ark., to watch the game
on television with friends and family rather than making the trip
to see his beloved Hogs in person as he did for last season’s title
game, which Arkansas won. It was actually a major sigh of relief to
most non-Arkansas fans who would have been subjected to metal
detectors and secret service hassles had the President
attended.
But UCLA’s most famous fan, former UCLA head basketball coach
John Wooden made his return to the title game for the first time
since 1991 to cheer on the Bruins.
"When UCLA got in the championship game, I definitely decided I
would come," Wooden said. "I told myself I wouldn’t come unless
they got to the final. I haven’t been to the Final Four since it
was in Indianapolis and that was the only one I’ve been to without
my wife."
* More celebrity sightings:
After being spotted by the television cameras in Oakland donning
a UCLA cap, actor Jack Nicholson continued to follow the Bruins at
the Final Four in Seattle. Tom Hanks, Kevin Costner, Gregory Hines
and Michael Keaton were also spotted at the games.
* Student dedication:
Some 400-plus UCLA students were originally sold tickets for the
Final Four but many more endured long and difficult travel
itineraries to come to Seattle in hopes of acquiring tickets, which
were being sold for considerably more than face value.
Airlines tickets and hotels were not easy to come by either, as
some students had to fly to Portland and drive from there to
Seattle in rental cars. A few others drove the entire way from Los
Angeles. The decision to skip the first day of classes to attend
the title game was an easy one for senior Leonard Chung.
"It was definitely worth it," Chung said. "It was the chance of
a lifetime."
* Odds and ends:
The Bruins ended the season with a 19-game winning streak … Ed
O’Bannon’s 17 rebounds ties for the fifth highest single-game total
in the 1995 tournament … O’Bannon scored in the double figures in
61 of his last 62 college games, dating back to 1992-93, including
all 33 games this season … The 21 steals by UCLA during the Final
Four is tied for the fourth highest total in Final Four history …
Ed O’Bannon is the first senior to win the Most Outstanding Player
in the NCAA Final Four since Michigan’s Glen Rice in 1989 … It
was the 15th appearance at the Final Four for UCLA and the Bruins
now claim a 25-5 record in the Final Four, with 11 titles, the most
Final Four wins and the most titles by any team … The 15 trips to
the Final Four is also a record … This year’s title is the 14th
won by a Pac-10 team, the most by any conference.