Thursday, 5/1/97 Sports Briefs
Davis officially signs with UCLA Although star basketball
recruit Baron Davis announced his intention to enroll at UCLA at a
Monday-evening press conference, his signing didn’t become official
until Wednesday. Davis, a 6-foot, 2-inch point guard from
Crossroads High School in Santa Monica signed his letter-of-intent
and sent it to head coach Steve Lavin yesterday. As a senior, Davis
led Crossroads to the Division IV state championship and a 31-3
overall record. He averaged 26.5 points, 8.1 rebounds, 7.3 assists,
5.8 steals and 2.1 blocked shots per game. Harrick resurfaces at
Rhode Island Former UCLA men’s basketball coach Jim Harrick may
soon be back on the sidelines. Harrick, who was fired from UCLA
last November, interviewed Tuesday for the head coaching position
at the University of Rhode Island. Although no decision has been
made, Harrick was the first candidate interviewed and, according to
a URI athletic department spokesman, there are no scheduled plans
to bring in anyone else for an interview. According to reports in
the Boston Globe, Harrick is expected to be named the head coach as
soon as this afternoon, receiving a deal that could be worth up to
$350,000 per year. Harrick would replace Al Skimmer, who vacated
the position earlier this month to take the top spot at Boston
College. Men’s lacrosse falls to Goliath The end of the season has
come for the "Bad News Bruins," a nickname given to the men’s
lacrosse team for their uncanny ability to win all year long. But
in their last game of the season against Whittier, the team played
like the "Bad News Bears," suffering a 23-6 loss in the first round
of the playoffs. All year the Bruins had surprised many teams in
the league and figured they could defeat a high-powered Whittier
team, the Goliath of the West Coast. Unfortunately for the UCLA
team the Goliath triumphed in this version of the myth, but now the
Bruins can regroup for next year. For the Bruins to repeat the
success they had this year, the team will have to win without four
graduating seniors: defensive star Jeff Rieger, Bert Gamble (43
goals, 37 assists), and midfielders Rocky Choi and Randy Josselyn.
Freshmen Paul Eugenio, Matt Hill and Pete Abbott played well during
their first season and look to take up the slack for the departing
seniors. The Bruins finished with a 13-5 record, and advanced to
the playoffs for the first time in over five years.