Monday, November 25, 1996
BASKETBALL:
Harrick’s friend provides recruit a car; Pac-10 investigatesBy
Mark J. Dittmer
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
Little more than a month after clearing Jim Harrick and UCLA of
a potential violation involving the sale of a car to a basketball
recruit, the Pacific 10 is back on campus to investigate a very
similar incident.
This time, the recruit is point guard Olujimi Mann instead of
Baron Davis, and he received the car from Harrick’s friend Pat
Barrett, not Harrick’s son Glenn.
And this time Harrick, the man under the gun, is no longer
UCLA’s head basketball coach.
Barrett purchased the car for Mann in September of 1994, and he
either gave the car to Mann or sold it to him at a discounted
price. Mann says that he reimbursed Barrett with $5,000 over a
12-year period.
But whether the car was given to Mann or sold to him at a
discounted price is irrelevant. At issue is whether the donation or
sale of the car influenced Mann to attend UCLA.
Mann and Barrett became acquainted at Orange County Hoops,
Barrett’s nonprofit organization that attracts some of the nation’s
best players. He has worked with UCLA alumni Ed O’Bannon and Denny
MacLean and current star Charles O’Bannon, among others.
Mann eventually committed to UCLA as a junior in March of 1995,
but academic problems kept him from enrolling.
Another player in this scenario is Frank Pitt. Pitt and Harrick
have been friends since growing up together in Charleston, W.Va.
Pitt not only donates to UCLA, but he also has been Orange County
Hoops’ biggest booster.
The Pac-10 will look into whether Pitt donated to Barrett’s
organization for the sole purpose of purchasing the car for
Mann.