Orange County Register

Sally Harrick was a prim, gracious complement to Jim Harrick’s coarse, extroverted persona. She was with Jim when the two came west, from West Virginia, and Harrick worked at a toy factory while he waited for his break in coaching.

As Harrick rose through the ranks and finally got the UCLA job in 1988 and won the NCAA championship in 1995, Sally was content to stay in the background and support her husband and his players. There would be more bumps later as Harrick’s career took him to Rhode Island and Georgia and controversy, but Sally remained loyal and steadfast.

Sally passed away Friday at age 70 from complications of schleroderma, a disease of the immune system. She and Jim were married for 49 years and they had three sons and nine grandchildren.

A memorial service is scheduled for Tuesday at 11 a.m. at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints at 30522 Via Con Dios in Rancho Santa Margarita.

Donations should be sent to The Schleroderma Foundation at www.schleroderma.com.

She was a class act.

Cal State Bakersfield (1-1) at UCLA (0-1)

Site: Pauley Pavilion

Time: 7:30 p.m.

TV: FSN

Outlook: The Bruins didn’t waste any time in figuring out what went wrong in their season-opening loss to Cal State Fullerton on Monday. They spent Wednesday and Thursday working on their shooting (less shots, better accuracy), and how to combat a zone defense. Bakersfield likes to employ a physical approach to its game with 6-6, 275-pound senior Santwon Latunde creating space underneath the basket. Latunde is averaging 18 points for the Roadrunners, with Trent Blakley leading the way with 19 points.
Cal State Bakersfield is 0-7 against Pac-10 teams in its basketball history and is looking foward to its inaugural game against UCLA. The Roadrunners are hoping to follow Cal State Fullerton’s lead by notching its first victory over the Bruins.

In Sports Illustrated’s preseason Top 25, West Virginia is ranked eighth, Butler 14th.

 In the Blue Ribbon Yearbook, Portland is ranked second in the West Coast Conference and Long Beach first in the Big West, and Butler was 11th, West Virginia 12th and Minnesota 14th.

Add Clemson, UCLA and Texas A&M, and you’ve got some basketball cruiserweights coming to Anaheim Convention Center for the 76 Classic, beginning Thursday.

This is one of those ESPN showcases to fill up the holiday programming, but it’s also — by far — the best college hoop event to come to Orange County this season, both in terms of price and quality.

The sessions are Thursday, Friday and Sunday.

The first round matchups: West Virginia vs. Long Beach, Clemson vs. Texas A&M, Minnesota vs. Butler, and UCLA vs. Portland.

Winners of the first two games meet Friday, and winners of the last two games, and the losers also play. Twelve guaranteed games for what spectators decide to show up.

There’s a few story lines here. Long Beach State could run into Minnesota, which fired Dan Monson, who now coaches the Beach.

UCLA could run into Texas A&M for the third time in four years in an Anaheim event. You’ll recall that the Bruins escaped A&M in an NCAA second-round game at Honda Center two years ago. The Aggies certainly recall how difficult it is to try to hit a game-winning shot with someone’s hand encircling your wrist.

And if you enjoy watching coaches let it all hang out with no inhibitions whatsoever, remember that Bob Huggins now coaches West Virginia.