Jim Harrick Jr., a former player for Pepperdine University and a collegiate assistant for many years, lost his fight with brain cancer and passed away. He was 58.
The son of former Bruins coach Jim Harrick, who won a championship with the team, passed away on Tuesday in San Marcos, California, following a fight against a glioblastoma brain tumor that lasted for two and a half years.
After San Diego State University fired Jim Brandenburg as head coach during the 1991-1992 season, the younger Harrick filled in as head coach for the Aztecs’ remaining seven games of the year. Harrick finished the season with a record of 0-7 and a total of 2-26.
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In the years 1985 and 1987, Harrick was a member of Pepperdine’s team that was coached by his father. In 45 games (eight of which he started), he contributed 1.8 points and 2.2 assists on average.
The younger Harrick worked as an assistant on his father’s staffs in Rhode Island and Georgia while the elder Harrick was serving in both positions. In addition to his time spent at San Diego State University, he has also worked as an assistant coach at the universities of Valparaiso, Marshall, and Loyola Chicago.
In March of 2003, after being suspended for claims that he was involved in academic fraud and paying the bills of a player, Harrick Jr. was ultimately let go from his position as head coach at Georgia.
During his eight seasons (1988–1996) as the head coach at UCLA (1988–1996), Jim Harrick Sr. led the Bruins to the national championship in 1995. The more senior Harrick is 84 years old.
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Down the stretch, Harrick Jr. had a record of 0-7, and as a result, San Diego State ended up hiring UCLA assistant coach Tony Fuller. The younger Harrick was hired on by Fuller to work as an assistant.
After that, Harrick Jr. worked for his father at the universities of Rhode Island and Georgia for a while. It wasn’t long after Harrick Jr. started working for Georgia in 2001 that he admitted that the biography that was published in the media guide overstated his playing history and academic accomplishments.
A season after leading UCLA to its record 11th national title, Harrick Sr. was terminated from his position at the university for lying on an expense report.
Additionally, the younger Harrick worked as an assistant coach for the Valparaiso, Marshall, and Loyola Chicago basketball teams.
Following his retirement from coaching, he began a career in the medical field.
His wife Amy, their kids Hannah and Holland, as well as his father, who is now 84 years old, and his brothers Monte and Glenn are among those who survive him. 2009 was the year that Sally, his mother, passed away.
