Final Thoughts of Harmon Gymnasium
LOU CAMPANELLI "When I came out from Virginia to interview for the Cal job with (Athletic Director) Dave Maggard in 1985, he was so embarrassed by the gym, he didn't even want to take me to see it. I told him to bring me down there anyway. We go in this fortress - it was the first time I had ever seen Harmon from the outside. We walk up the stairs, and you know you're in trouble when outside the gym door it says 'Room 100.' I said to myself, 'You've got to be kidding me' ... Dave told me he didn't have the key to the lights, but I said that was okay. I go in there and I'm looking around, and he comes up behind me and says, 'Coach, I promise you, if you take the job, we'll fix it up, get the lines off the court, get new baskets, get new paint, stuff like that.' I turned around to him and said, 'Hey, this is great. This place can be a pit. We can make this the toughest place to play in the Pac-10.' He said, 'Do you really think so?' I said, 'You're damn right. We can make a negative and turn it into a positive.' His eyes lit up. I looked around and said, 'You got seats all around, top to bottom. How far do these bleachers come out?' He said, 'Within two feet of the floor. The officials step on the fans when they run down the sideline.' I said, 'This is great. We are going to make this a pit.'"
RUSS CRITCHFIELD Long ago, Harmon Gym had this one clock up at the south end, way up top, that had roman numerals on it. It was one of those that the minute hand would go back a little then click forward. So in conditioning, Pete Newell made this famous, what's called the hands-up drill. We got into the defensive stance and the coaches say "left, right, forward, back" and you would slide. We would build up the amount of doing this. At the end of two, three weeks that we did this every other day, we'd go a half hour. It was the most boring drill. Rene (Herrerias) would always make us do it facing that clock. The clock would seem like it never moved. We used to fantasize about ripping that sucker off the wall so we didn't have to look at it. It was a grueling, boring drill. Guys would be holding their arms up, looking at the clock and it seemed like it would never move. BOB DALTON Player 1958-59 "It was the intensity. It was like you were in a room that could only accommodate 20 people and there were six or seven thousand people in there. I can always remember the noise level would send a tingle up your spine....You have to talk about the student body involvement and their proximity to the court. Strangely, I played 35 years ago, and you will see the same faces over and over again that are still there that give you that sort of feeling that they were there when I was there and that they'll be there 'til the end of time. They're not fair-weather fans like Laker fans that show up just to be seen. These are people that come to watch Cal basketball. If you took the five or six hundred core ticket-holders, they've been there since the waters parted. The excitement is to see that core of people and the student body. I don't think the support of the student body has diminished any. I think their support meant as much as six or seven points a game, particularly in our type of game because we pressed. We were the first ones that actually pressed. When you get on a roll and steal the ball three or four times, you could see the anguish on the opponents' faces because the noise level would get so loud. I think there is a direct correlation between the level of play and the noise level in the gym. Seeing it now is like living the past over and over again." GOOCH FOSTER Women's Coach 1979-96 Harmon's heating system was never a mechanical marvel, but during the Christmas break it got worse. It never failed that someone in the steam plant would turn the heat off, even though we had practice and games. There were many times when I would come to practice wearing a coat and gloves while the poor players were freezing in their shorts. Much to the dismay of the players, I would want them to work up a sweat, but it was so cold it was impossible. I would almost run them to death trying to get them to seat in that ice cold gym. There was no place like Harmon during a game. The fans were right on top of you. They could hear every word IU said and I could hear them. During one game, this guy was really on me. I finally turned to him and said, 'You are doing such a good job of coaching this team, why don't you come down here and sit in my seat?' At that, I walked up in the stands and tried to trade seats with him. Needless to say, for a little while, I did not hear the crowd quite so much." LARRY FRIEND Player 1955-57 One of the games I remember most vividly was in 1956. We played USF when they were in the midst of their great winning streak. We played at Harmon Gym and prepared that week with closed doors. Nobody could come to practices. Our practice sessions were always open except for this particular week when Pete (Newell) closed the doors down. We set up different defenses, depending on where K.C. Jones went during the game. We had great success with it early in the game until they took the lead and decided to full-court press us. The most memorable incident was when Joe Hagler held the ball for eight straight minutes and I mean HELD the ball. He put it under his arm and just held it there for eight minutes. Then, we got to the last four minutes of the game and Newell took Hagler out and put in Bob Washington because he could shoot better. The reason for this is that Bill Russell would not go out and guard Joe Hagler, who was standing outside, and just stood under the basket. They had a small lead at the time and Newell's remarks were he would rather play only the last four minutes and get lucky than take a chance to beat them in an entire half. It was something like fighting Rocky Marciano in those days. Would you want to fight three or 15 rounds? In 15 rounds, he's probably going to tag you, but in three you might get lucky and avoid being KO'd. JOE HAGLER Player 1955-57 We had the greatest fans in the game. Their greatness, however didn't lay in their ability to make noise and cheer the team on. That you can find anywhere. They were great because they were knowledgeable about the game and could drive opponents to distraction by pointing out their mistakes and shortcomings. The groups that sat under the baskets at each end were absolute masters at getting to an opponent. I can't count the number of times that opposing players actually went into the stands after a heckling fan. But that told you he'd lost it and was no longer concentrating on his game. One incident immediately comes to mind is the image of Dave Gambee, the great Oregon State forward, charging about six rows up at the south end of the stands after someone who had commented on his lack of defensive ability. Dave averaged twenty points a game that year, but not against us. As for the Bears, they never jeered, but always cheered. Harmon always seemed to be drafty. I guess because it was a multi-use facility, the doors were always being opened and closed. Is the "Flying A" sign still there? I can hear Bud Foster, now, saying "Let's get gassed with Associated!" RENE HERRERIAS Head Coach 1961-68 Assistant Coach 19xx-xx "One of the games I remember most was in 1957 or '58. It was Cal versus Oregon. In warm-ups, one of the Oregon players dunked the ball and hung on the rim and bent the rim. All these engineers from Cal came down, looking at the rim. So we had a person, kind of an equipment man. I think his name was Ernie. He took out a 2 x 4 and reached up and pushed the rim back, and all these engineers couldn't do anything about it....Harmon is the greatest place for a coach. I think it's an eight or nine-point advantage. With the fans, the way they get on the opposing players. It will be the same with the new Haas Pavilion. I think it'll be even louder. I think it's nothing but a positive. It will help recruiting" JACK HIGGINS Cal Player 1944 Stanford Player 19xx-xx My memories of Harmon Gym center on Coach Nibs Price. He was a wonderful individual and a credit to Cal and the sports world in general. It was a privilege to be associated with him and the other fine people in the athletic department. After Cal, I was with the Marines until the war ended. Then I returned to Stanford. It was a lot of fun returning to Harmon to play against Nibs and the great teams he produced after the war. I hope that the Haas Pavilion will retain the noisy, busy, exciting experience that is part of Harmon Gym.
WAYNE HOOPER At the time I played, Harmon was the best gym in the Pacific Conference. Then as things developed after the war, other universities started to build their new pavilions and of course we stayed with ours. Cal's students have always been very loyal and rabid. Bear in mind that when you are here at Cal, it's not the only show in town, whereas some of the other universities in the country didn't have so much competition of other schools and professional teams. So to have a loyal following like the Bears have always had in basketball particularly is very unique to me. I think the students are knowledgeable. I think they know the game of basketball....The first games I remember were when I was at school in Berkeley, going to see Hal Eifert play in the Men's Gym. That's when I was initiated to Harmon Gym. When we were kids, we used to sneak into the gym before they brought the gatekeepers on, and hide in the lavatories until we could get out and get in the gymnasium. ...There were a lot of memorable games when Hank Lucetti played for Stanford in the late 1930s. Whenever Lucetti played, the students would throw a dead fish out on the court. I don't know whether it was because he was Italian or because he was a fish. Another thing students used to do was throw pennies on the floor. Hot pennies. I'm one of the kids who used to go out there and pick those things up. It was in the '30s when they did that.
DARRALL IMHOFF My memories of Harmon started with my registration as a freshman; standing in line at Harmon and being approached by some crew members recruiting tall guys to row, row, row. Coach Jim Lemmon walked up and said Pete Newell was someone who I needed to see and I did. I was a walk-on athlete at Cal and didn't have a "grant-in-aid" scholarship until my sophomore year....I still remember the "gym-rat" games going on at Harmon Gym prior to the start of organized varsity tryouts. All of these eager guys showed up the first day ... but after hands-up drills, repeats and the alternate day running of "the hill" up Strawberry Canyon, the number of eager b-ball players was significantly reduced. Pete Newell didn't have to cut too many players; the work required to make it was what separated the serious player from the wanna-be...The great memories of the former Cal players at the south end of Harmon, all shouting encouragement to the young gladiators ...In my fondest memories, I think of Jack Williamson and Pete Peterson in the training room. The whirlpools were churning and the hydroculator pads were steaming as the jocks prepared for battle. The tape was being applied by the yard by two of the greatest trainers, later joined by a third great little guy by the name of Jimmy Van Duren. All three had distinct taping styles and would play the role of father confessor, confidant and big brother to a bunch of guys trying to stay focused with all of the struggles of school ... sports, studies, girls, etc.
DICK KUCHEN My thoughts on the new Haas Pavilion are two-fold. First, I'm sure a new facility is going to be well received and something that is long overdue on the California campus. I also think it is terrific that the facility will carry the Haas name. Anyone who worked in the Athletic Department knew how much Wally Haas did for the California athletic program. He was a great fan, a tremendous supporter and a great friend of the University.
BOB McKEEN I have so many great memories. I remember the Straw Hat Band playing Happy Birthday before the game I became the first freshman to start a varsity game in 1951. I also remember beating USC by one point on a half court shot, but the best memories were the players, the coaches and school officials that became life-long friends to this day. They were quite simply - The Best.
BILL MOORE "Harmon is like home to me, I've been there so long. It's like comparing your house to somebody else's."
PETE NEWELL There are so many fond memories of Harmon that it's hard to know where to start. Besides so many great games, the memories is the Straw Hat Band and their music is the thing I remember most. It was stimulating for our team as well as me and the Cal fans. Harmon and the Straw Hat Band are synonymous as far as I'm concerned.... Harmon was and is like no other arena. The proximity of the fans and the excitement this produces makes it memorable for Cal people but also the opponents. I'm glad to know that the aura of Harmon will still proceed when it gets its facelift...Probably the most important win in my time at Cal was in 1957 when we played UCLA for what would turn out to be the conference championship. We had to win. UCLA prided itself on the physical conditioning of its players and won many games by wearing down opponents. We felt the same way. I know we had stamina, endurance and the heart to play on tomorrow's energy if needed. Neither team called a timeout in the first half. I had told the Bears that we may have to run on our knees, but no timeouts. John Wooden presumably said the same thing to the Bruins. We then played 17 minutes in the second half - 37 minutes in all - without a timeout (no television timeouts in those days). We were full-court pressing the Bruins the entire game and suddenly the pace slowed to a walk and UCLA started to turn the ball over. A close game suddenly broke open with Cal on top by eight points. We won. They never played timeout again. We then beat them eight straight times and won four straight conference championships. Four times we went to the Final Eight - twice to the Final Four, the 1959 NCAA championship and 1960 Runner-up. That one game was the most pivotal game we played and our success was largely due to winning that game the way we did and dominated the Bruins, who had dominated the conference most every year... I believe our Cal teams showed the Universities of the country that a school could win it all without cheating, could graduate its players and play within the conference rules as they related to the various sport programs. Believe it or not, we had a work program in those days and my basketball players all met the hourly- standards per month they were committed to work. Not all schools abided by these rules but we did. I'm proud of that too...I'm very happy that Harmon will be renovated, enlarged, but not destroyed for those faceless, cement monstrosities they build today. I was told it will still be Newell Court and I'm very happy to see that also.
TED OHASHI The old Harmon, where I played for two years before we moved into the current building which we called Men's Gym, was like a barn. It was oval-shaped. One of the reasons that the current Harmon was built was for more classroom space. But since the Phys Ed department, which also meant the athletic department, was in charge of the building plans, they were able to get 7500 seats. There was a dispute for some time as to how much space for classrooms and how much space for the P.E. area.
KAREN SMITH "When I played, there were eight million lines on the floor. The floor was actually a little bit longer because they had those old baskets set up. I don't believe the court was regulation. All of that, we felt, was to our advantage because we practiced on that longer floor day-in and day-out....The way the seating is at Harmon - the people are right on the floor with you. You can slap hands with the fans right there, have a conversation when you take the ball in and out. That makes the atmosphere. Everybody's part of the game when you're playing there... I think some teams come in there and they're almost claustrophobic....The plans for the new Haas Pavilion are set up so that they are going to try to maintain that homey atmosphere that they have. Raise the number of seats, for the fans, but keep that home-court advantage for the team. I think that will make a big difference. There needs to be more fans at Harmon, but you don't want to lose that home court...One of the most memorable games was playing against Old Dominion (1984) when Marianne Stanley was coaching there. We beat them (78-70) and it was an absolutely fantastic game, back and forth. We were picked to get blown out and we ended up beating them. They were actually ranked in the Top 10, maybe even higher than that at the time ...I also remember as a student going to Harmon for finals. Taking a final exam in Harmon is truly a treat. You have these wooden tables that are about 12 inches wide, and they run halfway across the gym. They're not very strong or sturdy. There's a metal chair and the tables are too high for the seating, so you have to reach up. Everybody's writing as fast as they can in three hours and the table is shaking constantly. A couple of professors, Markowitz being one of them comes to mind in a chemistry exam, walk around the upstairs of Harmon while everybody's taking the exam downstairs on the floor. You're so nervous, anyway, going through exams that if somebody shakes, you're so upset and so nervous that you're ready to hit the person next to you if they write or erase. The erasing part is the worst. It's usually freezing cold because they've already turned off the heater for the winter session. So, all that together, if you make it though the exam, you should get an 'A' just for making it though the three hours."
ANDY WOLFE
AL BUCH "Harmon was a wonderful place for us to play. I know our opponents dreaded coming in there. It was always full, very loud and the fans were so close to the court that they really became part of the team. All this contributed to the fact that we rarely lost there. Oh yes, the Straw Hat Band seemed to tie everything together in creating a scene that made it almost impossible for the opposition to deal with. Harmon Gym was wonderful. The new Haas Pavilion will be that and more. It will retain all the intimacy of Harmon. However, there will be 12,000 people cheering for Cal instead of 6,000. It will be a great facility named in the memory of a very special person, Wally Haas. |
FOOTBALL
 WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
 MEN'S BASKETBALL
 MEMORIAL STADIUM WEBCAM
 ENDOWMENT SEATING PROGRAM
 ADVANCING CAL ATHLETICS
 STUDENTS
 
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