Mike Sciacca It’s not often that a...

Mike Sciacca

It’s not often that a son will say no when his father asks

something of him.

Especially when a father-son relationship is as close as the one

forged between Jim and Jimmy Harris.

But when Jim Harris asked his son last year if he would be

interested in sharing head coaching duties for the Ocean View High

boys’ varsity basketball team, his son came back with a negative.

“I told him no because I really felt that you could not go into

coaching half-heartedly in this program,” said Jimmy Harris, already

a varsity assistant on his father’s coaching staff. “My Dad has built

a successful program here, and I didn’t think I was ready.”

Jim Harris, who had just completed his 24th season as head coach,

again asked his son to join him. This time, Jimmy Harris surprised

his father and said yes.

“I felt a little more confident with that prospect, of putting in

the time and effort required of this position,” the 28-year-old said.

“This is just an extension of me -- of us.”

He then added, with a chuckle: “I told him I’d do this, as long as

he understands that we’re in this deal for the next 10 years.”

So, with 467 career coaching victories as of Monday, Jim Harris

celebrates his 25th year at the school -- this season with his son

serving as the Seahawks’ co-head coach.

As the only son, with three sisters, Jimmy Harris has been around

Ocean View basketball his entire life, beginning as a ball boy at 5.

He went on to play four years of varsity basketball at Ocean View

and earned all-Sunset League honors four consecutive years, was

All-CIF and All-County, and is enshrined in the school’s basketball

Hall of Fame.

He joined his dad’s coaching staff five years ago.

Also on that staff is Dan Johnson, a former player who is in his

seventh year as a coaching volunteer, Kevin Hanson, a member of the

1998 squad that became Jim Harris’ first, and only, CIF championship

team.

“We not only coach together but are close, personal friends,”

Johnson said of the staff.

Jim Harris echoed Johnson’s sentiment.

“One of the hardest things in coaching is to let go of the game to

other people,” he said. “But we are all great observers for each

other, and there’s no fear of taking or giving suggestions.

“I asked Jimmy to make decisions on defense, and he asks me to

make offensive decisions. Dan is our head coach where fundamentals,

desire and motivation are concerned,” Jim Harris said. “Our staff is

incredibly supportive of one another.”

When you are around the Ocean View boys’ basketball program, you

get a feeling of family. Former players attend games, as was the case

with Monday’s game against Ayala in the opening round of the

Tournament of Champions.

Team unity is a key factor in Ocean View’s success down through

the years, but the coaching staff sees the greater success that

extends beyond the playing court.

“We really listen to our kids -- we talk to them and help them

deal with things, realizing that, hey, they are just kids,” said Jim

Harris, the patriarch of the program. “We not only teach them the

game of basketball, but we teach them how to conduct themselves as

gentlemen and with class both on and off the court.

“We remind each other that we are part of a process for these

kids,” he said. “There are no results here.”

The father and son are around each other all the time, for up to

12 hours a day. Not only can you find them in a gymnasium during

afternoon practices or night games, but the two also teach in the

Ocean View math department, and their classrooms sit side-by-side.

Jim Harris gets emotional when discussing the special aspects of

this father-son relationship.

“I have too many to list,” he said of his favorite memories with

his son. “Mine are more of a Dad type of thing, the little things

like watching my son play basketball. Now, he’s right by my side,

coaching right there with me.”

* MIKE SCIACCA covers sports and features. He can be reached at

(714) 965-7171 or by e-mail at [email protected].