Players Drop By Hazzard’s House to Tell Him Goodby

The uncertainty about what awaited them at an impromptu team meeting made the 15-minute drive from UCLA to Walt Hazzard’s house a nervous time for the Bruin players in the three-car caravan Wednesday night.

“It must have seemed like two hours,” Kevin Williams, a reserve guard, said of the drive.

But after most of the players had met with Hazzard and his family for 30 minutes Wednesday night to discuss his firing as UCLA coach, they said the feelings were more positive. Not much, but a little.

“We felt better coming back,” said Williams, who had been in Hazzard’s on-campus office Tuesday discussing plans for next season. “We knew he was OK. We thought he’d be real hurt and down in the dumps (Wednesday). But Coach Hazzard is a real strong person. He showed us that tonight.

“We had kind of a farewell. He admitted maybe he had made some mistakes dealing with problems he had, and he said he was sorry if he let any of us down. . . . Not from his performance, just that he lost the team.

“From the players, I haven’t heard anything positive about his firing. We were all down. As a team, we feel it wasn’t his fault. Speaking as a team, we let him down. He didn’t go out and play for us.”

Said Keith Owens, a walk-on who made the team: “It was kind of sad. It was a family kind of thing, losing someone you had a close relationship with. The whole situation was a shock to everyone.”

Said forward Trevor Wilson: “I kind of doubted until today that they would fire him. We had a good season last year.”

Steven Fleischman contributed to this story.