Romar outlasts former colleagues at UCLA

Lorenzo Romar is pleasantly perched, middle row, in UCLA’s 1995 national championship team picture.

Seated to Romar’s immediate right is Bruins head coach Jim Harrick, flanked by assistants Mark Gottfried and Steve Lavin.

Romar, Gottfried and Lavin would all break off Harrick’s branch and become Division I head coaches.

Today, Romar is the only seated coach of the four in that photo who is still standing.

“Just trying to hang on, man,” Romar said Tuesday.

Romar, who was raised in Compton and attended Pius X High, never imagined he’d outlast his comrades in that photo, but that’s how it worked out.

He’s midway through his seventh season at Washington, where his Huskies have become surprise leaders of the Pacific 10 Conference, with a 6-1 record after last week’s sweep of UCLA and USC.

Romar isn’t one to gloat, or take a bow. The Huskies’ next four conference games are on the road -- this week’s Arizona swing followed by a trip to the Bay Area.

“This is going to be tough,” he said. “We could come back in two weeks and be 6-5.”

As a head coach, you never look much beyond your nose.

There, but for the grace of God, or a freshman point guard . . .

A month ago, who was Romar? And where was Washington?

The Huskies were coming off a 16-17 season and started this one 2-3 before things clicked. Since a Nov. 25 loss to then-No. 17 Florida, Washington has won 13 of 14 games. The loss was to California, in triple overtime.

The exciting emergence of 5-foot-8 freshman guard Isaiah Thomas, who offers a kinetic counter balance to power forward Jon Brockman, has Washington at 15-4 and seemingly bound for the NCAA tournament.

Romar, though, can’t take a minute off. Remember that photo -- Harrick, Lavin and Gottfried.

All, despite unquestioned success, were eventually shoved aside. Harrick and Lavin were fired by UCLA. Romar might well have been selected UCLA’s head coach had he not bolted the staff for Pepperdine in 1996, never anticipating Harrick’s abrupt and ugly Westwood departure.

Instead, Romar ended up in Washington, his alma mater.

Gottfried was the latest coach in the photo to get it -- resigning at Alabama this week.

“I haven’t been able to talk with him yet,” Romar said.

Romar remembers speaking often with Gottfried and Lavin about their aspirations to become college head coaches.

A picture doesn’t begin to tell the story.

“Being with that group helped me become better,” Romar said. “Wherever I am, I’m better as a result of being with those guys. . . . It’s unfortunate in our business that this happens to so many of us. I’m not above it [getting fired] happening to me as well. That’s part of it.”

For now, Romar stands alone, in first place. Life is good.

But check back in a month.

Dribbles and drabs

Arizona State is 16-3 and ranked No. 14 in this week’s Associated Press poll, marking the first time in the school’s 31-year Pac-10 history that it has been the highest ranked team in the conference. The Sun Devils have an outside shot to match the school record for victories, 26, set in 1962-63.

That team finished 26-3 under Ned Wulk and advanced two rounds in the NCAA tournament, defeating Utah State in the first round and UCLA in the second before losing to Oregon State.

What it’s going to take to get to 26: Arizona State has 11 regular-season games left, seven at home, plus the Pac-10 and the NCAA (presumably) tournaments.

Like son like father. Washington State, coached by Tony Bennett, led USC, 19-18, at the end of the first half Saturday. It may have been the ugliest 30 minutes since Michigan State led Wisconsin, 19-17, at halftime of a 2000 NCAA semifinal.

Wisconsin was coached by Dick Bennett, Tony’s dad. Both coaches, you could say, stress defense. “I don’t get too caught up in scores,” Tony said.

In most cases, a coach gets a call from the president only after he wins the national championship. Oregon State Coach Craig Robinson got one Thursday from his brother-in-law after the Beavers upset California.

“We talked for about 35 minutes or so,” Robinson said of his conversation with Barack Obama. “He wanted to know all the details.”

Fun fact: Oregon State, 6-25 last season, is 3-0 since Obama was inaugurated.

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chris.dufresne@latimes.com