of falsifying receipts at a student-athlete recruiting dinner when two current players, Cameron Dollar and Charles O'Bannon, joined the table. Since Harrick paid for the entire meal, it amounted to an improper extra benefit for Dollar and O'Bannon. To cover up their presence, Harrick included the names of his wife and the wife of newly hired assistant Michael Holton on the expense report. When the school investigated, Harrick told Holton to tell athletic director Peter Dalis that Holton's wife was at the meal. However, a day later, Holton confessed that wasn't true. On November 6, 1996, Dalis and school chancellor Chuck Young gave Harrick an ultimatum: resign by the next morning or be fired. Harrick opted to take the firing. Although picking up the tab for Dollar and O'Bannon was a secondary violation at best, Young and Dalis felt Harrick's attempted cover-up was unforgivable. However, Harrick claims that the NCAA has cleared him of wrongdoing. He left UCLA as the school's second-winningest coach, behind only Wooden. However, he is now third behind Wooden and Ben Howland. Rhode Island After a one-year hiatus, Harrick returned to coaching by accepting the head coach position at Rhode Island. He coached the Rams for two seasons (from 1997–99), where in both years they qualified for the NCAA Tournament. During the 1998 tournament, the Rams upset Kansas in the second round and reached the Midwest Regional finals but were defeated by Stanford 79–77. In his second season, he managed to recruit Lamar Odom and led the Rams to their first Atlantic 10 Conference tournament title. Georgia After the season, he left URI to become the head coach at the University of Georgia. He served there for four seasons (1999–00 through 2002–03), leading the Bulldogs to the NCAA tournament twice following a losing record. His tenure at Georgia ended in controversy in the spring of 2003. His son, Jim Harrick, Jr., a Georgia assistant, got into trouble for paying $300 in expenses for one of his players, Tony Cole. He also gave an "A" to Cole, Rashad Wright and Chris Daniels for a basketball strategy class even though they never attended it. After the story broke, Georgia pulled out of the 2003 SEC Tournament and withdrew from postseason consideration. The school suspended Harrick, Jr. on February 28, 2003 and fired him five days later. Harrick, Sr. was suspended on March 10 and resigned on March 27