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It was game 1,218. It was Cal vs. Arizona State. It was Harmon's Last Stand. The Cal men's basketball team wrapped up 65 years of men's and women's Bears basketball in Harmon Gym March 6 with a victory over Arizona State. The old gym now makes way for a major $40 million renovation. When it reopens in December 1998, it will be the Haas Pavilion and nearly twice the size, with 1,200 seats. Among those to watch the final game was Ted Ohashi, a member of the 1932-33 Cal team that played in the first game ever held in Harmon, a 40-37 Cal win over UCLA on Jan. 13, 1933. Also on hand was A.K.P. Harmon, the 84-year-old great grandson of the Harmon for whom the gym is named. The end of the Harmon Gym era will coincide with the end of the Harmon era. "I'm the last one," Harmon told the Oakland Tribune's Dave Newhouse.
Win or lose, the thing about Harmon that made it so special was its coziness, and the deafening crowd noise. Fittingly, the crowd did its job. The cheering was reportedly heard from Blondies Pizza on Telegraph and the BART station on Shattuck.
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