A little UCLA recruiting new-hoops

[Russ Smith]

Still awaiting word on incoming Freshman Marko Spica's latest SAT score. The scores are expected to be known by May 31, if he doesn't pass this time he apparently has one more attempt. Everyone says Spica is an excellent student, the problem is limited English, but one has to wonder if he's having this tough a time passing the SAT, how is he going to handle the classes at UCLA? Spica is a 6'9" PF that UCLA is probably counting on to play quite a bit as a freshman at both backup PF and C, he's Serbian but apparently is not opposed to banging like so many Euros are.

UCLA continues to get great news regarding elite junior C Kevin Love. In a recent interview much hyped HS PG Brandon Jennings said that Love has recently begun recruiting him hard to come join him at UCLA. Love hasn't committed yet but if what jennings said is true, it tells you Love is leaning hard to UCLA. This weekend Love makes a visit to UNC, reports are the Tarheels are going after him hard bringing in both Dean Smith, and some guy named Michael Jordan to greet Love during his visit. Never count out UNC, Roy Williams can recruit with the best of them, but at least at the moment it appears UCLA is in the drivers seat for Love.

UCLA sites are also reporting that UCLA offered junior SG Corperryale "Manny" Harris out of Detroit, Michigan. UCLA assistant Ernie Ziegler has great ties to Michigan, he's the reason UCLA has been in the hunt for elite junior guard Alex Legion, but the fact that UCLA has no offered Harris probably indicates they don't think they will get Legion. Harris is 6'5" and the scout.com report on him says he's a tremendous defensive player, long arms, very aggressive, slashing offensive style and that many consider him the most underrated player in Detroit. UCLA has just offered him, he hasn't committed, and it may hinge on whether or not Ziegler gets the head coaching job at Central Michigan. If he stays at UCLA, Harris may be a Bruin, if he gets the C Michigan job, Harris may pick someone other than UCLA. Gotta love the name Corperryale.

Still looks like Afflalo will come back and that Farmar is probably 75-25 staying in the draft. Most mock drafts have Farmar between 17-25, he's elected to play in the Orlando camp and if he performs well enough, he's probably going to stick in the draft. Would love to have him back, think he needs another season in college, but I wish him well either way. UCLA will certainly miss him if he goes. Afflalo is being told by everyone to come back and work on his ballhandling and ability to get his own shot. Dijon Thompson recently was quoted as saying he's advised both kids to stay in school but he thinks they are doing the right thing in exploring their options now. One would assume with Westbrook coming in next year, Roll as a soph to be, and UCLA going so hard first after Legion and now after Harris, that they're pretty certain that Afflalo won't be around his senior year. My understanding is that Arron's family has some financial issues and that's why he's trying to come out this year but that he can probably afford to stay one more year at UCLA, raise his stock, and then come out.

There is apparently no truth whatsoever to the internet rumors a few weeks back that McDonald's AA Scottie Reynolds would sign with UCLA. Reynolds committed to Oklahoma but was released when Sampson took the Indiana job. His name has been mentioned all over including recently LSU but I've been told that UCLA is not interested, the rumor was they thought farmar would stay, decided he wouldn't, and were giving his scholly to Reynolds but I've been told by pretty reliable people that's not true, the reason UCLA signed Westbrook was as a fallback in case Farmar left, and to eventually replace Afflalo, Reynolds is considered a one and done player and Howland doesn't want that unless they're a special case like Love.

 

[AZBALLER]

Wow! Howland really has that program in order, they might have a run like USC's football team, as the best basketball program in the nation for a few years...Unfortunately the NCAA rules don't allow a long dominating run anymore, but I certainly wouldn't be surprised by a short UCLA run.

 

[Russ Smith]

Wow! Howland really has that program in order, they might have a run like USC's football team, as the best basketball program in the nation for a few years...Unfortunately the NCAA rules don't allow a long dominating run anymore, but I certainly wouldn't be surprised by a short UCLA run.

Even I wouldn't count on that yet. I've said all along I think Love is more likely to go to Duke than UCLA. That's changed in the last few months, he and his dad have made repeated comments that suggest they no longer are all that high on Duke, even Duke fans concede Coach K has all but given up and conceded he blew the recruitment of Love.

UCLA is still very hot after Oregon F Kyle Singler a good friend of Love's, and Duke and UNC are the top competitors for Singler. Duke appears to lead for Singler, but most think UCLA leads for Love. A lot of UCLA fans think in the end we'll get Singler too because he and Love are tight, but package deals rarely ever seem to happen in recruiting so I'm not holding my breath.

What I was told(I was out of the country when the Reynold's rumor was out there) is that UCLA and Reynolds was never really all that serious. UCLA came up because he's a PG and Farmar might be gone, but UCLA never offered, and Reynolds never gave any indication he was coming to UCLA it appears to have just been a rumor that wasn't really ever based on anything real other than he's the top unsigned recruit left in the country. I mentioned a few weeks ago I heard he might be looking at Kansas but DWKB said that's not true either. When you're a Mickey D's AA and suddenly not signed, your name is going to come up all over I guess.

I don't expect a dynasty anytime soon, but I'm confident UCLA is going to be a fixture in the top 15, top 3 in conference for years to come under Howland. The biggest concern right now is that his assistants are going to probably be getting lots of interest now. Ziegler is already a finalist for a job, and Keating may be in the same situation next year, but you can't expect assistants to stay put forever. So you can expect year after year concern over which kid is leaving early for the NBA, and which assistant might be leaving, but it sure looks like Howland has this program under control.

 

[AZBALLER]

My biggest reason for thinking that UCLA could put on a mini-run isn't soley because they've got more championships than any other school(like USC in football, I think)...I really think that Howland is a great coach, and he has the best recruiting base in the nation...They should continue to improve for at least a few years IMO...

When will they win their first championship? I don't know.

When will they win any championships? I don't know if they will.

I just believe that UCLA is set up to win a few pretty soon...Just like I posted that they'd do well in last year's tourney, yet most people doubted.

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

The reason UCLA and all their tradition never put together extended periods of success prior to Howland's arrival was because they hired scumbags like Larry Brown and Jim Harrick or nice guys who couldn't coach like Steve Lavin. Howland is not morally questionable like a couple of his predecessors and can actually coach.

Shady recruiting praqctices (giving out package deals, brining in obvious academic risks and finding a way to hide them, etc.) will only get you brief runs of dominance before everything falls apart. Same with only recruiting talent but not developing it.

 

[Russ Smith]

My biggest reason for thinking that UCLA could put on a mini-run isn't soley because they've got more championships than any other school(like USC in football, I think)...I really think that Howland is a great coach, and he has the best recruiting base in the nation...They should continue to improve for at least a few years IMO...

When will they win their first championship? I don't know.

When will they win any championships? I don't know if they will.

I just believe that UCLA is set up to win a few pretty soon...Just like I posted that they'd do well in last year's tourney, yet most people doubted.

me included, I had them out in the elite 8. I think the recruiting base is certainly true and it's helped that Montgomery left Stanford right when Howland came in. UCLA not only brought in a better coach and recruiting staff, one of their big competitors fell off a bit in recruiting by changing coaches.

The part I really strongly agree with you is in an era where you simply can't count on your best players sticking around, it makes coaching all that much more important. So having a great coach like howland is going to be a huge advantage for UCLA. They're going to lose some players and possibly assistants, but as long as he's in control, I feel pretty good about the program.

 

[AZBALLER]

Ya...I can't believe ASU fired Newman, passed on Howland, and then hired Evans...I'd take either Newman or Howland over Evans any day of the week...But I'm more than happy with Sendeck at ASU right now...Although I think UCLA MIGHT have the best coach in the Pac...Then again he still has to unseat both the U Dubb and UA coaches a few more times in order to claim that crown...Either way, if I had my choice I'd choose Howland as the coach of my team.

You put a great coach like that, and the Cali recruiting base together, and championships should come soon. Just like USC football...Although Howland might be a better basketball coach(and run a cleaner program) than Pete is or does.

 

[AZBALLER]

BTW, good point about Stanford. I hadn't really thought about that, but that can do nothing but help UCLA.

 

[Russ Smith]

A little new stuff. Chad forde is reporting that Farmar is heavily leaning towards staying in the draft )-: He also says Afflalo is leaning that way but pretty much everyone else says that's not true, that Afflalo is being told repeatedly to stay in school and appears to be resigned to that. Neither guy is listed on the Orlando camp roster so it appears neither will play there.

Bruin report online is reporting that incoming recruit Marko Spica is now "doubtful" which presumably means he again didn't get the SAT score needed and UCLA is hesitant about hoping he passes his last chance. I don't subscribe to the pay site but reportedly Howland is already recruiting a backup plan European PF who is described as "NBA material". Don't know the name or any details, Spica is reportedly a really bright kid who just struggles with English, if they're really going to give up on him for this new recruit I hope this kid can pass the SAT.

 

[Russ Smith]

Apparently the new recruit is Nikola Dragovic a 6'8" Serbian.

Here's NBA draft.net's synopsis. Note, he's not signed with UCLA and it's still very much a rumor that UCLA is after him and has decided to part ways with Spica because of his SAT's. I would assume if Spica does pass, howland will take him, but apparently they expected his latest score today and since this rumor broke today, one assumes that means Spica didn't pass again.


NBA Comparison: Peja Stojakovic

Strengths: Good basketball understanding ... Dragovic has long arms (6-11), and loves to dunk over guys. He's got a high skill level with excellent shooting ability and range. Shows a level of cockiness that some (especially European) players are missing ... The makings are there for him to turn into a big time prospect.

Weaknesses: Consistency, he still can get down on himself and have off games when things aren't going well ... Can get stronger physically ... Must gain experience at a higher level ...

Notes: One of the most interesting prospects at the 2005 Reebok Eurocamp camp.

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

I imagine the transition from the European up-tempo, wide open style to Howland's defensive-minded ball control offense is going to be tough for this kid. Ivan Radenovic was a complete trainwreck when he first got to Arizona and that was in a system more like he played in Europe. Defense was non-existent, turnovers were frequent, and he shot essentially every time he touched the ball.

But I've been ecstatic with Radenovic's development as a player during his tenure at Arizona. European players are almost always very coachable and it reflects on their development. Radenovic was probably the team's second best player after Marcus Williams last year and became a focal point of our offense once the coaching staff realized Shakur again couldn't handle the responsibilites of a floor general. Hopefully this Dragovic gets the redshirt year Radenovic never got if Afflalo comes back to acclilmate himself to the US and American Basketball.

 

[Russ Smith]

I imagine the transition from the European up-tempo, wide open style to Howland's defensive-minded ball control offense is going to be tough for this kid. Ivan Radenovic was a complete trainwreck when he first got to Arizona and that was in a system more like he played in Europe. Defense was non-existent, turnovers were frequent, and he shot essentially every time he touched the ball.

But I've been ecstatic with Radenovic's development as a player during his tenure at Arizona. European players are almost always very coachable and it reflects on their development. Radenovic was probably the team's second best player after Marcus Williams last year and became a focal point of our offense once the coaching staff realized Shakur again couldn't handle the responsibilites of a floor general. Hopefully this Dragovic gets the redshirt year Radenovic never got if Afflalo comes back to acclilmate himself to the US and American Basketball.

Yep Spica was often compared to Radenovic although they said not quite as good a shooter but a bit tougher inside. I have no idea at all about this new kid, it's not even clear he's the new target since it's on the pay site.

And that was my first thought too, big shock to go to Howland's defensive system from Euro ball. Mike Roll had a tough enough time adjusting this year and he plays in the US, for a kid from overseas it would be a huge adjustment.

FYI there's got to be something to the Dragovic story because it was posted on Bruinzone as being from BRO, and just a few minutes ago Greg Hicks of BRO posted on Bruinzone chastizing the original poster for posting premium material on another board in violation of his subscription. Doubt he'd bother to do that if the post wasn't accurate to what BRO was reporting.

 

[Russ Smith]

Well the latest is Spica did again fail to pass the SAT, he has one shot left. And reportedly Dragovic is the new recruit(ironically UCLA has a DE on the football team also named Nikola Dragovic), he is taking the SAT in a day or 2(along with Spica apparently) and if he passes it appears UCLA will sign him.