With the crunch
period ending on Sunday, it's crunch time for UCLA basketball
recruiting.
There are various
situations with a few different recruits that could come to a crescendo. If not
soon, at least by the signing period, which runs between November 12th and
November 19th. But the general feeling is that some things could pop soon.
Just to review, UCLA has
three scholarships already earkmarked for the class of 2004, with only one more
officially available. However, UCLA has been operating since spring
like they will have five scholarships to give to this class, and have
been aiming to get a commitment from two more players.
With Farmar filling the
much needed point guard role, Afflalo satisfying a need for at least one wing,
and Mata filling the role of the true low-post player, it gave UCLA some
flexibility in what it's wanted to do with the last two rides.
The Bruins have
definitely been looking toward filling one of those other two rides with a true
wing. The other ride ideally would go to a scoring, face-up four man, but
it very well could have gone to another post player if there was one good enough
who wanted to commit that had good academics.
The other potential
scenario would have been UCLA filling its last two scholarships with
two more frontcourt players. If two of them wanted to commit before a wing
does, UCLA very well could take them and call it a day.
But with many of the
recruiting situations with different players coming to an end soon, there are a
dwindling amount of scenarios that could happen now. It could mean that
UCLA leaves a ride open and waits until spring to see if there are any other
prospects worthy of interest. And this very well could end up being the
best-case scenario anyway.
COMMITTED
PLAYERS:
Jordan Farmar, 6-2 PG, Woodland
Hills (Calif.) Taft. Thank the Lord. UCLA’s
committed point guard had a stellar spring and summer and cemented his place as
one of the top two or three point guards in the country and a likely top 25
national recruit. In the summer he showed that he’s everything the UCLA programs
needs – a real point guard with great leadership skills, intelligence, maturity
and good academics. It’s a completely different world to ponder if Farmar had
actually committed to
Florida back in spring like he was close
to doing (watch the video
interview). Watching him play this well this entire summer would have been
torture for the UCLA coaches, and would have made it desperation time to get a
point guard. He could be the biggest get for the UCLA basketball program since
Baron
Davis.
Arron
Afflalo, 6-5
SG/SF, Compton (Calif.) Centennial. He had a solid
summer, playing well at the ABCD, leading the camp in scoring, and then
struggling somewhat in the Big Time playing on a team that didn’t play well
together. His shot was inconsistent for most of the spring and summer, but it’s
not a big worry since he’s shown to be a better shooter in the past and has a
very nice stroke. With good academics, Afflalo is a huge piece of the puzzle to
getting UCLA back to where it needs to be over the next several years. Not only
is he talented, but Afflalo is a warrior, much like Farmar, and he’ll bring the
needed toughness.
Lorenzo Mata, 6-9 PF/C,
South
Gate
(Calif.) High. He's a great fit as a
player -- the kind of true low-post guy that UCLA needs. He's big, athletic and
plays hard. And he's only played organized basketball for a few years and
is just at the beginning of his basketball learning curve. Physically,
he's gotten bigger and has the body that could continue to fill out. From a
talent standpoint, Mata right now is one of the best shot blockers in the west,
is quick off his feet and rebounds well. Offensively he has great potential,
going from having nearly nothing offensively to showing some great natural
scoring moves out to 12 feet or so this summer. He went from being
practically unknown to a top 70 national recruit, at least. And you have
to give the kid a great deal of credit, too, for making a commitment to UCLA a
reality for himself. Not coming from a great academic background, or a
school that's known for its academics, Mata didn't do much academically for his
first two and a half years in high school. But when he got motivated halfway
through his junior year -- and was told that going to his dream school, UCLA,
was a possibility, Mata applied himself. He replaced a number of core classes in
his spring semester, and did so again this summer. His GPA improved
considerably and made it possible for UCLA to accept his verbal
commitment. Among prospects that don't have stellar academics, he's the
type of student-athlete UCLA will invest in -- a kid who has shown that he's
motivated to put in the work academically and improve. He'll still need a
passing SAT score to qualify, but he's studying with a tutor and is expected to
achieve one. If we had to project, we think that Mata, with his background
story, incredible upside, and penchant for playing hard combined with his
sometimes awkward appearance, will quickly become a Pauley Pavilion
favorite.
LATEST ON
TARGETS:
Malik Hairston, 6-4 SG,
Detroit
(Mich.) Renaissance. He emerged this
spring and summer as one of the best wings in the nation and a consensus top ten
national recruit. UCLA was thought to be a co-leader with Ohio State, but since his visit to
UCLA on September 12th, the word is that UCLA has fallen down Hairston's
list. He took an official visit to Kansas on
September 19th, and it was thought the Jayhawks were making a strong run.
Kansas, though, with the commitments they've received recently, probably only
have one more ride available, with the intention that it will go to a post. So
the Jayhawks could be out of the Hairston sweepstakes. Recently Hairston
has said that Michigan has climbed back in, and the word
is that they are a legitimate option. Howland visited Hairston a day
after his official visit to UCLA and the visit reportedly went well. Assistant
Ernie Zeigler will go back to visit Hairston one last time this weekend, as
will coaches from Ohio State, Michigan and many other schools trying their luck
at pulling off an upset. Sources have indicated that what Hairston does
could depend greatly on what his teammate, Joe Crawford, does. Crawford had
committed to Michigan previously, but then
de-committed. If Crawford does indeed decide to go to
Michigan, Hairston will probably go to
Ohio State or UCLA. If Crawford goes
elsewhere, it probably gives Michigan the best chance to pull the
last-second upset. The word previously is that Hairston thought UCLA was
too far away, but there are other indications that his family was happy with him
going to UCLA. The general consensus, though, among recruiting types is that
Ohio State couuld be in the poll position.
While Hairston has said he could wait, some opinions close to the situation
think that, with the contact period over soon, he could make a decision
shortly after that.
Maarty Leunen, 6-8 PF/SF,
Redmond (Ore.) High. Leunen received an offer
from UCLA about mid-July, after the UCLA coaches had seen him enough during the
summer evaluation period. He’s considering the Bruins as well as Gonzaga,
Oregon,
and Oregon
State. He’s the type of
player that would fit into Howland’s system well -- a skilled, face-up four. He
does have just average athleticism and size, though. He’d be a solid get,
someone who knows how to play and is a good kid. Leunen officially
visited Westwood Sept. 12th, the same weekend as Malik Hairston. He
visited Gonzaga September 19th, and took a mid-week visit to
Oregon on the 23rd, and then finished
his official visits with a trip to Oregon State on Sept. 26th. There are
those that believe Leunen is more a small-school type of guy, but he's said
himself that he grew up a UCLA fan and likes the big city environment of
Los
Angeles. Howland visited Leunen
recently, and Gonzaga and Oregon will have visits over the next
few days. There had been some talk in recruiting circles that UCLA
looks pretty good with Leunen but, admittedly, the Leunen camp has
kept it pretty close to the vest. The most recent rumor is that
Oregon State has become a longshot, and that
Oregon is leading for him.
Josh Shipp, 6-5 SG,
Los
Angeles
(Calif.) Fairfax. He had a great Nike
Camp in July, where he hit a majority of his jumpers and threw down impressive
dunks. But then he came back to the west coast and came back to Earth. He’s not
overly quick, and needs to pick up his intensity at times, but he has good size
and a good feel for the game. Shipp made the top 100 national rankings by
TheInsiders.com. He’s a solid player and a good kid (with good academics). UCLA
offered him September 14th, and he also has offers from
Washington and
Oregon, and a conditional offer from
Stanford if he improves his verbal score on the SAT. Many thought that
Shipp would commit when UCLA offered, but he took his official visit to
Oregon September 19th. He did tell
us around that time that UCLA had a slight edge. Shipp then
visited UCLA September 26th and many thought he'd commit then, but again he
didn't. He has one more visit planned -- for Washington -- October 10th. The option of
Stanford looks like it's fading since he doesn't have the opportunity to retake
the SAT (unless he doesn't trip to Washington and takes it on October
11th). Many feel, once again, that Shipp might not make it to that
Washington trip and commit to UCLA before
that. But, as we laid out above, he's bucked conventional wisdom a couple
of times. UCLA coaches will almost certainly go by Fairfax one more time in the
next couple of days to give Shipp love one last time.
Joakim Noah, 6-10 C,
Lawrenceville (New
Jersey) Prep. A Ryan
Hollins look-a-like, he really improved his stock this summer, showing good
athleticism and improving skills. All of the new recruiting attention as a
result of the summer has him a bit turned around and uncertain about favorites,
but UCLA might have a chance with him and they’re showing interest. The
son of tennis star Yannik Noah, he is a well-traveled, international kind of kid
who wouldn't be phased by going across the country to school at UCLA. Florida
could be the leader, and other schools are involved. Recently it looks like UCLA
has fallen with him, but the Bruins are still trying.
Tello Palacios, 6-8 PF,
Centereach
(New
York) Our Savior New
American School. Palacios is a top 40 national
prospect who was a bit forgottent his summer since he didn't play in the
U.S. during the evaluation period. A
native of Colombia, he returned home for most of the
summer. He's considered one of the most skilled big men in the class, and quite
athletic. UCLA had been in the mix for him, along with Florida, St.
John's, Pittsburgh, Iowa State, N.C. State, Illinois,
