UCLA basketball OFFSEASON thread

**Hoya** · April 8th, 2008, 10:20 PM

Originally Posted by Wolvie

Tracy Pierson was right on the money.

It wasn't exactly news when he posted it either though.

Tracy's great as a gossip, but he drives the athletic dept. nuts.

**Wolvie** · April 8th, 2008, 11:11 PM

Originally Posted by jbruin152

It wasn't exactly news when he posted it either though.

Tracy's great as a gossip, but he drives the athletic dept. nuts.

Well, he's been projecting it for weeks, and he's by far the best source I've found. Without Scout.com, I'd be in the dark. I work for UCLA, but nowhere near Morgan.

Okay, I guess it'll be kinda close to Morgan after the move.

**Hoya** · April 9th, 2008, 04:45 PM

If UCLA's Westbrook stays, he'll start at point guard - Los Angeles Times

Seems like Howland knows Collison/Love are gone but wants to let them announce it on their own.

**So Sumi** · April 10th, 2008, 09:21 PM

They may not be championship bound next year, but the Bruins will still be hovering somewhere up top the Pac-10 any way you look at it. I have a lot of confidence in Howland's coaching. And as we all know, coaching is a huge factor.

But like ASUcruz was saying, compared to the rest of the conference after all those guys bail for the NBA draft, the Bruins are still okay. You gotta believe.

**Wolvie** · April 11th, 2008, 10:59 AM

We're apparently looking into a 6'10" Nigerian kid that was originally going to Harvard. Nowhere close to happening yet, but he'd be available next year.

Also, there's a 6'8" kid asking for a transfer from Pepperdine to UCLA. He'd have to sit next year, and that's nowhere near happening yet either.

**Wolvie** · April 15th, 2008, 07:20 PM

Originally Posted by Scout.com

Lance Stephenson, the 6-5 small forward from Brooklyn (NY) Lincoln, the #3-ranked player in the nation for the class of 2009, wants to go as a package to college with his buddy, Renardo Sidney, the 6-9 post from Los Angeles (Calif.) Fairfax, the #2-ranked player in the nation.

Stephenson visited UCLA's campus on Sunday.

The most recent information we have from Sidney is that he wants to stay on the west coast, in Los Angeles preferably. The schools at the top of his list are UCLA and USC, and we've heard ASU is the other he's considering.

We've also heard that if Stephenson does do the "package deal" with Sidney, and comes to the west coast for college, both Sidney and Stephenson prefer that college to be UCLA.

Sources have indicated that if Sidney can get past UCLA's academic admissions, the Bruins will more than likely offer him a scholarship.

Tracy Pierson is pretty reliable, so this is good news... I think. Two one-and-done's, both huge talents. I hope this means that Sidney's issues have been resolved to Howland's satisfaction.

Then again, Greg Hicks (same site) is more reliable, and he says...

Originally Posted by Scout.com

1) Package deals rarely happen. Even when the players are lifelong best friends, and high school teammates, package deals rarely happen. In this case, you have a kid in L.A. (by way of Mississippi) and a kid in New York. I'm not holding my breath.

2) The fit issues remain.

3) If, by some miracle, they both end up at UCLA, then the Bruin program is going in an entirely different direction than it has to date under Howland.