24/7 on UCLA Recruits | Bru1zone Open Forum (troll free)

24/7 on UCLA Recruits Sept 15, 2021 8:51:47 GMT -8

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Post by less1brain on Sept 15, 2021 8:51:47 GMT -8

247sports.com/LongFormArticle/Top-ten-available-prospects-2022-recruitment-Dereck-Lively-Chris-Livingston-Cason-Wallace-Nick-Smith-Yohan-Traore-Jarace-Walker-Brandon-Miller-Vince-Iwuchukwu-170968434/#170968434_7

Upshot:

Traore might do anything. That includes UCLA, who I think is really one of his two top college choices.

Sounds like UCLA has a legit shot at Bona, who visits officially on October 24 and will make a commitment in the early signing period. But Bona is a player who will continue to be pursued by pro organizations foreign and domestic until school starts in September of 2022.

Mitchell down to UCLA and Duke, probably figure on a decision in December or early January at the latest. Again, if it's a question of Mitchell seeking immediate PT, UCLA offers the better opportunities with Jaquez and Juzang, barring injury, both going in the first round and at least rumors (likely very bad ones) that Watson is one and done. Watson and Mitchell would make up a very good pair of tall "guards" for UCLA supporting either Myles Johnson or one of Traore or Bona as a very tall F on the frontline. Although I note that UCLA seems to have thrown in the towel in the face of reality somewhat and labeled Johnson a C and Nwuba a F/C.

Riley is still a F, though he'll be our starting C fo sho.

Iwuchuckwu to USC? That would give USC the 7-footer plus 6-9 Kijani Wright in the same class. Although 6-5 SG Oziyah Sellers of Southern California Academy doesn't have any stars assigned to him yet, that's likely to change to 3 stars and the Trojans might finish with a top 10 recruiting class since they'll likely have spots free after this year to replace not only Isaiah Mobley, Isaiah White and Chevez Goodwin, but I expect to see a transfer or two out of the program as well. If there's a transfer, USC will easily upgrade over that player rather than have to scramble to replace him.

UCLA fans got what they wanted (be careful of what you wish for, sayeth the cautionary tale of "The Monkey's Paw"): With Sean Miller out and Arizona likely to be hit with enough penalties to cripple them for 3 years and Oregon about to find rough waters ahead in the NCAA/NIKE weirdness, UCLA/USC might be fighting it out for not only best in LA, but best in the Pac-12 for quite some time.

24/7 on UCLA Recruits Sept 16, 2021 16:05:23 GMT -8

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Post by less1brain on Sept 16, 2021 16:05:23 GMT -8

ESPN+ has an update on 12 recruits, but because their information is behind a paywall I can't really make info public except maybe:

1. Eric Bossi seems unaware of Vincent Iwuchuckwu's recent visit to USC.

2. One of the highly-rated wings offered by UCLA is seriously considering USC instead.

3. He says what everyone else says: 7-1 Derrick Lively to either Duke or Kentucky. I think it will be Duke, so they will have Lively, Filipowski and Whitehead coming in next year. That's 7-1, 6-11 and 6-7 and, yes, Filipoweki is a F and not a C.

I also don't think that 6-5 JR Wendell Moore, a F and not a G, is good enough to go to the NBA after this year (Paulo Banchero is a very different story; he'll be one and done, and 7-0 SO Mark Williams went on a tear down the stretch for Duke and if he shows that was real he likely will be ready to go to the NBA).

Duke also has 6-7 Adrian Griffin coming in this season as a FR and I honestly haven't heard anyone talk about him as a one and done prospect though there are always half a dozen or more FR who wind up being much better than expected and he might be one.

But if he's not, Mark Mitchell has to compete with 6-5 SR Moore, 6-7 SO Griffin, 6-7 FR Whitehead and 6-11 FR Filipowski at the forward spots.

At UCLA, we UCLA fans hope he has to compete against Peyton Watson and Jake Kyman, but otherwise it looks like clear sailing although I think it makes a lot of sense to expect Cronin to go with 3-guard lineups since if Tyger Campbell decides to play his final year of eligibility at UCLA the Bruins will have 5-11 SR Campbell, 6-3 SO McClendon, 6-3 FR Andrews, 6-4 FR Bailey and 6-5 JR Clark all crowded in there.

Bailey is likely UCLA's best guard since Westbrook, but I would be surprised if he isn't able to score 20 PPG as a FR very efficiently if the team needs him to do it. He's coming in to school as a much more polished player than Westbrook was coming out of high school. I think that Andrews is 2 or 3 and done and will be a future NBA starter and I see Clark as an NBA player at some point. I don't know enough about McClendon to hazard a guess on that topic.

Campbell, as a SR, if he has improved his J, would surely be the best PG in the Pac-12 and one of the best in the country even if he doesn't have "NBA" written all over him.

Mitchell might not know it, but I wouldn't be surprised if Clark beats him out and we see a starting lineup of Campbell, Bailey, Clark, Watson and... either Johnson as a SR or Cronin lands one of these giant super-athletic Cs.

I think 2022-23 will be the year when a lot of UCLA fans will see what Cronin and his staff (this might be the best assistant staff at UCLA since Crum, Cunningham and Norman, though if someone said Dixon, Keating and Daniels or, um, face it, those teams were good, Gottfried, Romar and Lavin, I wouldn't argue) might be able to pull off with a bunch of tall, hyper-athletes who also have skills and great coaches: Cincinnati on steroids, but much better on offense.

McClendon, Andrews, Bailey, Clark, Watson, Mitchell (if we get him), Etienne (much better athlete than he showed last year) and one of Traore or Bona will be a monster from the athletic standpoint and Campbell will be able to push the pace since he'll have plenty of help at the PG spot. If Clark and Watson show they can knock down the perimeter shot consistently, and Mitchell shows he can do that and improves his handle, the Bruins will be able to play top 5 on both offense and defense.

McClendon isn't a PG, but he's very skilled at advancing the ball in transition and he'll generate and finish fast breaks (he's also an outstanding defender). And Watson might be capable of playing the PG spot (whereas Mitchell is nowhere near there).

Of course, I think Andrews is a future #1 pick and high-level NBA starter as a PG and Bailey can play PG as well as if not better than any of them.

Will Myles Johnson be able to keep up the pace on this team? I guess we'll find out. Mac Etienne was ranked #29 in his class before enrolling at UCLA and I submit that a guy who hasn't played organized basketball in 11 months and has never played college before isn't going to look his best. But he can run the floor with this team.

It's possible that even if Cronin doesn't get a big in 2022, UCLA's backup C for the next 2 years will be the former Big-10 DPOY...