WIP UCLA

CHANGES

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Next we look at the UCLA Bruins who finished 5th in the final season of the Pac-12.  We were one of the youngest, least experience teams in the country and at time we played like it.

After several years of relative roster stability, last season was almost a total remake of the roster.  This off-season there is a lot of change, as well, but the new players are mostly transfers, not freshmen.

GRADUATING

Player	Games	Starts	Minutes	Points	Rebounds	Assists	Notes
Kenneth Nwuba	33	2	8	1	2	0.2
.

IN THE DRAFT OR TURNING PRO

Player	Games	Starts	Minutes	Points	Rebounds	Assists	Can Return?
Adem Bona	33	33					Isn't expected to.

TRANSFERRING OUT

Player	Games	Starts	Minutes	Points	Rebounds	Assists	Notes	Destination
Ilane Fibleuil	25	0	6	1	2	0.2
Will McCLendon	33	4	29	4	3.3	1.1
Jan Vide	24	0	7	2	0.8	0.5		Loyola Marymount
.

RETURNING

Player	Games	Starts	Minutes	Points	Rebounds	Assists	FG%	3Pt%	A/TO	Class	Recruiting  Stars	Recruiting Rank
Dylan Andrews	32	32	35	13	2.2	3.7	40%	33%	1.9	Jr	4	42
Adem Bona
Sebastian Mack	33	33	27	12	3.6	1.6	39%	28%	1.0	So	4	66
Lazar Stefanovic	33	33	35	12	6.1	1.6	39%	40%	1.5	Sr	3	Unranked
Berke Buyuktuncel	26	8	16	5	2.5	0.4	39%	30%	0.5	So	4	36
Aday Mara	28	8	10	4	1.9	0.5	44%		0.8	So	5	15
Brandon Williams	32	14	17	3	2.2	0.5	36%	25%	1.4	So	4	70
Devin Williams	10	0	3	1	0.7	0.0	63%		0.0	So	4	81

In a normal year, Sebastian Mack would have come off the bench.  Instead he had a lot of responsibility dropped on him.  He handled it very well for a freshman, but it was still all probably too much for him.

RECRUITS

Skyy Clark was considered a high major recruit out of high school and was offered by Kentucky.  He spent one season at Illinois and his second at Louisville.  He was the leading scorer on one of the worst teams in a major conference.  

In his last game with the Cardinals he scored 36 against NC State shooting 12 of 17 and going 7 of 9 on three-pointers.  He had 5 other games of more than 20 points.  

Kobe Johnson was a two-year starter and considered USC's best defensive player.

Eric Dailey, Jr. may be the most athletic player at the 4 position at UCLA since Ed O'Bannon (before the knee injury).

"A 6-foot-8 forward, Dailey can play both inside and out. Last season, he was the only player in the Big 12 Conference to finish in the top five among freshmen in points (9.3), rebounds (4.8) and assists (1.5) per game despite coming off the bench as a sixth man over the second half of the season to maximize mismatches.

"Dailey made 33.3% of his three-pointers and shot 49.6% overall and notched two double-doubles. His departure came after Oklahoma State fired coach Mike Boynton.

According to 247 Tyler Bilodeau "can shoot from deep, in the midrange and is tough around the basket. Offensively he's a match-up problem -- too big and skilled for most opposing fours to defend both with his back to the basket and facing up. At 6-9 and 220 pounds, he'd even be able to play the post if you went smaller and he could really abuse opposing post defenders with his ability to go outside. He's just a decent athlete and defender, but did fine defensively against power forwards in the Pac-12 this last season."

William Kyle averaged 1.6 blocks per game.  Kyle was Summit League defensive player of the year. Kyle blocked 1.6 shots per game last season while shooting a league-best 62.3% on the way to also being selected a member of the league’s first team.

Here's what BRO has to say about Harris:

"He's probably one of the most under-the-radar players to enter the transfer portal this offseason. He's ranked the 275th transfer nationally by 247Sports, but with all due respect, we think that ranking misses the mark. In his junior season, he averaged 14.3 points from the field while shooting 45% from three. That's good enough to be the No. 3 three-point shooter in the country for the 2023-2024 season. He can get off his shot off the dribble, the pull-up and on a quick catch-and-shoot, with deep range. He's well-built, strong, tough, and is a good defender. We've likened him to David Singleton, but more athletic and with a more well-rounded game. He's also been through the wars, starting his career at Gonzaga after being a four-star high school recruit in 2020, to then transferring to LMU and earning a starting spot. He's also 23 years old, so there's maturity with the experience -- making him a very good fit for UCLA and Mick Cronin."

Harris is listed as a senior, but he will have two years of eligibility left. 

Some things concern me about Harris: 

• He was LMU's leading scorer, and yet he only started 13 games.
• He attemped 261 shots and only had 25 assists.  
• He had 46 turnovers to go with those 25 assists.

CONCLUSIONThis year's roster rebuild is quite different from last off-season.  We have mostly upgraded in scoring, shooting, athleticism, and experience.  

Torvick projects UCLA as the #8 team in the country and the #2 team in the B1G, behind only Purdue.
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MICK CRONIN, UCLA


Profile: One of the better coaches in college basketball, though one whose name doesn’t always resonate widely in that context, Cronin, 52, seemed like a strange fit at UCLA, taking over a glamour program after leading gritty Cincinnati for years. But it’s worked for the most part. UCLA was bad this season, but went to the Final Four right away under Cronin, during the Bubble season. But how does Cronin work long-term with the sort of talent you have to get at UCLA? How does the NIL set-up stack up in L.A.? If UCLA doesn’t hit the ground running in the Big Ten, would Cronin look to move again?

Style of Play: He’s always been a defensive coach, teams built on physicality, rebounding and toughness. That fell off some at UCLA this season, but the year prior it was No. 2 nationally in defensive efficiency.