The Bruins are Back

Accuse me of hyperbole, being a homer, whatever your choice of words, you’re probably right.  But I’m not wrong when I say the UCLA Bruins basketball program is back in a big way.  Weeks after a Sports Illustrated article came out exposing the seedy underbelly of the Ben Howland era, somehow the Bruins shook off the PR nightmare to land the best recruiting class in the country.

It used to be that getting a great recruiting class meant good things were coming in 2-3 years.  These days in college hoops the best players depart for the NBA as soon as possible, meaning many times the best players in the country are freshman.  And UCLA brought in a slew of “diaper dandies” culminating on Monday with the signing of big man Tony Parker. 

Parker joins other top recruits Shabazz Muhammad, Kyle Anderson, and Jordan Adams giving UCLA 4 of the top 40 rated freshman in this year’s crop.  Muhammad is the true gem of the class, rated as either the number 1 or 2 high school player in the country depending on whether you believe more in rivals.com or ESPN’s rankings.

Either way Muhammad brings athleticism, skill, and most importantly, creativity on offense.  He has the ability to take over the scoring load by himself.  Howland’s teams have historically been predictable and sluggish offensively, and Muhammad is the rare wing scorer that can take a game on his shoulders even if the offensive system is sputtering.

Anderson is the other true blue chip recruit in this class, though Adams and Parker should both compete for heavy amounts of playing time right away.  Along with Muhammad, Anderson was considered at least a top 5 player in the nation.

If Muhammad is the slasher and scorer, Anderson is the table setter.  A silky if methodical athlete, Anderson is a 6’7” point-forward with elite court vision and passing skills, not to mention a good mid-range offensive game, rare amongst today’s young players.

These fab freshmen would be enough by themselves to elevate UCLA back to the NCAA tournament and even greater heights it would seem, though they won’t be filling up a bare cupboard.  Still remaining on the Bruins roster is the talented but forever out of shape Josh Smith- a behemoth of a man for the college game.  If his conditioning ever matches up with his ability he can dominate college basketball. 

The brothers Travis and David Wear proved to be solid post players that should improve in their second year with the school after transferring from North Carolina.  With the Freshman Parker, Smith, and the Wears UCLA will possess a rare amount of size and versatility in the post that should make them a nightmare to matchup with. 

Then slide over to the wing where Muhammad should be an instant star, and will be accompanied there by the talented guard/forward Tyler Lamb.  Anderson will likely play a lot of point guard, and perhaps Norman Powell will be able to build on his decent freshman campaign of a year ago to provide depth at the guard position.  Adams will also slide between guard and forward providing great athleticism and scoring punch. 

What success is really going to boil down to in Westwood is Coaching and expectations.  Given the talent on this team there’s no reason to think they aren’t capable of making a run at the elite 8 and maybe even beyond.  We’ve seen the importance of freshmen in changing the landscape of college hoops and maybe UCLA has enough young talent to continue that trend.  But after all the dysfunction that has plagued this program over the past 2-3 years, can we as fans really expect this team to reach its potential?

That’s where the coaching comes in.  At one point Howland seemed to be one of the truly elite coaches in America.  He made Pittsburgh into a power, and then swiftly rebuilt UCLA into a juggernaut that reached 3 consecutive final fours producing NBA stars (and a slew of other solid NBA players) like Russell Westbrook and Kevin Love along the way.  

You would think that type of success would buy a little leeway and some more time to get things right when they go astray.  But the expectations at UCLA are always sky high, and things certainly have veered off course recently. 

Howland’s recruiting haul is both a blessing and a curse.  It should, if things go according to plan and potential, once again restore the luster to the Bruins program.  If, however, UCLA underachieves it could cost the man that so recently restored Bruin Pride his job in Westwood.