Answers, Part XIII

We know Cal's facilities are the worst. My question is where do UCLA's facilities rank in the Pac-10? In your opinion, what's the one area UCLA needs to invest more in?(Locker rooms, Visitors, Storage...)
UCLA ranks in the middle of the Pac-10. One thing UCLA needs to figure out is how to get the players to watch film in the same place the coaches watch film and work. Currently, the players usually watch film in the Acosta Center while the coaches sit in the Morgan Center. So, if questions arise during film, of if they want to talk about what they say, they have to walk three or four minutes to visit the coaches, who may or may not be in their office.

Why has Micah Kia fallen so far off the map? At the beginning of the season, he was said to be the one bright spot, possible NFL caliber player on the line. Now he seems to be struggling just to hold his spot against true freshman.
I think the coaching staff put it best last week when they said Kia is back in the lineup because he decided he wanted to play again. What does that tell you about his approach?

Do you recall any top basketball recruits during the time you covered UCLA which everyone thought was UCLA's to lose and UCLA ended up losing? Who was the biggest fish that we had and lost?
The one I think of is Malik Hairston, who went to Oregon. For a while, everyone I talked to thought he was going to UCLA, yet he wound up a Duck.

how do you feel about a thoroughbred racehorse (Dohnster) being named after you? Do you intend to go out and watch him when he makes his debut? If he wins, how do you anticipate you're going to celebrate? BTW...good luck!
I actually went to watch him run Thursday at Santa Anita. He finished fourth in his debut, and it was a nice finish. I'm told he's more of a distance horse, but he debuted at 6.5 furlongs. And it was exhilarating watching him come from ninth at the top of the stretch to get nosed out of third place.
And the friend who named him after me was very nice and generous and good-natured since I bugged him for more than a year to do so. And it I can't want for him to run again. I thought about posting something about it on the blog about it, but thought it was too self-serving and decided against it.

in your years of covering ucla basketball. whats your favorite moment? and why?
I didn't know it at the time, but in looking back my favorite moment was when UCLA traveled to play St. Johns' and good beat badly by a bad St. John's team. In hindsight, it showed me how far the program needed to come, and gave me perspective into the rebuilding job Howland did.

In the stats published in the paper after the Stanford game it was listed in the individual passing totals that UCLA's "team" was 0 for 2 in passing. How does this happen? What kind of play results in the team getting individual passing stats?
A team pass is when a quarterback spikes the ball to stop the clock.

Where do we currently stand with Teo? I read that Norm Chow will be visiting the school next week. Hopefully to recieve a commitment from Hillard... and Teo.
Chow will be in Hawaii checking in on some recruits next week during the bye. I think Hilliard could commit before that, but I don't like UCLA's chances with Te'o.

How is it going with Texas tech commit Joel Gray, is he still looking at ucla.
I haven't heard much about him lately. I don't think there is much to it right now.

Were the commitments of Allmond, Sermons, and Hasiak expected by the coaching staff? Since some quality players have been trickling in, does this change the outlook for this class? Does the team staying competitive the past month have any bearing at all?
I do not think the commitments were a surprise, especially in the case of Hasiak and Allmond. Sermons wasn't a big surprise, although the timing was a bit quicker than I think they expected. I don't think it changes the outlook of the class, and staying competitive has very little to do with it.