Remember, with the 10 a.m. tip-off for Saturday’s game against Notre Dame, it means an early in-game chat.
Here is the second set of answers:

In the days leading up to signing day, did it seem like the coaches knew that the recruiting class would be stronger that most expected or was yesterday a surprise?
Somewhere between. The coaches were confident about several players, but three was enough uncertainty regarding hasiak, carroll and Su’a-Filo to make them squirm a bit. I know they were watching them on television and waiting for the announcement because they were unsure.

Who is the most improved player, up to today, from last year’s roster on the basketball team? Freshman?
I’m going with Alfred Aboya. He was a foul-prone reserve last season and now has turned into a solid inside player who doesn’t get in foul trouble much. He also is bringing tremendous leadership. I think if UCLA ran a few more plays for him, his offensive game could develop more.

What is the recruiting status on Branden Warner? Will he sign with UCLA?
He says he will sign, but he needs to resolve an outstanding bill. He also needs to pass a couple of classes to be eligible to play at any Division I school, but if he gets everything done, he said his is going to UCLA.

Can you provide a brief contrast between Neuheisal and Dorrell when it comes to recruiting style? The whole UCLA staff should be congratulated.
I will make it as brief as possible: Neuheisel likes recruiting and likes competing in recruiting. I never got the idea Dorrell embraced either.

Are you surprised at the large disparity in Rivals’ #14 ranking vs Scout’s #4 ranking for UCLA?
Not really, because I know how subjective those things really are. Plus, I’m sure each site has a different formula, and weighs certain things (like number of players signed) in different ways.

Did you read this story that came out a couple of days ago from Associated Press? They reviewed the top 50 recruits from 2002-2004 and it pretty much validates your position that the star ranking system is bogus.
I was watching a tape of Rutgers’ press conference from signing day, and the coach was talking about recruiting rankings. He said, and I will paraphrase, talent evaluation is what coaches do for a living, and their success rate is 65 to 70 percent, so for the non-experts, the success rate for predicting how a recruit will develop is much less.

On the Lexus Gaunlet show after the game, Petros was ranting about how crazy the recruiting process was and that Internet reporters are fat slobs that should leave these kids alone. So is Petros trying to tell you to go on diet?
I write for a newspaper, so was he talking about me?

What was the biggest Surprise of this recruiting season? Was it landing a couple top lineman? skill players? Was it the effort the staff had in recruiting? or something else…
To me, it was UCLA closing with five commitments on signing day. I don’t think UCLA was in the running for five players on signing day in Karl Dorrell’s five years. And the top surprise, to me, was UCLA landing offensive lineman Xavier Su’a-Filo. That didn’t happen in year’s past. It was a remarkable day.

Would coach Karl have yielded the same recruiting results this year as Coach Rick?
Doubtful, because Dorrell would have been explaining why UCLA was 4-8 or worse, and how his job was still secure heading into his seventh season with one year of more than seven wins.