I spoke to UCLA men’s basketball coach Ben Howland the other day about what his team will look like for the upcoming season. A dominant theme was youth an inexperience since UCLA will have nine freshmen and sophomores.
“I don’t remember having a team this young,” Howland said. “I guess we had a real young team at Northern Arizona, but we had some junior college guys. This is a real young team.”

Here is a story about former UCLA basketball player Ed O’Bannon being part of a lawsuit against the NCAA.
Also, former Bruins guard Jrue Holiday signed with the Philadelphia 76ers.

UCLA received a non-binding oral commitment from safety Tony Jefferson of Eastlake High of Chula Vista. I will have more later.

UCLA hoops center Drew Gordon is over the knee injury that knocked him out of Under-19 national team tryouts and is playing at the men’s gym.

Although former UCLA wing Josh Shipp has a lucrative offer (more than $250,000 per season) to play in Italy, he still has not signed with anyone.

UCLA’s season opener against San Diego State at the Rose Bowl on Sept. 5 will kick offat 4:30 p.m. It will be televised FS West.

Here is how former UCLA players fared in the Las Vegas Summer League:
Alfred Aboya averaged .6 points, one rebound and eight minutes in five games for the Mavericks.
Luc Richard Mbah a Moute averaged 7.5 points and six rebounds in four games for the Bucks.
Darren Collison averaged 18.5 points and 3.8 assists in four games for the Hornets.
Josh Shipp averaged 4.4 points and 2.4 rebounds in four games for the Bulls
Despite being on the roster, Lorenzo Mata-Real did not play for the Bulls.

Here is one more thing from my inbox during my vacation. It is the UC Board of Regents approving the Pauley Pavilion project:

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Back from vacation and sifting through my inbox. Freshman running back/defensive back Dalton Hilliard had surgery last week because of a “loose body” floating in his right knee. UCLA believes the injury was a pre-existing condition, and right now it will be tough for Hilliard to be 100 percent for the start of training camp next month.
Also, there were some date changes to UCLA’s Pacific 10 Conference schedule, and those are listed below.

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Troy Aikman, who back in December was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame, will be enshrined in South Bend, Ind. on Saturday.

The enshrinement will be televised by CBS College Sports Network beginning at 5:30 PST. ESPN360.com will also carry a live stream of the ceremony.