Weekly Q&A

Tyler Honeycutt, Reeves Nelson, Josh Smith: Enough to get UCLA to the Final Four in 2012?

Are we still recruiting right now for 2010? Is there a chance we can still pick up Hernderson from USC? And are there any recruits left for 2010 that we're trying to get?

At Saturday's BB game, Neuheisal looked pretty busy hosting a lot of people. Do you know if they were 2011 recruits, our 2010 signees, or a combo?

When practice opens next October, what will Howland's defensive strategy be?

Honeycutt has put up some impressive stat lines - this may sound ridiculous but what are the chances he jumps after this year? (especially given the possible nba lockout)

Hi Jon,
Even with the strong recruiting class, our DT situation still looks pretty thin. Do you have an idea about who starts, which freshmen should get significant playing time, and which current players might switch over from other positions to DT? Thanks in advance.

Dont know if it has asked before, Whoever suppose to play USC in the pac 10 tourney will get a free advance to next round? or does everyone move up a spot.

or does everyone move up a spot? how would it work

Jon, can you break the pod casts into smaller segments? I 'm sure more people would listen to them that way, including those who check site from work

Will Lee move to the 2 and L. Jones start at the 1 next year? Do you like Lee as 1 or 2?

I think there was some confusion in the "slap-on-the-wrist" topic on what the NCAA can and cannot do so I was hoping you could clear it up. Which of the following are possible, possible but never used and just not possible.

1. Vacate regular season wins.
2. Vacate post-season Bowl Wins
3. Vacate Pac-10 titles.
4. Vacate AP National Championships.
5. Vacate BCS National Championships.
6. Take back Heisman Trophies.
7. Scholarship bans
8. Television bans
9. Making the Trojan band play Celine Dion songs only.
10. Recruiting punishments (what types)
11. Any other sanctions you can think of.

Also, can you explain what "vacate" means as far as if it changes the record books to wins for one team and/or loses for USC.

Now that Lexus has stopped sponsoring, does the "Gauntlet" still exist in trophy or spirit, matter and (or) been won for the year?

Can you please explain to me how Cal's academic standards drop to qualify athletes easier then UCLA? If I remember right ,certain players couldn't get into UCLA, but were able to enroll at Cal? Lynch, Jackson, etc

Jon, How much are the coaches concerned about depth at QB? Between C Tunney, N Crissman and T Landers - what do the coaches feel about their potential to contribute?

Jon, Can you explain WHY CBH thinks the Bruins have a better chance of winning w/ Drago in the starting lineup? Assuming Nelson is back next week, why wouldn't they be better off playing a Lane/Moser combo? Between these two, wouldn't they be able to do ONE of the following: defend, rebound, score or pass? I am totally mystified here...I know he's a senior but jeeeez....

What's the real reason behind coach Lake's departure? It sounds like he was well liked by the players; is there something we don't know?

With us being in such dire need of defensive tackles, I thought the idea of moving Darius Savage from OL to DT would be an intriguing move. I noticed on his bio that he played on the defensive line in high school. Has there been any discussion of this and/or what do think about the potential move?

Can you also answer some of the unanswered questions from the podcast Q & A? Thanks.

Mr. Gold, a few weeks ago someone posted a question that was not answered. The question involved Coach Carroll's perception of Coach Neuheisel as a great recruiter but a very weak head coach. The same question was forwarded to Scott Wolf and he replied that Coach Carroll did not respect Neuheisel's coaching abilities but on the other hand he did not like Coach Harbaugh and Coach Weiss but he respected their coaching abilities. Do you know why Coach Carroll did not like Neusheisel? I don't recall reading or hearing any type of tension between both of them until Neuheisel was named head coach. Do you know what Neuheisel said or did for Carroll to show almost no respect to Neuheisel? Thank you in advance.

Jon I know you don't follow our baseball team but can I atleast get the score?I hate having to go to the wolf mans site.Although I get a chuckle out of how bad those sucers treat him!

Where does Howland go from here? Do you have any reason to be optimitic after that embarassing season??

Do you think they will move Mike Harris to LT?

Hi Jon,
Who are UCLA's top five recruiting targets for 2011 starting with the most important one?

Since you played for TO, what do you think of the Marmonte expansion that brings in Boni and Oaks

Have you given any thought to posting all your answers on a single day, like Dohn used to do on Fridays? I always knew to look for the answers to the week's questions on Friday and it made reading everything a lot easier.

Is there any reason to think Jerime Anderson is going to improve next year? Do you think his play is a reflection of the injuries he suffered early in the season (and over the summer, if I recall correctly) or his lack of work over the summer?

Westbrook dedicated himself 200% the summer after his frosh year and he came back a beast. Wasn't that the plan for the 08 class? Bobo slimmed down, got into better shape, and worked on his outside shot, but I didn't see too much off-season growth from Lee and Anderson. What's your take on what guys should be doing during the summer and did the 08 class do enough?

Jon,

What do you feel is a bigger recruiting factor - Howland's reputation of a slowdown offense or Howland's success in getting players to the NBA?

There is no doubt in my mind that UCLA would have won another title if there was no such thing as "one and done". How can college basketball get rid of this rule? Expand it to three years like college football (is that true?), get rid of it all together? Let kids who don't get drafted come back? I hate this rule and believe it is ruining college basketball, which is such a better sport than the professional game (which is more entertainment than sport). What is your opinion on how to fix this problem?

Can you please include a couple of questions/answers on your Weekly Answers before the "After the jump"? That is, when I look at the blog's main index, sometimes I lose track of which Weekly Answers I've already read, because I'll come back several times throughout the day, and seeing a couple of questions would be helpful.

i asked this question about 3 or 4 weeks ago, but dont remember ever getting an response and if you did i apologize for asking again but here it goes....in regards to our 'pipeline' Do you think the Crenshaw kids feel that going to UCLA in Westwood is a way out of the hood or do they really grow up liking UCLA and feel that its a football power?

Sounds like the Mamba LOVED his time at Cal's jr day. In his interviews i never hear him mention USC yet you feel they are a major threat for his signature. Pullard signing with SC hurts us too, so who do you think he signs with next Feb?

Why are we thinking about NIT with such bad season? Would NIT dumb enough to have UCLA?

How fat has Ben gotten since his playing days at UCLA?

One major issue that comes up when I debate about Pac-10 competition with other conference fans, is the perceived notion that UCLA's talent goes undeveloped. Sure we have Aron Afflalo and Maurice Jones-Drew doing great things, but there's this perception that UCLA under-performs even though they have great talent. What do you think is the secret to a player's growth and development during college?

with all the starting spots we have up for grab this off season, how come none of the incoming freshmen are enrolling in early? I think only Yandell is the only one coming early.

Do you think the coaches might consider moving Ayers to mike since he is our best LB?

More playing time this year, owa or keenan?

WHats up with all of this talk about tuney? wouldnt he have a scholly if he deserved one?

Do you have inside info that barr will be tried at strong safety or is it a gut feeling?

What's a "Laker"?

where will the bruins be palying while pauley is under construction?

What had more of a factor on drago's play this year.. his legal issues or his increased offensive responsibilities considering he is more fit as a roll player...?

Do you think that last years defensive schemes were truly what coach Bullough wanted to run, or did CRN have the a big hand in what was done on the defensive side of the ball???

Why did BoBo only play a few minutes against Oregon? What are the odds on Bobo transfering?

So you saw the two Oregon games in person – do the white on white/black on black uniforms (player names in the same color as the jersey) look any better/more readable in person than they do on TV?

Do you think any of our underclassmen will test the NBA draft waters this year (putting aside whether they are actually ready)?

If you had to pick walk-ons to play on offense and defense (in football) who would they be?

Where do you think D' Anthony Thomas signs?

Do you think Brian Price should be a better prospect than suh or mccoy?

How about getting Ben Olson to take some Q&A's?

Jon, Aaron Hester is an enigma at corner. He failed to win his job back after returning from injury even though Sheldon Price seemed lost out there. Why couldn't Hester get back on the field? Is he any good? Does he project as a starter next year?

Whatever happened to the UBTA Group?

Jon,
A question that came up in another post. Do you think it's the coaches first priority to win now or prepare the student-athlete for his profession - whether it's the NBA or NFL? I know ideally it's both but one has to come first.

Tim Tebow who has only run the spread may very well drop to the middle of the draft because of it, obviously Urban Meyer was focused completely on winning college games.
Meanwhile, Jimmy Clausen from Notre Dame and Everson Griffen and Charles Brown from USC will go high even after mediocre play in college due to the pro-style offense and defense they've learned.

is the team going to run the 40 this spring? if so when?? Also, can you post the 40 times for us please?

Jon, in Q&A 3, you mentioned that people who don't believe Rago should be playing "don't have all the facts". Can we put this to rest finally by stating those facts? I show Rago shooting .288 from the 3pt-line, 1 agp, 4 rpg, and only 11 ppg despite averaging (i think) well over 30 mpg. Also, his defense has been the worst on the team which is probably his biggest weakness.

With Carter moving to DT and Love moving to OLB(THANK YOU NEU!!), does this assure Ayers a MLB spot and does Barr come in as OLB or SS??

Are we looking at any decent QB prospects like Ryan Kasdorf to walk on?

Where do you think Landry Field ends up in the draft?