Ray McCallum, Jr. picks...

fak!!! oh no we suck again!!!

Zeigler to CMU to play for his dad also. Nobody will sign with UCLA today but now we can offer some of the kids that have been waiting on us (Burton, Lloyd, or Carlino). We should add some more bodies by the end of next week.

already started and already dissapointed

Jon you should have saved the 'What the F?' post for today.

Not good.

Well, I'd rather lose out to his dad's (small) program than a fellow 'power' school.

1st Trey now Ray... we can all thank Butler for this in part!

Looks like a SHUT OUT for the Bruins!!!! Can't blame the kids for playing for their daddies. Things need to change in Westwood very quickly. Howland needs to learn how to manage the TOP Talent or continue to lose in the Tourney with overachievers. We are at a definite crossroads. I would think that Howland would learn from this seasons' slice of humble pie. He's not exactly the most personable guy in the world.

We need 4 more recruits to fill the roster, because of ALL the defections. Looks like Howland is on the horn, going with plan B, which is NOT good.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Here's your new headline: F McCallum. F Zeigler. F Howland.

hey jon,

any insights as to what Howland has planned? or who we will be offering? anything??

Awful choice by McCallum. How could you chose to stay in that gulag rather then go to UCLA/Arizona/Florida? Seems like a loser mentality to me.

Bruinfaithful - what are you talking about, not good? Russell Westbrook was a plan B, while James Keefe and Nikola Dragovic were plan A kids. The sky isn't falling here. I don't think this is a sign that Howland didn't learn anything from the season. There's no way in a million years that Howland could have established better relationships with McCallum and Zeigler than their own fathers. It's not like we lost McCallum to Arizona or some other school not coached by his dad that was on his list. There are more recruits that are out there and I don't believe Howland is done yet.

We'll see how plan B works out. Russell Westbrook was a "plan B".

Funny how people think diamond in the rough players like Russell Westbrook grow on trees. No, they don't. And if you're banking on that, you're going to be severely disappointed in the next couple of years. The sky may not be falling, but the ship is sinking and everyone is bailing. Elite blue chippers don't want to play here. We couldn't land a top PG after a whole year of watching Anderson. C'mon. Is this still UCLA or CSCUM?

Dragovic was plan A? I thought Spica was plan A and Drago plan B.

It's funny... I used to look forward to BB signing days and give a ho-hum to football. How times have changed.

Too bad, so sad, 'Ruins. McCallum's final 2 were Detroit and Arizona. Why were you guys so worked up in the first place???

Anon @ 2pm:

Exactly, Russell Westbrook was a Plan B. We got lucky he was still on the board that late in the season. Howland didn't get on him until late and only offered him after a well respected Scout practically twisted his arm to take him.

Did I say anything about losing McCallum and Zeigler? I said, "Can't blame the kids for playing for their daddies." It's been well known that these kids were going to play for their daddies for ages. I can certainly understand us not getting these two. But what about the other 96 Top 100 players? Did they also go play for their daddies? Say what you want, but it takes Top Talent to win NC's. You doubt me? Look at the last 8 NC's:

2003 Syracuse
2004 UConn
2005 NC
2006 Florida
2007 Florida
2008 Kansas
2009 NC
2010 Duke

Now name one team from that list that didn't have deep talent at almost EVERY position.

Yes, it takes more than talent. But talent is a key and common ingredient. You also need to be able to do the following:

1.) Recruit Deep Talent Consistently
2.) Develop Talent
3.) Have a Proven System (Offensive and Defensive)
4.) Get kids to buy into the System

I have met BH and he can be a nasty abrasive SOB and this is in public. Imagine what goes on in his "CLOSED" practices. You ever wonder why he has closed practices?

Now, I'm no coach, nor would I ever pretend to be, but I am an EXCELLENT observer. Many times this season it appeared as if BH had lost his team. Many times the effort was lacking. We currently ONLY have 6 players coming back next year, barring anymore defections, and only 3 committed players. That will give us 3-7 Freshman, if we're lucky, in the Fall. You CAN'T win with that much youth.

What BH needs to to NOW and do it quick, is find tough thick skinned kids who have ego's that can handle this nasty abrasive SOB. Or this program is going to fall apart really quick. Now, I have suported BH because he has won, and when you win, people put up with you and give you the benefit of the doubt. But 2-3 more years of this crap and the choice will be clear.

I certainly hope BH can turn it around and if he learns to open up his mind and work on his deficiencies, he's certainly capable. However, if he can't, then UCLA needs to move on, because nobody is above UCLA.

WRONG about Westbrook! Russell Westbrook was not a plan "B". He was plan "A" if Farmar went pro. Farmar going pro = scholi available for Westy

Looks like we're down to Plan "F."

I keep hearing about what a ridiculous athlete Dwayne Poolee Jr. is and how much basketball upside he has, I know he wouldn't help the point guard situation, but why is he not being pursued? Does anyone know, grades, attitude, just not good enough? I would think, at this point (other than Terrence Jones), this is the kind of guy Howland would be looking for. A guy with the athleticism of DeRozan (so I hear, I've never seen him play) who needs to develop.

i'll be f&%#$-ed!!!

Bruin Faithful is right. Howland, as great of a coach as he is, has shortfalls--like everyone else. From talking to people that knew him when he was in Santa Barbara and people who know players now, it seems that Howland can be arrogant and, to put it bluntly, an ass. This is problematic because it will be very difficult to win a national championship without nba-caliber players who stay at least through their junior years.

Anon @ 4:15:

I don't think you would recognize Plan B if it slapped you in the face with a future paternity suit.

Wrong, Farmar and Westbrook didn't even play the same position.

Wrong, Farmar didn't open up a scholie. BH hasn't used up all his scholies since he's been in Westwood.

Wrong, Farmar was Plan A, Collison, a Final Four Proven PG was Plan B, Afflalo was Plan C, Shipp was Plan D, Roll was Plan E, and Westbrook was probably Plan F.

Besides, your timeline is totally off. Do your homework. Westbrook declared to UCLA on April 19th, Farmar anounced he was testing the draft waters on April 20th, and Farmar didn't anounce he was staying in the Draft until June 16th.

http://ucla.scout.com/a.z?s=12&p=2&c=521892&ssf=1&RequestedURL=http%3a%2f%2fucla.scout.com%2f2%2f521892.html

http://www.barrystickets.com/lakers/lakers-players/jordan-farmar.php

Thanks for playing though.

So the sky IS falling? '2-3 more years of this and', and what?...well and we'll have a trend we can actually point to. I'm going to let you guys in on something, big time coaches are generally tough sob's that can be abrasive, off-putting and arbitrary. Big time athletes can be headstrong, self-important and surrounded by people who tell them they're the second coming of MJ and why should they listen to a college coach when they're gonna be one-and-dones anyway. We had a bad year, lotta reasons, some Howland's fault (I don't think he's tried to deny having some substantial responsibility for it), and some factors which couldn't be anticipated unless you take the silly position that the coaching staff should unfailingly be able to look into the heart of every 16-17 year old kid they recruit and see the future. We'll be back. Ever hear of Edgar Lacey? His ole abrasive coach publically criticized his play so he quit the team. His coach? John Wooden. It happens. We've had City Players of the Year come in and do nothing. Bobo ain't the first touted recruit to fail to rise to the occasion. We may have to scratch around next year and the one after but we'll be back and Howland will likely be the coach that takes us there. He's got a proven system that NBA coaches and GM's like. He's put multiple players in a position to play in the NBA and he'll do it again.

Let's focus on the positives: Will the Lakers pick it up for the playoffs and get their groove back?

Dont try and reason with BruinFaithless he is a pain in the ass

What a bunch of know it all bunch of band wagon jumpers. How about three final fours.Great coaches don't coddle their players or the fanatics who think they know so much. It is difficult to get players who qualify for UCLA and the University will no lower requirements to make some of you idiots happy.

It's common knowledge that Westbrook's scholarship opened up because Farmar was staying the NBA draft. He was never coming back when he announced he was "testing the waters."

On April 21st, the day after Farmar and Afflalo made their NBA announcements, Russell Westbrook joined James Keefe and Marco Spica signing NLIs to play at UCLA.

Westbrook was plan B, i.e. he wasn't thought of as good enough to earn a scholarship unless someone bolted. He obviously panned out. But you want to make a living on recruiting leftovers?

I'm wondering how long UCLA fans will argue the three final 4s. It's already getting tiresome. Like beating a dead horse. Is two more lackluster years of sub-par talent and shaky on the court performance enough or has Howland essentially bought himself a lifetime pass in the eye of Bruin fans?

Josh Smith is still a good piece in the recruiting class, any other school would be excited to have him.

To an outsider, this looks just like Toledo's downfall: Playing favorites lost the players' respect for the coach. Once the team is lost, the coach must go.

Westbrook had other offers on the table but was asked to wait by UCLA coaches. He obviously was good enough for a scholarship. I don't get the leftovers remark at all. Howland has recruited top flight kids who panned out, and top flight kids who didn't. And his share of kids who exceeded his and everyone's expectations.

Calimari has the best recruits with little academic hurdles for incoming recruits but has yet to win an NC at Kentucky or before at Memphis. So why hasn't he won it all? The "experts" only have more questions and nothing in the way of answers.

Faithless:

Anon@4:15? I see you finally found your identity.

Bibs:

And.....what are the admission requirements like at Duke?

Shoot, even Kentucky got a 4.3 GPA student in Knight. There are PLENTY of UCLA players out there in the top 100. Much easier to recruit eligible BB players to UCLA than FB.

Duke, oh yeah Duke, they've got like 14 players in the NBA. Man oh man! UCLA? uh...gee 14 also. Wow, ain't that something? Duke and UCLA lead all Division 1 schools with 14 apiece. Guess Howland can't really be faulted with preparing players for the pros. try again. Keerist guys, even John Wooden was barely above .500 in '59! He'd been coaching at UCLA for over a decade.

Dont believe the hype Deonte Burton is signing with Long Beach State sorry ALCU maybe next time.

MichaelRyerson:

So, your measure of success is how many players you put in the NBA? LMFAO. I guess Steve Lavin is ALL WORLD then? I thought it was about NCs my friend. I could give a F how many players we put in the NBA. Take those 14 and give me 1 NC, gladly.

You kidding me. Now you want to compare John Wooden's UCLA to today's UCLA? When Wooden got to UCLA there was NO program pal. Shoot, UCLA had barely been around for over 20 years then. UCLA is now a WORLD renown BB powerhouse. Wooden had to win with slow white local midgets. PLEASE!!!!

You sound like a Lavin apologist and supporter. You still talking about how those 5 Sweet 16's in 6 years compare to Coach K? How's that working out for you?

I applaud your BH faith MicaelRyerson, but the reality is the program is in horrible shape and as CEO of Bruin basketball BH is the only person to blame. I've never seen an exodus like the one this year with the Bruins. The excuses, the excuses.... "it's the one and dones", "wooden was .500 one year", "Calipari hasn't won a championship", "it's the academic standards", "BH puts players in the NBA". STOP IT ALREADY!

The one and done rule is not exclusive to UCLA as some of you seem to think. Watching Bruin basketball this year was agonizing, even though there were bright spots like TH and RN. Quit hating on Calipari...He took MEMPHIS to the damn championship game, and in one year took a Kentucky team that didn't make the tourney in 09 and lost it's leading scorer to the elite eight. And most of you forget that of the 14 players from UCLA in the NBA 7(half) were recruited by and played for Lavin, and most of you think Lavin was the worst coach in NCAA history. (whatch what he does at SJU?)

The bottom line is that BH has failed to fill the voids left by the departure of his assistants. The recruiting has been horrible the last 3 years, add to that the perplexing Dragovic expiriment which caused the departure of Moser and probably caused his own team to call in to question his decision making. How do you explain keeping Dragovic on the team for 4 years and then dismissing Bobo, who by all accounts came in and worked his ass off to get in shape after 2 years. The team is flawed, no legit pg, no legit post presence, no legit threat from outside, and not a whole lot of athlecticsm on the team. To improve on next years record either JA or LJ need to be effective at pg, Jsmith needs to be able to be effective and play at least 20 mpg, all of the backcourt players plus TH need to work on becoming more effective from outside and massive improvement is needed from the free throw line.

So I think a little concern is justified, the ship is not sinking but it does have several leaks that need to be addressed before we can set sail for a NCAA championship again. That is what we do at UCLA right!

Okay, let me cut to the chase, you guys are pussies. my comments were largely predicated on earlier comments. if my comments didn't specifically address your personal take on the situation then I probably wasn't talking to you. yes Howland is the 'ceo' if that is the tortured metaphor that you like. I don't think I excused him but if you don't think some of the factors this year were unforeseen and couldn't have been anticipated by coach K or Dean Smith or John Wooden himself you don't know spit about Division 1 basketball. Further, basketball is a small sport, meaning there are few players involved at any one time, two or three significant recruits, one or two pleasant surprises out of the two star guys and voila we're back. our situation this year is NOT unique. look around. and yes our ability to place guys in the NBA is a big deal. just exactly what do you think these high school kids are looking for? What attracted Kevin Love to UCLAS (and Howland)? or Jrue Holiday? or Collison or Westbrook? We've got a couple of good looking kids coming in and some nice pieces in place waiting for them. Maybe you guys should look into getting the UofNM Lobos feed and buying some gear.

Michael(sensative)Ryerson,

What are the unforseen factors? We knew we wouldn't have a PG in 09 when we signed Holliday! We knew JA wasn't the answer last year! He should have known Gordon had issues before he recruited him! We knew Bobo wasn't Patrick Ewing the day we signed him! Injuries happen to everybody! We knew Drago was what he was, a streaky shooter who can't play defense. Yes we've had a great run putting players in the NBA and we went to 3 straight final fours so why are we having such a hard time recruiting a PG the last two years? The ENTIRE situation is on BH, that's why he's called the HEAD coach. ?????