Women’s water polo trying for UCLA’s 109th NCAA title

Posted on May 11, 2013 by Jack Wang

UCLA has been stuck at 108 NCAA championships since December 2011. At 4 p.m. today, the women’s water polo team will try to keep their drought-snapping shot alive, facing two-loss Stanford in the national semifinals. You can watch the game, held at Harvard’s Blodgett Pool, via live stream.

The Bruins (27-6) have met the Cardinal three times this season, losing by three, seven and four points. UCLA leads the country with seven women’s water polo championships, but hasn’t reached a title game since 2009. Stanford is aiming for its third straight trophy.

UPDATE: Stanford ended UCLA’s season with a 5-3 win. The Cardinal will face USC on Sunday for the title.

How often will Kyle Anderson play point guard?

Posted on May 10, 2013 by Jack Wang

Before he lost his job, Ben Howland said Kyle Anderson would become a full-time point guard — at least on offense.

Over a month after UCLA made its coaching change, that’s no longer the case. Filling in the void left by Larry Drew II is still paramount, but the Bruins may help themselves more by utilizing the multi-talented Anderson all over the court.

“We’ve got to figure out what’s going to be best for the Kyle,” head coach Steve Alford said. “We’ve got to keep all that open as far as how many different ways we can play him.” Continue reading →

UCLA to play in November’s Las Vegas Invitational

Posted on May 9, 2013 by Jack Wang

Fans who enjoyed Vegas during the Pac-12 Tournament won’t have to wait until March to visit again.

UCLA officially announced today that it will play in the 13th annual Las Vegas Invitational on Nov. 28 and 29. The Orleans Arena will host the Bruins, Nevada, Northwestern and Missouri. UCLA also has a nonconference game scheduled against the Tigers.

The regional round will take place the weekend prior, with UCLA hosting two teams. Those matchups will be against Chattanooga, IUPUI, Morehead State or Gardner-Webb.

Q&A: Former UCLA infielder Jermaine Curtis

Posted on May 8, 2013 by Jack Wang

For a little over a week, Jermaine Curtis got a taste of his dream. The former UCLA third baseman and All-Pac-10 honorable mention was called up to the St. Louis Cardinals on April 26, after the team placed Matt Adams on the 15-day disabled list.

The 25-year-old took just two at-bats until he was sent back down to Triple-A Memphis on Sunday, but expressed nothing but excitement during his first major-league stint. Curtis’ career hasn’t unfolded the way he imagined when he left UCLA early in 2008 as a fifth-round draft pick. He was ranked the No. 31 prospect in the organization, and was even demoted to Double-A a year ago.

I caught up with him over the weekend for a look at the life of a ballplayer on the edge of the majors and minors.

Q: What was it like finally getting called up?

It’s been amazing, seeing basically baseball heaven. Talking to future Hall of Famers such as Carlos Beltran and Matt Holliday. I haven’t been able to play much, but I’ve learned a lot. It’s something I take to heart a lot. Continue reading →

Mike Moser to Oregon; Allerik Freeman to Baylor

Posted on May 7, 2013 by Jack Wang

A pair of former Bruins found new homes today.

Most notable in the Pac-12 landscape is Mike Moser, who reportedly committed to Oregon as a graduate transfer out of UNLV. The 6-foot-8 forward played less than five minutes per game at UCLA in 2009-10 before heading to Las Vegas. With the Runnin’ Rebels, he averaged 14 points and 10.5 rebounds as a sophomore before a disappointing junior year — one that saw his minutes reduced due to both injury and the role of star freshman Anthony Bennett.

Moser will graduate from UNLV and play immediately for the Ducks, who lost three seniors from their Pac-12 tournament-winning squad. He also considered Gonzaga and Washington.

Freshman guard Allerik Freeman, who signed a national letter of intent with UCLA in November, is heading to Baylor after being released from his commitment two weeks ago. Freeman was the highest-ranked uncommitted recruit after No. 1 prospect Andrew Wiggins.

UCLA football post-spring: Defense and special teams

Posted on May 5, 2013 by Jack Wang

Defensive line

Can UCLA’s defensive front survive the loss of a first-round pick — the team’s first since 2006? Cassius Marsh, pegged as a third-round talent in some early projections, now succeeds new Green Bay Packer Datone Jones as the Bruins’ best defensive end. By most observations, he’s matured since 2011, a year that saw him storm out of spring practice and later suspended two games for an October brawl at Arizona.

“Sometimes, he may stop on that line, but not over it,” said defensive line coach Angus McClure. “I call it a ‘controlled insanity.’ You want to go to that line but you don’t want to go over it. Certainly, he’s learned to manage it.”

The rest of the line, however, is a muddled with injuries. Owamagbe Odighizuwa and Ellis McCarthy both sat out spring while rehabbing from their respective hip and knee surgeries, while nose tackle Brandon Tualiaupupu tore his ACL in mid-April. Continue reading →

Early look at Bruins in the 2014 NFL draft

Posted on May 2, 2013 by Jack Wang

The 2014 NFL draft is less than a year away! Depending on who does or doesn’t declare, the Bruins could have two first-round picks for the first time since 1981.

Here’s a roundup of some too-early mock drafts/prospect rankings.

Sports Illustrated:
Brett Hundley — No. 8
Anthony Barr — No. 20

Chris Burke is higher on Hundley than anyone else listed here, and is also lower on Barr — whom he calls a potential “Von Miller-type” should he be drafted by a 4-3 team. The analyst does hedge a bit on the No. 20: “Odds are, in the long run, that Barr might be off the board well before this next April.” Continue reading →

Craig Lee scores qualifying ACT

Posted on May 2, 2013 by Jack Wang

Running back Craig Lee has received an ACT score that qualifies him to attend UCLA, according to Edward Lewis of BruinSportsReport. The four-star recruit probably won’t make too much of a dent in the Bruins’ backfield committee this upcoming season, but his arrival bodes well for the position’s future. The 6-foot, 188-pound back rushed for 20 touchdowns and over 1,700 yards as a senior, and was rated top-25 nationally at his position by Rivals.com.

And early UCLA commit, Lee had decided not to sign his letter of intent until qualifying test scores arrived.

UCLA football post-spring: Offense

Posted on April 30, 2013 by Jack Wang

Quarterback

Be happy that you have one of the best quarterbacks in the conference. Brett Hundley isn’t flawless, but not many players in the country have the same level of tantalizing potential. (I don’t think he’ll leave, but if Hundley declares for the 2014 draft, SI already has him as the No. 8 pick.)

A superlative freshman campaign — 3,745 yards, 29 touchdowns against 11 picks — proved that the 6-foot-3 dual threat is the quarterback the Bruins have long sought. Perhaps the biggest knock on him was his decision-making, whether that meant not throwing the ball away when he needed to or not sliding at the right time. In spring, he looked like he corrected some of that, drawing cheers from his teammates once when he slid on a scramble.

He also took 52 sacks last season — second-most in college football, and something that did start to affect him later in the fall. Continue reading →

(Bi-)Weekly Q&A Answers — 4/28/13

Posted on April 29, 2013 by Jack Wang

Q: What are realistic expectations for the football team this year?

I think double-digit wins and another Pac-12 South title are both very much attainable. I’ll wait and see how the running back committee and offensive line develop before picking UCLA for the Rose Bowl though. The secondary could be noticeably better than it was last season, if the freshmen are as good as expected and guys like Anthony Jefferson and Ishmael Adams can build on what they showed in spring.

Q: Who looks to be the leader to be the main running back this year or will it by committee? Whatever happened to Craig Lee the running back recruit who was retaking his SATs?

UCLA will definitely use a committee, but if you had to pick someone right now, it’d be Jordon James. Still, I doubt anyone gets more than 10-12 carries per game. Craig Lee is still trying to get a high enough score on his SAT.

Q: Is Steve Manfro injured? I’ve not noticed any news about him this spring. Continue reading →

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