Assessing the damage to UCLA’s NCAA Tournament resume

UCLA Bruins head coach Steve Alford during a NCAA Pac-12 basketball game against South Dakota Coyotes at Pauley Pavillion on the campus of UCLA on Tuesday, Dec. 19, 2017 in Los Angeles. UCLA Bruins won 85-82. (Photo by Keith Birmingham, Pasadena Star-News/SCNG)

UCLA approaches the midpoint of the conference season this week with a home series against Cal and Stanford. With a three-game losing streak, the Bruins have a lot of ground to make up if they want to get to the NCAA Tournament this March.

CBS Sports dropped UCLA from its NCAA Tournament projection completely after the Bruins lost to Oregon on Sunday. They don’t even make an appearance in the “first four out” category.

ESPN has the Bruins as a “next four out” team, dropping UCLA from a play-in game, where it was projected before the Oregon loss.

An unpredictable Pac-12 doesn’t seem to be helping the Bruins as ESPN’s Joe Lundardi has only three Pac-12 teams in the field (Arizona, Arizona State and USC), the fewest of any power conference. CBS Sports’ Jerry Palm adds Washington as one of his “last four in” with the Huskies playing in a “First Four” play-in game.  Continue reading “Assessing the damage to UCLA’s NCAA Tournament resume” »

Five-star center Moses Brown commits to UCLA

Five-star center Moses Brown announced his verbal commitment to UCLA on Monday, giving the Bruins one of the top prospects in the country for the 2018 recruiting class.

Brown, a 7-foot-1, 241-pound McDonald’s All-American from New York City, was also considering Florida State and Maryland. He is the 18th-best prospect in the country, according to ESPN’s 100 rankings.

“I decided to choose UCLA because of the rich basketball tradition,” Brown told Slam Magazine, “I could see myself developing and working on my game and being ready for the next level.”

He is UCLA’s first five-star recruit for this class, joining signees David Singleton, Jules Bernard and Kenneth Nwuba. Singleton and Bernard are both four-star Southern California natives while Nwuba is a three-star center who is finishing his final year of high school in West Virginia.

UCLA in the NFL: Matthew Slater, Patriots into Super Bowl

PASADENA, CA – SEPTEMBER 22: Matthew Slater #18 of the UCLA Bruins celebrates scoring a touchdown in the second half against the Washington Huskies at the Pasadena Rose Bowl on September 22, 2007 in Pasadena, California. (Photo by Lisa Blumenfeld/Getty Images)

Former UCLA Bruin Matthew Slater will play for his third career Super Bowl championship after he and the Patriots completed a 10-point, fourth-quarter comeback in the AFC Championship Game against the Jaguars on Sunday.

Slater, a special teams stalwart for the Patriots, had one tackle in the 24-20 victory as Tom Brady led the Patriots to 14 unanswered points in the final 8:44 of the game. New England is playing in its third Super Bowl in four years.

Fellow UCLA alums Myles Jack and Marcedes Lewis had stand-out plays for the Jaguars as Jack had a forced fumble and fumble recovery and Lewis caught his first career postseason touchdown.

In the NFC Championship Game, the Eagles crushed the Vikings 38-7. Former UCLA linebackers Eric Kendricks and Anthony Barr and six and three tackles, respectively, for the Vikings.

Former UCLA safety Randall Goforth signed with the Eagles as an undrafted free agent, but is on the reserve/injured list after tearing his ACL during training camp. UCLA tight end Caleb Wilson‘s father Chris coaches the Eagles’ defensive line.

Former UCF commit Patrick Jolly commits to UCLA

Patrick Jolly‘s first commitment was to Scott Frost at Central Florida. Now the versatile athlete from Florida will play for Frost’s mentor.

Jolly, a three-star athlete, according to 247 Sports’ Composite Rankings, verbally committed to UCLA on Sunday, bringing head coach Chip Kelly‘s 2018 recruiting class to 13 total prospects with two and a half weeks left until National Signing Day.

Jolly committed to Frost’s Knights in June, but backed off his pledge soon after the upstart young coach took the head job at Nebraska. Frost’s uptempo offense that led the UCF to a perfect 13-0 season in 2017 was based off Kelly’s system at Oregon where the pair coached together from 2009-12.

Jolly’s only other Pac-12 offer came from Oregon State. The versatile 6-foot-1, 177-pound athlete also got looks from Rutgers and Syracuse.