Q: What is the status on Lacy Westbrook? Will he be cleared to play by the fall or will he take a medical retirement? Could you follow-up on the medical condition of the players that have taken a medical retirement under Coach Mora?
Not sure if medical retirement is in Lacy Westbrook’s future, but he doesn’t seem likely to return for the start of fall. I’ll try and catch up with the other guys in the next weeks.
Q: What are your impressions of Steve Alford? Continue reading
Happy Mother’s Day, everyone. Hope you did something nice for yours today. Leave your questions below and I’ll have answers Monday evening.
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
Comment with questions, and I’ll post answers on Monday. I’ll have a post-spring look at the football team up tomorrow too. Thinking of scaling this back to bi-weekly as we enter the summer, but let me know if you would prefer the weekly schedule.
Q: What do you think are reasonable expectations for Alford’s first year (team record) — from a media, UCLA alumni, general fan, Morgan Center, and unattached viewer perspective? What about the second and third years?
A: Some early projections have UCLA behind Arizona and Colorado in the Pac-12, and that feels … about right. I can see the Bruins being better than the Buffs, but Tad Boyle returns every starter. I think Jordan Adams could be an All-Pac-12 first team selection after getting snubbed for the All-Freshman team. If I had to pick a record right now, I’d probably go with another 25 wins. Too hard to project years two and three right now with potential recruits and NBA departures still in flux.
Q: We have Noah Allen, Allerik Freeman, Bryce Alford, Zach LaVine coming in to a group including Norman Powell, Jordan Adams and Kyle Anderson. That is seven players to play the two or the three. In your opinion who starts, who plays either the one or the four more, and who doesn’t see much playing time? Continue reading
Questions today, answers tomorrow. Thanks.
Q: Last I heard, Ben Howland’s practices were closed and the players only available for media once a week. What do you expect about practices and player availability under Steve Alford?
More of the same.
Q: Would you mind detailing the expectations for basketball signing day, April 17, I believe? Continue reading
Same drill as usual. Leave questions here and I’ll be back with answers on Monday.
Q: Why do people say Steve Alford is a good West Coast recruiter? Alford got mainly transfers in UNM. Will he be able to take advantage of his AAU relationships? Why are they referred to in articles as shady?
He got underrated players like Kendall Williams and Tony Snell out to New Mexico, where they became his top two scorers. Alford’s assistants clearly put in a lot of work there as well, so watching his hires will be key. (Lobos assistant Duane Broussard is reportedly the first. He recruited Danny Granger to Bradley and then New Mexico by transfer, though secondary violations dogged the latter move.) Alford also has a reputation as a player’s coach, which Ben Howland wasn’t. You can take that kind of charisma and extrapolate it to what he might do with new facilities at a historic program. I haven’t seen the articles that specifically say “shady,” but the AAU scene in general isn’t exactly the cleanest place.
Q: What are our chances with Aaron Gordon? Why would he not want to play for Steve Alford? Continue reading
A little late after last week’s hiatus, but drop your questions in the comments and I’ll have answers back on Monday. Thanks.