UCLA Bruins

Wooden Classic will continue

steve — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 21:12:20 +0000

Despite the death of former UCLA legendary coach John Wooden, the Wooden Classic will go on.

Wooden’s family has agreed to allow the Wooden Classic to be played each college basketball season.

Wooden was a staple at the event, sitting courtside and watching the games while signing autographs for fans.

He also would present the trophy to the winning team and was a terrific ambassador of the the classic.

The double-header is played in Anaheim at the Ducks home arena and has taken place for the past 16 years.

Wooden passes away

steve — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 13:18:09 +0000

Legendary UCLA Bruins head coach John Wooden has passed away at the age of 99.

Wooden was a fixture courtside at Bruins games as well as other basketball contests around the country.

Despite his age and not being able to get around well, he was always friendly and willing to sign autographs or do an interview.

He helped lead UCLA to numerous national championships during their dominance in the 1960’s.

Though it was only a matter of time before Wooden passed away, he will be greatly missed by all.

Wear twins heading to UCLA

steve — Thu, 27 May 2010 22:54:45 +0000

The Wear twins who transferred out of North Carolina after their freshman year are heading to UCLA.

David and Travis Wear will join head coach Ben Howland and have three years of eligibility remaining.

Both players will have to sit out the 2010-2011 season but can practice with the team and play at the start of the 2011-2012 season.

The 6′ 10″ forwards will give Howland a lot of depth in his front court and add a strong defensive presence.

Both players are returning to the West Coast where they grew up after a tumultuous stay back East.

Chow to stay at UCLA

steve — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 21:47:33 +0000

UCLA Bruins offensive coordinator Norm Chow has elected to stay put rather than take the same position with the USC Trojans.

Chow, who used to be the offensive coordinator at USC before taking a job with the Tennessee Titans, turned down Lane Kiffin’s offer.

Kiffin, the new head coach at USC, was hoping that Chow would join what is becoming a star-studded staff.

Instead, Chow will stay with the Bruins and head coach Rick Neuheisal because he thinks they are building something special.

A switch back to USC would have been a real newsmaker out in Los Angeles for the two rival schools.

UCLA Awaits Bowl Fate

bryan — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 03:42:45 +0000

The UCLA Bruins have done all they can to qualify for a bowl. Now they must sit and wait for the Dec. 12 matchup between Army and Navy to see whether they’ll actually find their way there.

If Army (5-6) beats Navy in Philadelphia on Saturday, they become bowl-eligible and will meet the Temple Owls on Dec. 29 in the EagleBank Bowl at RFK Stadium in Washington D.C.

But if the Navy Midshipmen can hold off Army, then the UCLA Bruins will be on their way to cold, rainy D.C. for New Year’s.

The Bruins started their season on fire, holding their first three opponents (including Tennessee!) to a combined 38 points… but the Pac-10 proved too tough for UCLA this year. Starting with a matchup with Stanford on Oct. 2, the wheels came off for the Bruins on a near weekly basis, as they slumped through conference play by losing five in a row.

UCLA won their last three games to become bowl eligible, but their season arc isn’t exactly the picture of stability.

Regardless, they’ll be battle tested for a Temple team that won the MAC East, but got hammered in its biggest test of the season - a Week 2 matchup with Penn State.

Would UCLA’s unimposing record allow them to sneak up on the Owls?

UCLA holds off Washington, 24-23

steve — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 17:03:27 +0000

The UCLA Bruins used a questionable call to their advantage in a 24-23 win over the Washington Huskies.

UCLA trailed heading into halftime but a field goal in the fourth quarter ended up as the game-winning score.

The Bruins were able to end any possible threat from Washington by interecepting a pass on the final drive of the game.

The Bruins got a lucky break on one of their touchdowns when it appears that the ball was not caught by the receiver.

It’s a tough break for Washington, which has had a tough year in the Pac-10.

Forward Keefe injures shoulder, out 4-6 weeks

Raj Sethi — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 17:46:23 +0000

Earlier this week, Bruins forward James Keefe suffered a left shoulder injury that is expected to keep him out of action four to six weeks.

It’s the second shoulder injury in his time at UCLA for Keefe, who had to undergo surgery after tearing a labrum in the same shoulder in 2007, which forced him to miss the first 12 games of that season.

Keefe averaged just 3.0 points and 3.4 rebounds last season, but the Bruins are woefully think on the front line this year and are counting on him to play significant minutes. With the departure of center Alfred Aboya and sophomore forward Drew Gordon really the only proven frontcourt player, Keefe needs to get healthy and stay that way if UCLA wants to compete for a Pac-10 title again.

Offensive line ravaged by injuries

reggy10 — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 02:51:36 +0000

It’s tough to win football games when you don’t have those big uglies up front winning battles in the trenches.

The UCLA Bruins might find the going very, very tough in 2009.

Just weeks away from the start of the regular season, the Bruins have already lost three offensive linemen to injuries. Guard Nick Ekbatani could miss 4-6 weeks after spraining a ligament in his knee, and Reggie Stokes and Jesse Ward also suffered minor knee injuries and might not be ready for the season opener Sept. 5 against San Diego State.

Ekbatani is the only one of three who was competing for a starting spot, but that appears unlikely now. And now that its depth has taken a big hit, one of the nation’s worst offensive lines from a year ago could possibly be even worse this season. Not a pleasant thought for a fan base waiting impatiently for its team to become revelant in the Pac-10 again.