With the beginning of school basketball season in early November, we’ll study the convention as an entire and Indiana’s roster over the approaching weeks.
Immediately, our workforce previews proceed with UCLA.
Beforehand: Penn State, Washington, Minnesota, USC, Northwestern, Nebraska, Iowa, Oregon, Maryland, Wisconsin, Ohio State, Michigan
UCLA was one of many nation’s most disappointing groups final season. The Bruins began the season within the prime 30 of the KenPom rankings and completed 98th.
After a Closing 4 look in 2021 and journeys to the Candy Sixteen in 2022 and 2023, Mick Cronin and the Bruins completed with a dropping document for the primary time in his tenure.
UCLA misplaced Adem Bona to the skilled ranks together with 5 transfers however returns a strong nucleus together with a switch portal haul that ought to assist this system bounce again in a serious manner in 12 months six of the Cronin period.
The Bruins return the guard duo of Dylan Andrews and Sebastian Mack, who logged vital minutes final season in Westwood.
Andrews, a 6-foot-2 junior, performed 35.2 minutes per sport final season and averaged a strong 12.9 factors, 3.7 rebounds and a couple of.2 rebounds per sport. Over the workforce’s closing six video games, he averaged 21.2 factors.
The 6-foot-3 Mack returns for his sophomore season after a productive but inefficient debut season. Mack logged practically 27 minutes per sport and averaged 12.1 factors, 3.6 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.3 steals. Nonetheless, he shot solely 38.7 p.c from the sector and 28.3 p.c on 3s. He had the eighth-best free throw price within the Pac-12 final season and transformed at a 72.2 p.c clip from the road.
USC switch Kobe Johnson joins the UCLA roster and may begin on the wing. A 6-foot-6 senior, Johnson averaged 10.9 factors, 4.6 rebounds, 3.3 assists and a couple of.2 steals final season for the Trojans.
Up entrance, the Bruins will possible begin a pair of transfers in Tyler Bilodeau and William Kyle III.
The 6-foot-9 Bilodeau arrives from Oregon State and is a succesful perimeter shooter. Bilodeau revamped 39 p.c of his 3s in Pac-12 play and averaged 14.3 factors, 5.7 rebounds and 1.2 assists for the Beavers in 29.3 minutes per sport.
Kyle III was the defensive participant of the 12 months final season within the Summit League and was second within the nation in dunks behind Purdue’s Zach Edey. The 6-foot-9 junior averaged 13.1 factors, 6.6 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.6 blocked pictures in 27.7 minutes whereas taking pictures 62.3 p.c from the sector.
Depth received’t be a problem for UCLA, because the Bruins ought to be capable to play 10 or 11 guys repeatedly if wanted. Louisville switch Skyy Clark, Loyola Marymount switch Dominick Harris and freshmen Trent Perry and Eric Freeny will present guard depth.
Clark started his profession at Illinois earlier than taking part in at Louisville final season. The 6-foot-3 junior averaged 13.2 factors and shot 35.3 p.c on 3s final season, however he might want to scale back his turnovers and grow to be a greater decision-maker.
Harris beforehand performed at Gonzaga and Loyola Marymount and arrives for his closing season of eligibility at UCLA with loads of expertise. He began 13 video games final season at LMU and led the workforce in scoring in 14.3 factors per sport whereas taking pictures 44.8 p.c on 3s, which was the third-highest mark within the nation.
Perry initially dedicated to USC however flipped to UCLA after Andy Enfield left for SMU. Perry was a top-30 recruit nationally, whereas Freeny simply turned 18 over the summer time. Each must compete for backup minutes in a loaded UCLA guard rotation.
The Bruins hope 7-foot-3 sophomore Aday Mara can take a serious leap ahead in his second season. Mara, a local of Spain, averaged 3.5 factors and 1.9 rebounds in 9.6 minutes per sport.
UCLA additionally has loads of frontcourt depth with returnees Lazar Stefanovic, Brandon Williams, and Devin Williams, together with Oklahoma State switch Eric Dailey Jr.
The 6-foot-7 Stefanovic, a senior, may both begin or come off the bench. He averaged 11.5 factors, 6.1 rebounds and shot near 39 p.c on 3s final season.
The 6-foot-7 Brandon Williams averaged 3.1 factors and a couple of.2 rebounds final season in 17.4 minutes, whereas Devin Williams, a 6-foot-10 huge man, will present depth behind Kyle III and Mara.
Dailey Jr., a 6-foot-8 sophomore, performed 22.3 minutes per sport final season at Oklahoma State and averaged a strong 9.3 factors and 4.8 rebounds.
Bart Torvik’s preseason projections anticipate a serious bounceback for UCLA this winter. The Bruins are at the moment No. 30 in Torvik’s rankings for the 2024-25 season. The Lindy’s Sports activities faculty basketball preview journal picked UCLA to complete third within the Large Ten whereas the Blue Ribbon faculty basketball yearbook has the Bruins fourth within the league.
Backside line: UCLA shall be a lot improved given their robust group of returnees and strong switch portal additions. It could take a while early within the season for the brand new items to gel however the Bruins may have one of many league’s finest backcourts with Andrews, Mack and Johnson. It is going to be a shock if UCLA doesn’t return to the NCAA match with a powerful seed in Cronin’s sixth season.
Quotable: “We had some nice groups three years in a row after which we simply misplaced all of them on the similar time. We weren’t able in NIL to compete for the highest transfers so we ended up with manner too many freshmen. I used to be actually happy with the blokes for ending fifth within the Pac-12 final 12 months, being so younger, and dropping our prime 5 main scorers from the 12 months earlier than.” – Katz in early August to Andy Katz.
Filed to: 2024-25 Large Ten preview, UCLA Bruins
