UCLA Basketball

The UCLA Bruins have hit the jackpot after star recruit Dylan Andrews committed to play basketball for the school starting in 2022. 

Andrews announced his decision Friday, discussing the matter with Brandon Jenkins of 247Sports:

"Who wouldn't love the culture of winning and development. I committed to UCLA because it is the best place for me to grow as a player and a person. The coaching staff likes high character guys and work horses. That describes a portion of who I am. One thing I love about the program is how they get guys to the next level and how they encourage them to get that degree. That is important to me."

Andrews added that the Bruins' coaching staff—led by Mick Cronin—influenced his decision, per Jenkins: "The one thing I love about the coaching staff is their history of winning and pushing their guys past that invisible limit."

A standout talent at Windward High School in Los Angeles, he is one of the best point guard recruits in the country. He is rated as a 4-star prospect, sixth-best point guard and No. 31 overall player in the 2022 class, per 247Sports' composite rankings.

Andrews would fit the bill for what every head coach in the country wants out of a point guard because of his diverse skill set, with Shotgun Spratling of 247Sports offering this scouting report: "The 6'4", 180-pound Andrews has great size for the point guard position and he uses it well, attacking the boards. He is Windward's floor general, both in position and the way he approaches the game as a lead-by-example player. He likes to push the pace when he has the ball in his hands."

Every school is looking for a dynamic playmaker to build their offense around. The Bruins were able to land one of the best in the country, with Andrews likely to be a huge difference-maker for them as soon as he steps on campus. 

Andrews was not the only addition for the Bruins on Friday. Rutgers grad transfer Myles Johnson also chose UCLA over Stanford.

The UCLA Bruins surpassed all expectations by going from the First Four to the Final Four during the 2021 NCAA men's tournament, and head coach Mick Cronin received a contract extension as a result.

"I love being at UCLA. The commitment from our players over the past two seasons has been rewarding."@CoachMickCronin has signed a two-year contract extension at @UCLA.

DETAILS: https://t.co/z9JkThtue4 pic.twitter.com/ZtPA93ErBW

— UCLA Men’s Basketball (@UCLAMBB) April 8, 2021

Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports first reported the news.

It wasn't just that UCLA made the Final Four but how it did so that stood out.

It overcame a double-digit deficit and outlasted Michigan State in a hard-fought overtime battle in the First Four, upset the sixth-seeded BYU Cougars by 11 points in the first round, persevered again in overtime against Alabama in the Sweet 16 and then used a dominant defensive performance to stun top-seeded Michigan in the Elite Eight.

The run only came to an end when Jalen Suggs drilled a buzzer-beater from just inside half court to propel Gonzaga to a victory in the Final Four matchup.

Such an impressive showing during the tournament was surely a welcome development after the Bruins were somewhat inconsistent at the start of Cronin's tenure.

They went 19-12 during his first season in 2019-20 and barely made the Big Dance in 2020-21 at 17-9 on Selection Sunday. They lost their final three regular-season games and their first contest in the Pac-12 tournament to Oregon State before bouncing back in dramatic fashion.

Expectations are now sky-high for Cronin's bunch entering the next campaign.

UCLA checks in at No. 3 in very early rankings from Jeff Goodman of Stadium and No. 2 on the list from ESPN's Jeff Borzello.

UCLA forward Jalen Hill announced his retirement from basketball Tuesday via Instagram, citing anxiety and depression among the reasons he's leaving the sport behind.

Hill, who stepped away from the team for personal reasons in February, said he has been planning to announce his decision for a while but waited until his teammates completed their run to the Final Four out of respect for their journey.

"I just had to distance myself because the headspace I was in, it was damaging the team," Hill said in a nearly six-minute video he posted. "So I didn't want to restrict them from achieving their goals, too."

The redshirt junior said his mental health issues began following his arrest in China in 2017. Hill was detained with teammates LiAngelo Ball and Cody Riley for alleged shoplifting while abroad for an NCAA game against Georgia Tech.

He said his anxiety and depression became more problematic as the coronavirus pandemic began surging across the globe. Hill played 14 games in 2020-21 before stepping away from the team.

He averaged 6.5 points and 5.9 rebounds per contest.

Since stepping away from basketball, Hill said he's been able to refocus his priorities and not worry about living up to others' expectations:

"Like, I never felt this happy before in my life. Like, I just wake up and I'm just happy to be alive and it sounds crazy to say, but it’s just true and I've never felt like this in my life, and it was hard to me to go back to the team when I was trying to go back to a past life when I was trying to live up to somebody's expectations of me, trying to live up to somebody's perception of how my life should be instead of just being who I am.

"That's the greatest gift you could ever give to anybody is just being who you are and I was doing stuff that was not me, so when I figured out that I couldn't really go back, especially all the good stuff that’s been happening to me recently."

Hill entered college as the No. 65 overall recruit in 2017, according to 247Sports Composite, and settled on the Bruins after considering offers from Arizona, Oregon, Michigan, Oklahoma and USC.

Legendary former UCLA coach John Wooden once said, "Whatever you do in life, surround yourself with smart people who'll argue with you."

If UCLA coach Mick Cronin had tried to say the Pac-12 would dominate the 2021 NCAA men's basketball tournament, he would have had a lot of people arguing with him. Specifically, a lot of Big Ten supporters and experts who favor metrics when making projections.

From KenPom.com to the NCAA NET rankings, all the metrics favored Big Ten teams coming into the tournament. USC and Colorado got some love, but not many foresaw the success of UCLA and Oregon State, and few gave Oregon the credit it has proved it deserves. What metrics fail to take into account is the unpredictability of March Madness.

The Big Ten sent nine teams to the 68-team field, but only No. 1 Michigan is left after the round of 32. The SEC, ACC and Big East each have two representatives in the next round, but no conference is better represented than the Pac-12 after it nearly went perfect in the First Four and first two rounds. UCLA, USC, Oregon State and Oregon are all still dancing.

The Conference of Champions has a better chance than any other to produce a champion.

"I feel like we don't get the respect that we deserve," Oregon senior guard Chris Duarte said in his postgame news conference. "It looks good on our conference. It tells you guys that our conference, we have talent, and we are really good."

Colorado was the only team to lose, as the No. 5 seed Buffaloes fell to No. 4 Florida State in the East Region's second round. The other four programs had impressive showings.

The final game of the second round was possibly the most memorable of the weekend. No. 6 USC throttled No. 3 Kansas 85-51 to advance in the West Region. The Jayhawks didn't have the same firepower of years past, but it's Kansas—the Sweet 16 is an expectation for a historically elite team that is coached by one of the game's elite, Bill Self.

USC is a football school in a city that is mostly ambivalent about college basketball, but for the Angelenos who haven't been paying attention all season, this is now a basketball school.

Led by the Mobley brothers, Evan and Isaiah, the Trojans steamrolled the Jayhawks, shooting 57.1 percent from the field and an even better 61.1 percent from behind the arc. Head coach Andy Enfield is back in the Sweet 16 for the second time in his career, having done so last in 2013 when he coached another bracket buster, Florida Gulf Coast.

USC was the best defensive team in the conference this year, and its length bothered Kansas on both ends of the floor. But the length of Evan and Isaiah, who are 7'0" and 6'10", was particularly deadly. The brothers accounted for all four of the Trojans' blocks, and with no clear lanes or clear plays, the Jayhawks jacked up bad shots. It showed, as Kansas shot a dismal 29.0 percent from the field.

Isaiah finished with 17 points, eight rebounds and four assists, while his little brother had a tremendous stat line of 10 points, 13 rebounds, three blocks, five assists, one steal and a single turnover. Evan is mobile, athletic and a lock to be a top-three pick in the 2021 NBA draft.

But that's looking ahead a little too far. USC's next challenge is another Pac-12 team, Oregon, which ensures the conference will have at least one team in the Elite Eight.

No. 7 Oregon did not play its first game of the tournament against VCU because of COVID-19 issues within the Rams program. It had a layoff before a date with No. 2 Iowa and the best player in the game, Luka Garza, the projected Naismith Player of the Year.

The Ducks let Garza do his thing, and the big senior tried to put the Hawkeyes on his back. He dropped 36 points and grabbed nine rebounds. But Oregon's strategy to contain everyone else worked. Garza and Joe Wieskamp were the only Iowa starters to score.

"We knew Garza was going to get his points. Our plan was get stops and play defense, play hard, get on the boards," Duarte said. "And that's what we did."

No. 11 UCLA (East Region) and No. 12 Oregon State (Midwest Region) look unbeatable. The Bruins needed to beat Michigan State in a play-in game just to get to the round of 64, and the Beavers had to win the Pac-12 tournament just to get into the NCAA tournament.

But UCLA then beat BYU and Abilene Christian to reach the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2017 and the first time in Cronin's two seasons. Oregon State found its offensive stride at the right time of the season to beat Tennessee and Oklahoma State.

"The Pac-12 has shown exactly how strong it was. I'm so proud of the conference. And for us to be the champions of the regular season, I'm proud of that, and I'm proud of the guys the way they responded," Oregon coach Dana Altman said. "Mick has done a great job at UCLA, Wayne [Tinkle] has done a great job at Oregon State, USC's doing great, and Tad [Boyle] at Colorado. Our league has done great, and I hope we can keep it up."

The other three teams are hoping to keep it up as well.

"This is literally what you dream for," Isaiah Mobley said. "Like it says in the songs. Future says, 'Beat the odds, do numbers and remain humble.' Just try to keep that motto and keep it rolling from here on out."

It's not quite Wooden, but the motivational sentiment is the same.

Johnny Juzang scored 19 first-half points en route to 27 on 10-of-16 shooting overall to lead No. 11 UCLA to a 73-62 wire-to-wire win over No. 6 BYU in the first round of the Division I NCAA men's college basketball tournament on Saturday.

Juzang accounted for half of UCLA's points en route to a 38-27 halftime lead:

Johnny Juzang majors in BUCKETS

All 19 of his first half points for @UCLAMBB ⬇ pic.twitter.com/JFGuRjvDlv

— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) March 21, 2021

Jules Bernard added 16 points, and Jaime Jaquez Jr. poured in 13 more for the Bruins, who advanced into the first round after an 86-80 overtime win over Michigan State in the First Four on Thursday.

Juzang scored 23 points in that matchup, and his follow-up performance Saturday put him in elite company, per ESPN Stats & Info:

Johnny Juzang is the 3rd player in UCLA history to score at least 20 points in each of his first 2 career NCAA Tournament games.

He joins Lew Alcindor and Reggie Miller. pic.twitter.com/cYP4Dtrcga

— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) March 21, 2021

Alex Barcello scored 20 points for BYU, who made just 3-of-17 three-pointers and went 9-of-16 from the free-throw line. Brandon Averette added 15 points.

UCLA led by as many as 14 points during the win, which saw the Bruins commit just four turnovers. They held an advantage of at least five points for the entire second half.

The No. 11 Bruins will face No. 14 Abilene Christian in the second round Monday.

The 20-7 Cougars finished with 20 or more victories for the 17th time since 1999-00.

One of the most coveted backcourt recruits in the 2022 class made his decision Wednesday as Amari Bailey committed to UCLA, per Jeff Borzello of ESPN.

Bailey is the No. 3 overall player and No. 1 combo guard in the country, per 247Sports' composite rankings.

At least for casual observers of high school basketball, Sierra Canyon School became an overnight sensation thanks to the arrivals of Zaire Wade and Bronny James. Bailey's skills would have shone through no matter where he played, but the added attention paid to Sierra Canyon allowed his profile to increase.

Jerry Meyer of 247Sports evaluated Bailey in November and compared him to Utah Jazz guard Jordan Clarkson:

"Has good length for a combo guard. Plays with strength. A quality functional athlete with a blend of fluid and explosive athleticism. Handles with vision and a feel for the game. Adept at changing direction and changing speeds. Can score at all three levels. Versatile defender who is disciplined and opportunistic. Is a dangerous offensive rebounder and solid defensive rebounder."

The Chicago native originally committed to DePaul before he entered high school, walking back that decision in March 2018. He then committed to UCLA in December 2018, explaining at the time how suiting up for the Bruins is a dream for him dating back to when he was younger. Once again, though, he had second thoughts and reopened his recruitment.

"I've learned to just take my time," Bailey said to Rivals.com's Eric Bossi in December 2019. "I felt good about both of the decisions, and I don't regret either one of them. So now I'm taking my time and getting to know coaches a little bit more but I was fine with both. Just sometimes stuff happens."

Given how highly he's regarded, adopting a more deliberate approach and allowing his high school career to unfold was the sensible decision.

Bailey has put together an impressive highlight reel.

Zaire Wade and Amari Bailey with the NASTY double block got Dwayne Wade OUT of his SEAT!! pic.twitter.com/Ps53zOesHC

— Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) November 1, 2019

Top 2022 SG Amari Bailey will be making his season debut tonight‼️ pic.twitter.com/TlWWLS4LRj

— SLAM HS Hoops (@SLAM_HS) November 13, 2020

Big bday shoutout to Amari Bailey 💯 pic.twitter.com/K4urVOqg3l

— Overtime (@overtime) February 18, 2020

ESPN's Paul Biancardi also made the point that Bailey would be required to shoulder a larger load for Sierra Canyon during his junior season, with the school having a pair of top-10 talents in BJ Boston (No. 5) and Ziaire Williams (No. 6), per 247Sports' composite rankings, move on in 2020:

The growth of @amariBailey has been enjoyable to watch. As a soph last year he was the third or fourth option. His role has now changed. Now he needs to think score first, by being shot ready , drive ready & by moving off the ball. His passing vision & accuracy is outstanding. pic.twitter.com/wjtWJfR2t5

— Paul Biancardi (@PaulBiancardi) November 14, 2020

Athleticism can take a player far, and Bailey is an incredible athlete. At 6'4" and 170 pounds, he also has the size to defend both guard positions, which is becoming increasingly necessary with the trends in basketball.

More than just Bailey's measurements is what he can do with his physical gifts. As Meyer outlined, he's a good scorer who can distribute while also being a plus defender.

Bailey will make an immediate impact for UCLA in 2022-23 before presumably moving on to the NBA in 2023.

UCLA, which agreed to a 15-year, $280 million sponsorship agreement with Under Armour in 2016, is suing the sports apparel company for over $200 million, citing a breach of contract, per Pete Thamel of Yahoo Sports.

The lawsuit, which was filed in District Court in California, states the following in part:

"Following years of declining business, Under Armour's corporate leadership apparently decided that the UCLA deal was over-market and too expensive for a trouble company," UCLA's lawsuit reads. Under Armour decided to try to use the COVID-19 pandemic as a cover to get out of paying on a deal that it no longer wanted to be in. It purported to terminate the Agreement, pointing in the vague direction of COVID-19."

Under Armour announced that it would end its relationship with UCLA in June, per ESPN: "Under Armour has recently made the difficult decision to discontinue our partnership with UCLA, as we have been paying for marketing benefits that we have not received for an extended time period. The agreement allows us to terminate in such an event and we are exercising that right."

UCLA stated in response that it believed it was "fulfilling the terms of our agreement and that Under Armour does not have grounds for termination."

In the meantime, UCLA is looking to land a sponsorship deal elsewhere, per Tracy Pierson of Bruin Report Online on Aug. 4:

"UCLA, led by its new athletic director Martin Jarmond, is actively pursuing a new apparel deal with various companies, including Nike, according to sources. UCLA has been in contact with upward of four apparel companies, and each has shown reciprocal interest. No deal is imminent, however."

The Pac-12 fall sports season has been postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and January 1 marks the earliest date that competitions can start again.

As for what brand UCLA may look to align itself with, that's unclear at this time. However, Jon Christon of the Daily Bruin made the case for the Jordan Brand, writing the following in part in July:

"A deal would be beneficial for both sides. Of the four schools that the Jordan Brand currently sponsors—North Carolina, Oklahoma, Michigan and Florida—a flagship West Coast school is missing. Enter UCLA.

"UCLA is perhaps the most iconic NCAA institution on the West Coast and maybe even in the entire country— the school matches the stature of the other big-name schools that Jordan Brand is sponsoring and would represent a market of need for the brand."

Per Darren Rovell (then of ESPN) in 2016, UCLA's deal with Under Armour marked the NCAA's largest apparel deal at the time. The school was aligned with Adidas from 1999 to 2017.

Five-star forward Peyton Watson announced Monday on Fox College Hoops that he will play college basketball at UCLA.

IT'S TIME!@peytonfromlb, the No. 1 recruit in California, joins @clubtrillion and @tatefrazier to announce where he'll be playing next fall👀🔥 https://t.co/CGULCXx8L1

— FOX College Hoops (@CBBonFOX) July 28, 2020

On A Mission Tryna Shift The Culture. 100% COMITTED!!!💙💛 pic.twitter.com/m3dekuNR5j

— pwat✞ (@peytonfromlb) July 28, 2020

Watson noted that the Bruins "checked all the boxes" for him, saying it was not only a basketball decision but also a life decision.

Watson attends Long Beach Poly in Long Beach, California. The 6'7", 180-pound prospect is the top-ranked player in California's class, capable of playing guard or forward. He's 17th overall on 247Sports' list.

6'8" forward Peyton Watson doesn't need prep school to steal the spotlight.

He dropped 30 in front of Kevin Durant, gained 1,000 Instagram followers a few days later and gets "whole-teamed" by opposing defenses https://t.co/VRMIyzPPTN pic.twitter.com/MkXY6PGuRM

— Bleacher Report CBB (@br_CBB) June 11, 2020

Long Beach Poly's Peyton Watson had a breakout season. The class of 2021 prospect jumped up to No. 11 on 247's rankings.

Big summer on deck 🔥 @peytonwatsonnn https://t.co/4kbcFi0EqM

— B/R Hoops (@brhoops) March 10, 2020

Watson took in a number of offers, with Pac-12 schools Arizona State, Washington and Arizona also notably on the list. In the end, Watson decided to suit up for the Bruins.

Josh Gershon of 247Sports provided the following scouting report:

"Small forward with good size, long arms and plus athleticism. Still very physically immature; plenty of room to gain strength in coming years. Has been on significant upwards trajectory since start of high school career. Extremely versatile defender due to size, length, athleticism, instincts and motor. Nice feel as rebounder and weak side shot blocker. Offense has continuously improved due to progress with ball skills and jumper. Very good vision for position. Easy high major starter who should be a first round pick if he continues to improve at same rate."

Gershon also projected Watson to go in the first round of a future NBA draft and compared him to the Indiana Pacers' Justin Holiday.

Mike Guardabascio of the569.com caught up with Watson in February 2020, calling him a 6'7" positionless player who has shown flashes of brilliance at every position from point guard to forward.

Watson talked about his leadership role on Long Beach Poly.

"I'm taking pride in that," Watson said. "Trying to be able to get after people but at the same time be their brother."

He also spoke about how much he was looking forward to 2019-20, one year after making just one varsity start.

"I take everything personally, that's why I'm so excited for this season," Watson said. "I wasn't the player last year that I am this year. I'm not the player this year that I will be next year. It's about the work and getting better."

Watson will now look to maintain his steady improvement as a member of UCLA.

Boston College athletic director Martin Jarmond is reportedly set to leave BC to take the same role at UCLA.

According to Pete Thamel of Yahoo Sports, Jarmond and UCLA are finalizing a six-year contract, which will end his three-year run as the AD at Boston College.

If Jarmond's deal with UCLA becomes official, he will replace Dan Guerrero, who is retiring after 18 years as UCLA's athletic director.

Per Thamel, Boston College made a "strong push" to keep Jarmond over the past couple of days, but UCLA made a quality offer and chose Jarmond over Penn's Grace Calhoun and UNLV's Desiree Reed-Francois.

Thamel noted that Jarmond's fundraising ability likely played a significant role in UCLA hiring him. Jon Wilner of the Mercury News reported in January that the UCLA athletic department has an $18.9 million deficit for the 2019 fiscal year.

UCLA has long been considered a big-time program, especially in men's basketball, but Jarmond has his work cut out for him when it comes to both balancing the budget and making the primary sports teams competitive.

The men's basketball team was a borderline tournament team last season at 19-12, but it is difficult to say if the Bruins would have made it since the tournament was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic. UCLA failed to reach the tournament the previous season.

UCLA did make the tourney in five of the previous six seasons, but it didn't advance beyond the Sweet 16 in any of those years. The Bruins could be on the right track now, though, with Mick Cronin at the helm as head coach.

Things are far more dire in football, as the hiring of Chip Kelly has not worked out two years in. The Bruins went 3-9 in Kelly's first season and then they barely improved in 2019 with a 4-8 mark.

UCLA reached a bowl game in the six of the previous seven seasons before Kelly took over, but it hasn't won at least 10 games in a season since 2014.

The 2020 season could be telling since Kelly has now had ample time to bring in recruits and mold the team into what he wants it to be.

If the basketball and football teams don't make significant strides in the near future, Jarmond may have to make some difficult decisions.

Point guard Daishen Nix is following Jalen Green and Isaiah Todd to the NBA G League, per the Los Angeles Times' Dan Woike.

Nix had committed to UCLA last August. He's the No. 15 player and No. 1 point guard in the 2020 recruiting class, per 247Sports' composite rankings.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGgeOSEPb7c

According to Charania, Nix's contract "is expected to be in the $300,000 range." That would be slightly lower than the $500,000 deal Green received, per ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski and Jonathan Givony. Todd can earn $250,000 from his G League salary, per Givony.

"Playing in [the] G League is basically getting me ready for the NBA draft," Nix told Woike. "It's just one step below the NBA."

An unnamed NBA general manager believes the current trend of jumping to the G League could be problematic for prospects:

Daishen Nix to the LA Times about why he chose the new G-League path:

“It’s just one step below the NBA.”

One NBA GM to me: “That’s the problem. These kids think gets them closer to the NBA. We’ll see, but I don’t think that’s the case at all.”

— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) April 28, 2020

Nix, Green and Todd won't play a full G League slate next season. According to Wojnarowski and Givony, they'll compete against G League teams as well as international teams and NBA academy squads. The players will also receive guidance from professional coaches and older players with NBA experience.

In addition to upending the traditional college path for top recruits, the plan aims to keep players from going overseas after high school. LaMelo Ball and RJ Hampton chose to play in Australia's National Basketball League rather than go to college in the United States.

Nix's change of plans is obviously a big loss for the Bruins. Shooting guard Jaylen Clark is their only other 2020 signee, though Kentucky transfer Johnny Juzang indicated earlier in April that he hoped to gain immediate eligibility for 2020-21.

Some argued UCLA will be able to weather the blow.

College basketball now may be at a loss for arguably the most gifted prospect and most gifted passer thanks to the new G-League initiative next season. Loss of Nix hurts UCLA but safety blanket that is Tyger Campbell should keep Bruins afloat.

— Corey Evans (@coreyevans_10) April 28, 2020

Also think this weirdly, in a way helps UCLA. They have an established point guard in Tyger Campbell, and having Nix on the roster could've created playing time/rotation problems. You obviously want good talent, but the roles are now a bit more clearly defined

— Aaron Torres (@Aaron_Torres) April 28, 2020

Tyger Campbell averaged 8.3 points and a team-high 5.0 assists as a redshirt freshman. Without Nix, he'll remain UCLA's primary playmaker.

However, the timing of Nix's decommitment makes it impossible for head coach Mick Cronin to replace him with a player of similar quality at another position.