SHABAZZ MUHAMMAD IS A UCLA BRUIN.

We know it is bad etiquette to type in all caps on nearly any occasion. Today is not nearly any occasion.

SERIOUSLY. WE HAVE WAITED FOREVER FOR SHABAZZ MUHAMMAD TO ANNOUNCE HE IS STAYING IN THE BEST COAST. HERE HE STAYED. (THANK YOU SACRAMENTO KINGS.)

OKAY. Let me gather myself. I waited two hours at Ackerman Union at UCLA, watching soccer while not doing an an ounce of studying. The crowd, a scattered, small, but passionate group, waited as I did: Face buried in hands and quiet as hell. Two minutes, read ESPN U’s timer.

And then the Chose One spoke: “I chose to become a Bruin.”

Loud cheers — not some golf clap stuff you hear at a Lakers game — erupted from the group,  and everyone breathed a sigh of relief. After months of waiting, it was here: Shabazz was a friggin’ Bruin.

Of course, it’s also sweet to see Calipari have his hopes of having an NBA factory, that dabbled in dirty deeds, crushed.

(No offene to our good friends at Wildcatbluenation.com)

We will get into the basketball side of this later on, as we highlight what two top-five, lengthy, All-American wings can do for us here in Westwood.

For now, let’s enjoy the fact that we are still the premier destination for All-World basketball players.

GO BRUINS!!!!

After what transpired on National Signing Day, if I ran into UCLA football coach Jim Mora there would be two words that I would say to him:

“Well done.”

It’s a consensus that the Bruins did very well with Mora’s first recruiting class, as it is ranked 13th nationally by Rivals.com and 11th in the nation by Scout.com – second in the Pac-12 on both accounts.

Out of the 26 recruits that Mora, recruiting coordinator Angus McClure, and the rest of the coaching staff signed, 11 out of those 26 are ranked either as a four or a five-star by at least one source, and 11 of them flipped (switched) to UCLA after having verbally committed to other schools.

One recruit, Jordan Payton, had committed to USC, California and Washington before telling Mora early Wednesday morning that he will sign with UCLA.

And in an interesting note, Justin Combs’ father is fairly well known as he is none other than Sean Combs, formerly known as Puff Daddy and currently known as Diddy.

Let’s just go ahead and list these Bruin newbies that will be in Westwood this fall, with two of them planning to enroll for spring quarter:

* = Four-star

** = Five-star

PLAYER                             POSITION                   LAST SCHOOL

Ishmael Adams *                       DB                             Oaks Christian HS

Eli Ankou                                     DL             Bear (DE) Red Lion Christian Academy

Jeremy Castro *                         LB                              Vista Murrieta HS

Alexandru Ceachir *                OL                           Santa Monica College

Justin Combs                              DB                     New Rochelle (NY) Iona Prep

Colby Cyburt                              OL                               Mission Viejo HS

Ka’imi Fairbairn                          K                          Honololu (HI) Punahou HS

Devin Fuller *                              QB              Old Tappan (NJ) Northern Valley HS

Randall Goforth *                       DB                             Long Beach Poly HS

Simon Goines                              OL                           Keller (TX) Central HS

Ahmaad Harris                          WR               Suwanee (GA) Peachtree Ridge HS

Carl Hulick                                   OL                           Anaheim Esperanza HS

Nate Iese                                       LB                          Sacramento Sheldon HS

Taylor Lagace                                S                                       Arcadia HS

Ellis McCarthy **                       DT                                   Monrovia HS

T.J. Millweard                             QB                       Fort Worth (TX) All Saints HS

Fabian Moreau                           RB                             Davie (FL) Western HS

Kenny Orjioke *                           LB                           Marietta (GA) Lassiter HS

Jordan Payton *                          WR                              Oaks Christian HS

Paul Perkins                                  RB                               Chandler (AZ) HS

Aaron Porter *                             LB                                    La Habra HS

Marcus Rios *                               DB                     Elk Grove Cosumnes Oakes HS

Ian Taubler                                    TE                               Fresno Bullard HS

Kenny Walker                               WR                      Richmond (CA) Kennedy HS

Lacy Westbrook *                         OL                           Compton Dominguez HS

Javon Williams                            WR                               Chandler (AZ) HS

(more…)

As of 1:17 p.m. PST, here’s who the Bruins have signed to a letter of intent since the post on Go Joe Bruin, “Signing Day Is Here: How UCLA Is Doing So Far?” earlier today:

Three blue chip wide receivers are coming to Westwood:
*   Javon Williams, from Chandler (AZ) HS, who chose UCLA over Arkansas and Oregon,

*   Kenny Walker, from Richmond (CA) Kennedy HS, who has 4.4 speed and decommitted from California to sign with the Bruins, and…

*   Jordan Payton, a four-star recruit from Thousand Oaks (CA) Oaks Christian HS who was wanted by many schools; he flipped from Washington to commit and sign with the Bruins.

As of 2:35 p.m. PST, here’s the latest:

22 players have officially signed their letters of intent to join the UCLA Bruin Nation on the football field and get a top-notch education to boot, including:

*   Ka’imi Fairbaim, a strong-armed kicker from Honolulu (HI) Punahou School,

*   Simon Goines, a 6′ 8″, 295 pound offensive tackle from Keller (TX) Central HS who flipped from Missouri, and a major get…

*   Ishmael Adams, a four-star cornerback from Oaks Christian HS - who was Jordan Payton’s teammate.

So far, UCLA’s class is ranked 19th by ESPN.com, 12th by Rivals.com, and 10th by Scout.com, with the rest of the day ahead.

A complete list of UCLA’s signees, complete with an analysis and a commentary, will appear on this site tomorrow.

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As National Signing Day – the first day that high school football players can sign their letters of intent and officially commit to their colleges of choice – commences today, one can say that Jim Mora and his new UCLA Bruin football recruiting staff have done an excellent job so far.

In fact, in my view the best thing that Mora has done in the nearly two months that he’s been the UCLA head coach is to hire assistants Adrian Klemm from Southern Methodist and Demetrice Martin from Washington, two guys with reputations of being strong recruiters.

Several guys have changed their verbal commitment to other schools to commit to the Bruins, and four players have made it official as of this writing:

*  Ellis McCarthy, a five-star defensive tackle from Monrovia (CA) HS,

*  Jeremy Castro, a four-star defensive end/linebacker from Vista Murrieta (CA) HS,

UCLA Bruins safety Dalton Hilliard (19)

(more…)

There was much happening in Westwood this past weekend. Let’s just get right down to it…

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL -  It was a mixed weekend for Cori Close’s team at the John Wooden Center, as they did well in beating Oregon State this past Thursday, 69-60, but shot like a little girl’s YWCA team in having their tails handed to them two days later by Oregon, 83-62, falling behind 52-23 at halftime in that so-called game.

Rebekah Gardner’s 19 points, eight rebounds and four steals paced UCLA, while Markel Walker had a whopping 18 rebounds to go along with her 16 points and nine assists in the win over the Beavers.

Against Oregon’s Ducks, however, it was a completely different story as the Bruins missed their first nine shots of the game, ending with a shooting percentage of only 30%.

As good as Walker was against OSU, she had her worst game as a UCLA player versus the Ducks as she made only one of her 15 shots and scored only three points, apparently being unable to hit the side of a barn.

Thea Lemberger was a bright spot as she scored 18 points, nine of them coming by the three-point route as her 26 baskets from behind the arc lead the team.

Gardner had a monster game with her 22 points, 15 rebounds and six assists, serving as the other bright spot in the Bruins’ disaster; it’s getting ever so clearer that Gardner is the most valuable player of this team as she has been the most consistent Lady Bruin hoopster.

Now sitting at 3-4 in the Pac-12 Conference and 8-10 overall, these Bruins will hit the road to face league newbies Utah and Colorado, the Utes in Salt Lake City on Thursday, January 26 and the Buffaloes in Boulder on Sunday, January 29.

MEN’S VOLLEYBALL -  This volleyball team is off to a good start, wanting dearly to give legendary coach Al Scates a going away present with a 20th national championship.

(more…)

According to online reports and the Los Angeles Times…

Ellis McCarthy, a 6′ 5″, 311 pound defensive tackle from Monrovia, CA, decommitted from California and has given a verbal committment to UCLA this week, choosing the Bruins over USC, Florida, Michigan, Oklahoma, and Oregon among others.

The five-star recruit is the most significant get for new UCLA coach Jim L. Mora and recruiting coordinator Demetrice Martin, as rivals.com has ranked McCarthy second at his position and overall in the state, and 21st in the country.

A complete list of UCLA’s recruiting class, including an analysis on the quality of the recruits and where they rank in the Pac-12 Conference and nationally, will appear on Go Joe Bruin in the days following signing day on February 1, when the recruits’ signatures are on their letter of intent, officially making them new Bruins.

Here’s what else is up with football…

Mora has completed his staff, hiring Lou Spanos as the Bruins’ defensive coordinator this week.

(more…)

Based on the women’s volleyball team winning the national championship and the women’s soccer team making the NCAA playoffs, UCLA’s women’s athletic program is currently in first place for the annual Capital One Cup, given to the best collegiate men’s and women’s programs.

Points are given out based on won-loss record, conference championships and how far a school’s teams go in the post season.

With the end of the fall sports seasons, the Bruin ladies currently have 72 points, nine ahead of second-place Stanford with promising possibilities looming in tennis, water polo, golf, softball and especially gymnastics, where the Bruins are currently ranked #1 and are among the favorites, if not the favorite, to win the national championship.

On the men’s side, UCLA is currently tied for fourth with 42 points, sharing that spot with Oklahoma State. The men’s water polo team, who lost in the NCAA finals, and the soccer team, which reached the College Cup (soccer’s Final Four), provided the Bruins’ point total.

Among the Bruin men’s winter and spring sports, volleyball has a real motivation to win a title in Al Scates’ final year as coach, tennis and golf look like possibilities to go far, and baseball is quite promising, especially if they effectively replace the two pitchers who were taken first and third overall in Major League Baseball’s draft last June: Garret Cole and Trevor Bauer, respectively.

Hopefully UCLA’s various Bruin teams – in both genders - can excel and go as far as they can, if not win an NCAA title, and either the women’s or the men’s Capital One Cup – or both - can end up in Westwood, showing once again that UCLA has the country’s top athletic program.

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He who is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.”

- John 8:7

When I read Bill Plaschke’s January 11 column in the Los Angeles Times, in which he voiced concerns about new UCLA football coach Jim L. Mora’s hiring of Sal Alosi as the Bruins’ new strength and conditioning coach due to a well-known incident in 2010, when Alosi – then a coach with the New York Jets -tripped the Miami Dolphins’ Nolan Carroll as he ran by on a punt return, ultimately losing his job over it, this biblical quote came to mind.

I’m sure that Plaschke isn’t the only one concerned about this; being a Bruin alum and a member of the UCLA community, I suspect that quite a few of my fellow alumni and fans are probably scratching their heads over Mora hiring someone who did something so heinous, not only blatantly cheating to help his team win but potentially hurting someone in the process.

“I understand the criticism…it’s completely warranted,” Mora said. “But (having had Alosi on his staff with the Atlanta Falcons in 2006) I know the fiber of this man.”

“You can rip me if you want for this hiring, but it’s not fair to rip Sal,” continued Mora. “This is a good man who made a poor decision, took responsibility for it, paid a dear price, and has fought his way back.”

I couldn’t have agreed more with that statement.

If everyone who has messed up weren’t given a second chance, there would hardly be anyone left in any profession.

I should know – the mistakes that I’ve made in my life can fill a very large book, and I’m sure I can say the same for roughly 99% of the people on this planet.

Heck, even hardened criminals in prison can get paroled.

(more…)

According to sources from the Los Angeles Times and UCLABruins.com, the new UCLA coach, Jim L. Mora, has been busy in his first official days as the Bruins’ head coach.

Here is what’s been up…

Noel Mazzone, who spent last two seasons as Arizona State’s offensive coordinator, has been hired by Mora to serve in the same capacity at UCLA. Mazzone will also be the quarterback coach. 

He will be joined by Jeff Ulbrich, who will be the new special teams coordinator and linebacker coach, Eric Yarber, who joins the staff as receivers coach, and Sal Alosi, who will be the new strength and conditioning coach. Alosi is famous for tripping the Miami Dolphins’ Nolan Carroll during a punt return against Alosi’s team, the New York Jets, in 2010, while he was coaching for them.

In the “heads are starting to roll” department:

(more…)

It has been said quite a few times on this site that senior UCLA running back Derrick Coleman was the Bruins’ brightest spot this season.

And was clearly the team’s most valuable player in 2011.

Except for his team-leading 11 touchdowns, his statistics don’t jump out at people; 765 yards and five yards a carry with his longest run from scrimmage being 42 yards this year, but it was obvious for those who saw him that he was UCLA’s best football player.

Anytime the Bruins needed short yardage for a crucial first down, Coleman got it for them.

Anytime the Bruins were within five yards of the end zone and needed to punch it in for the score, Coleman was successful in doing the honors for them.

He was also active in doing the grunt work on special teams.

On top of all of that, Coleman proved to be the classiest member of the UCLA football team, as well as among the hardest working and one of those Bruins who understood what was needed for the team to have future success when he said, ”The discipline outside football has to improve. I’m not saying it was bad, but it can definitely go up a notch.”

And all of this while dealing with an hearing impairment.

This was a Bruin who represented Bruin Nation with outstanding dignity, one who will do well in the future whether or not he plays in the NFL.

And for the record, in my view he is UCLA’s only true prospect; I predict he will go in the middle rounds in the NFL Draft this coming April, maybe as high as the third round if he has a good scouting combine and/or pro day.

Here are three highlight videos of number 33 in action that should give the UCLA fan base some pleasant memories, the last one featuring a run of over 70 yards against Washington State in 2010, a game where he ran for a career-high 185 yards:

Derrick Coleman 24 yard TD run on YouTube

Derrick Coleman 3 Qtr gains lead to a field goal on YouTube

Highlights: Washington St – UCLA on YouTube

I think all of Bruin Nation will agree with me when I say that Derrick Coleman will be missed in Westwood.

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