Looking ahead to the 2016-17 season, Go Joe Bruin predicts next season’s depth chart which will consist of 14 players on the UCLA Basketball team.
With the UCLA Basketball team ending their post-season streak after not qualifying for the NCAA Tournament this past season, they now get to focus on 2016-17.
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The Bruins will return their entire scholarship roster — sans Tony Parker, who is graduating — whilst adding a Top 5 recruiting class consisting of four very skilled players. It will be the deepest team Head Coach Steve Alford will have in his tenure.
Last year, the Bruins had 11 scholarship players, the most Alford had at that point. That increases dramatically next season after hitting the recruiting trail hard the last few years and is now bringing in a more skilled caliber of player.
The only problem is, teams are only allowed 13 players to be on scholarship.
This problem arose before November of 2015, just before 5-star power forward T.J. Leaf had committed to UCLA. With Leaf heading to Westwood, the Bruins brought on their 14th player with only 13 scholarships available.
The solution… pull senior-to-be Bryce Alford‘s scholarship and make him a walk-on, thusly opening up a scholarship for T.J. Leaf. So now that the Bruins have their roster solidified, it is now a matter of how they fit into the depth chart.
Projected 2016-17 UCLA Basketball Depth Chart
Next: The Starters