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UCLA Basketball: The Bruin’s Roster Is Quickly Thinning Out

By Mike Regalado

Jan 3, 2016; Pullman, WA, USA; UCLA Bruins guard Bryce Alford (20) and UCLA Bruins guard Isaac Hamilton (10) walks off the court after a game against the Washington State Cougars at Wallis Beasley Performing Arts Coliseum. The Cougars won 85-78. Mandatory Credit: James Snook-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 3, 2016; Pullman, WA, USA; UCLA Bruins guard Bryce Alford (20) and UCLA Bruins guard Isaac Hamilton (10) walks off the court after a game against the Washington State Cougars at Wallis Beasley Performing Arts Coliseum. The Cougars won 85-78. Mandatory Credit: James Snook-USA TODAY Sports /
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The UCLA Basketball team has lost three players for the start of the 2016-17 and though they were not going to be key contributors, it is starting to thin out the roster. Anymore losses could spell doom for the season that had so much promise after last year.

After having a surplus of players, the UCLA Basketball team is slowly being carved down. Noah Allen is off to Hawaii (graduate transfer), Kobe Paras left UCLA for Creighton (academic concerns) and just last week the Bruins lost Prince Ali for the start of the season (torn left meniscus).

Related Story: Prince Ali Will Be Out 4 Months With a Torn Meniscus

Despite having some talented players coming in and others developing, if the Bruins lose any more players, that could be very troubling.

Here is the thing, when 5-star power forward T.J. Leaf committed to UCLA in November of 2015, that potentially put the Bruins one player over the 13 scholarship limit. It would have been the deepest team in the Steve Alford era. That has changed since then.

UCLA Bruins
UCLA Bruins /

UCLA Bruins

Now Allen is gone, Paras never even saw a single game in blue and gold and Ali will miss the start of the 2016-17 season. The Bruins did not just lose three players,they lost three guards. That is right, the backcourt depth has taken the biggest hit and we aren’t even close to the start of the season.

UCLA now only has 4 scholarship guards healthy for the start of the season: Lonzo Ball, Isaac Hamilton. Bryce Alford and Aaron Holiday, with the first three potentially starting.

If the Bruins lose another guard, they are in serious trouble, but just the same, they will not be in a good position if they find themselves down a big man.

Currently, the majority of UCLA’s depth is in the front court. They have seven big men on scholarship for next season: Leaf, Thomas Welsh, Jonah Bolden, Ike Anigbogu, Gyorgy Goloman, Ikenna Okwarabizie and Alex Olesinski.

With the roster the Bruins were expected to have, it was projected that Leaf, Welsh, Bolden and Anigbogu would be the only big men that would see some proper time on the court, which is still doable, but if any of these four cannot play, that will continue to take UCLA Basketball down a notch in 2016-17.

UCLA now only has 4 scholarship guards healthy for the start of the season

The Bruins will then have to dip into their reserves which have not been very consistent. Unless they have some remarkable development this offseason, it is hard to imagine Goloman, Okwarabizie or Olesinski as reliable contributors.

Either way, what was supposed to be an action-packed season is quickly becoming a season starting below expectations. UCLA is once again with little depth and if another player goes down, that could be the difference between an NCAA berth and an NIT berth… or no berth at all.

Next: UCLA Basketball: Wooden Legacy Bracket Revealed

Either way, it is not looking god for the UCLA Basketball team. Hopefully Alford has a contingency plan for the season, especially since he will be under a microscope.