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UCLA Basketball: Like Neuheisel, Bruins can’t captialize on their rival’s turmoil

By Mike Regalado

TUCSON, AZ - FEBRUARY 8: Head coach Steve Alford of the UCLA Bruins and head coach Sean Miller of the Arizona Wildcats gesture during the second half of the college basketball game at McKale Center on February 8, 2018 in Tucson, Arizona. The Bruins beat the Wildcats 82-74. (Photo by Chris Coduto/Getty Images)
TUCSON, AZ - FEBRUARY 8: Head coach Steve Alford of the UCLA Bruins and head coach Sean Miller of the Arizona Wildcats gesture during the second half of the college basketball game at McKale Center on February 8, 2018 in Tucson, Arizona. The Bruins beat the Wildcats 82-74. (Photo by Chris Coduto/Getty Images) /
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The UCLA basketball team, just like the Rick Neuheisel-led UCLA football team, could not take advantage of the troubles that are currently possessing their rivals who are under scrutiny by the FBI. The monopoly is still not over.

Do you remember the ad put out a decade ago marketing new UCLA football Rick Neuheisel with the statement, “The football monopoly in Los Angeles is officially over”? It seems the same thing should have happened with the UCLA basketball team, although in a slightly different set of circumstances.

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Back in 2008, UCLA was bringing on a coach that had success at Colorado and Washington. With the Bruins coming off of four underwhelming years with Karl Dorrell, it looked as if UCLA would finally be able to compete and bypass the USC Trojans, who were swimming in NCAA sanctions.

It did not go well as UCLA continued to lose to the Trojans on the field and on the recruiting trail. It ultimately led to Neuheisel’s termination as he went 21-30 as the Bruins’ coach.

Currently, an FBI scandal has rocked UCLA basketball’s two biggest Pac-12 rivals as Arizona and USC (both of whom are currently no. 1 and no. 2 in conference, respectively), are wrapped in controversy involving coaches and alleged payments to their players.

Before the season, the FBI had arrested several coaches that had been connected with illegal payments to recruits. Arizona had fired assistant coach Emmanuel Richardson for his involvement in federal bribery charges. USC’s assistant coach Tony Bland was fired for the same reason, but both of these storylines were just the beginning.

USC lost a prized recruit/player, De’Anthony Melton, who declared for the NBA last week after the FBI investigation had linked him to payments being taken by a family friend (though it has not been alleged that Melton had any involvement with the situation or took money for himself). USC also has two players, Bennie Boatwright and Chimezie Metu, that were named in a report by Yahoo Sports last Friday in regards to players involved in an FBI probe.

Then there was the Friday night bombshell that had Arizona head coach Sean Miller feeling the heat after tin was announced that wiretaps have apparently caught him discussing a $100K payment for current Wildcat big man Deandre Ayton. The early fallout from this had Miller sit out Arizona’s Saturday game against Oregon, which ended in a loss. Ayton was cleared to play despite the accusations.

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Even Washington might be in some hot water as their superstar from a year ago, Markelle Fultz, was named in the Yahoo report.

And while all this is happening, UCLA basketball has not been named or connected to any of this and it is unfortunate because like UCLA football a decade ago, the Bruins have not been able to capitalize on taking the Pac-12 for themselves.

The Bruins had their own troubles with the mess three players made in China back in November which sparked an international shoplifting incident involving Cody Riley, Jalen Hill and LiAngelo Ball. Since then, the Bruins handled the situation by suspending all three (Ball decided to leave school because of this).

like Neuheisel, Alford cannot get his team to capitalize on the schadenfreude that is unfolding in front of our eyes

In that time without the two remaining suspended Bruins, UCLA has done well with bing wins against Kentucky, Arizona and USC. The problem is that they have been upstaged by the likes of Creighton, Michigan, Stanford, Utah, Colorado, Oregon State and Oregon. This is not good for a team that aspires for National Championships. This is not good for a team that has upped their game on the recruiting trail. This is not good for UCLA.

This past weekend, UCLA had a chance to gain ground in the Pac-12 and stay in contention for a regular season conference title (something UCLA has not won in the five years head coach Steve Alford has been in charge). Instead, they lost to the lesser talented Utah and Colorado teams. Now the Bruins are in danger of missing out on a Pac-12 tournament first round bye.

There are several things that are proving to be out of UCLA’s control which could take down their rivals, but much like Neuheisel, Alford cannot get his team to capitalize on the schadenfreude that is unfolding in front of our eyes. Instead, he has to watch both Arizona and USC momentarily rule the Pac-12 landscape, even with all of this controversy hanging over their heads.

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The worst part is that UCLA has the potential to be a solid NCAA Tournament team with all the talent on the roster. It is just unfortunate that they do not have the leadership to get them there.