Brandon Williams is another piece that will be returning to the 2026 roster for UCLA

Brandon Williams announced that he will return to UCLA next season. Marking off another contributor from this past seasons team that will be back. Williams is seen as a spark plug that played really good defense down the stretch for the Bruins. He displayed some offensive skill as well such as the Michigan State game. A game in which he had nine crucial points in an 88-84 win which they did without Tyler Bilodeau for a majority of the game.

Williams showed he could be trusted in high leverage situations late in the season. Although for the season he only averaged 2.6 points and 1.9 rebounds per game. He will get more of an opportunity to show what he can do in 2026. The same goes with Eric Freeny who also announced that he will return for 2026. The bench is something that UCLA will need to improve and see growth in players games. There was a ton of inconsistency in 2025 from that unit.

Williams at 6’7 has good size at the guard position and moves his feet well on defense. That will be relied upon again in 2026 to help on defense and to absorb some of the load of scoring being left behind by Donovan Dent and Bilodeau. Williams and Freeny need to be ready to take that next step in their game. As there is still a ton of time to add transfers but nothing is guaranteed.

UCLA secured the returns now of Williams, Freeny and Xavier Booker. They now wait to see if Trent Perry and Eric Dailey Jr. will be returning as well. After that, the biggest dominoes to fall will be whether the NCAA gives Skyy Clark his extra year of eligibility. Between Clark, Dailey Jr., Perry, Dent and Bilodeau. That is 67 of their 77.7 points per game. So, there are still some important decisions upcoming for some players.