Josh Smith finally commits to UCLA

[Russ Smith]

Gotta admit I was starting to wonder, but he said it had been UCLA and UW since the 8th grade and he'd been pretty sure it was UCLA since his junior year but wanted to thorough before he made it official.

Smith is supposed to right around 300 pounds now so obviously the first order of business is get the kid on a better diet and workout program. He's about 6'10" so he's a big kid but he's too big right now, would like to see him a lot lighter when he arrives at UCLA.

FYI at halftime of the Cal game tonight on ESPNU, Adrian Branch said UCLA should be picked 6th in the Pac 10 behind Cal, UW, Oregon, OSU and Arizona.

Honestly can't get too mad at him, they get Roll back and then lose Honeycutt for a month. Still very thin at guard. Hopefully getting Smith and seeing how thin the backcourt is will persuade McCallum to pick UCLA/

 

[bko32]

This is great news!! He definitely will need to lose weight and get into better shape but he sounds like a good kid and understands that it's going to require a lot of hard work to play for Howland.

What's the likelihood of Barnes committing to UCLA?? I read that he had a great visit recently. Any chance at all that he heads to Westwood as well?

 

[Russ Smith]

This is great news!! He definitely will need to lose weight and get into better shape but he sounds like a good kid and understands that it's going to require a lot of hard work to play for Howland.

What's the likelihood of Barnes committing to UCLA?? I read that he had a great visit recently. Any chance at all that he heads to Westwood as well?

Considered to be very unlikely. He's announcing live on ESPNU this friday, it's thought to be Duke or UNC.

Supposedly getting Smith helps UCLA's chances with both McCallum and Terrence Jones. But I think Jones is a longshot, best chance is McCallum but many say he's going to play for his dad at Detroit, and UA might be ahead of UCLA on his list too.

 

[overseascardfan]

Considered to be very unlikely. He's announcing live on ESPNU this friday, it's thought to be Duke or UNC.

Supposedly getting Smith helps UCLA's chances with both McCallum and Terrence Jones. But I think Jones is a longshot, best chance is McCallum but many say he's going to play for his dad at Detroit, and UA might be ahead of UCLA on his list too.

This is why I hate UCLA, no offense Russ, but why do they need all those C's. They have Morgan, Stover and will have them when Smith steps on campus. I think its anyone's game with Jones and McCallum, I feel they will both be spring signings despite rumors Jones is announcing today.

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

Bobo sucks and Stover is a project. UCLA needs Smith.

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

Regarding McCallum, internet chatter seems to point to Detroit.

Definitely the first big recruiting blow to Sean Miller in his short time in Tucson if true.

 

[overseascardfan]

Regarding McCallum, internet chatter seems to point to Detroit.

Definitely the first big recruiting blow to Sean Miller in his short time in Tucson if true.

I think Miller kind of expects it. According to a GOAZCAT editor, Miller approached McCallum after the red-blue game with his father and told them that if Ray doesn't play for him (his father) that Miller would love for him to play here for him (Miller).

 

[Russ Smith]

This is why I hate UCLA, no offense Russ, but why do they need all those C's. They have Morgan, Stover and will have them when Smith steps on campus. I think its anyone's game with Jones and McCallum, I feel they will both be spring signings despite rumors Jones is announcing today.

All those C's I'll handle first.

Gordon is going to start at C for UCLA. If you saw the game tonight, much improved on offense, has a hook now, still tries to dunk from too far away. Defensively he's a work in progress, goes for every fake, goes for steals too much. Had 6 steals tonight but his man had 17 and 12 boards, he was out of position a lot going for those steals. Gordon wants to play the 4, he thinks that's his NBA position. honestly if Smith had not picked UCLA, Gordon likely would have transferred out after the season because he doesn't want to play the C his whole college career.

Morgan IMHO is not going to be a good college player. I hate to call a kid a bust who's worked that hard to overcome knee problems and weight, but his footwork is terrible. He makes a post move and nearly falls over because of his footwork. Stover played tonight, arms are FREAKISHLY long, but the talk is UCLA wants him to redshirt, it's a matter of if he agrees or not. his mom posts on BRO, so far she hasn't commented on the redshirt issue. My guess is he won't contribute at all this year if he doesn't redshirt.

Smith is out of shape but in shape he'll be the starting 5 next year. Gordon will be able to move to the 4 and compete with Lane and Nelson.

Lane debuted tonight, ok he's had a sprained ankle and just got over the flu.

Nelson played 11 minutes I think, plays hard, needs a go to shot inside because when he can't dunk he doesn't have one. Had a bad play at the end of the game he got a steal and as he was charging to the basket an opponent half grabbed half raked him across the arms. Nelson responded by flipping the ball at the guy, hit him in the head(not hard) and then popped off at him as he walked off the court. Love the intensity, could have used that against Villanova last year, but he's got to control his emotions. Gordon has the same issue with his temper.

My guess is, and this is a total guess, that Morgan will transfer out after the year. He seems to really like the players on the team so he may not, but he's not going to start ahead of Gordon and he's going to get stuck behind Smith too. I honestly think in a year Stover may be ahead of him too, he's more coordinated.

I would add Nelson to the transfer list if Drago and Keefe weren't graduating to open up more PT for him.

I'd trade one of those extra C's for a PG. Anderson looked ok tonight, rusty, but man he can turn the ball over and he still overpenetrates on the break.

 

[overseascardfan]

Well so much for the rating system as both Stover and Morgan were both 4-star recruits on Rivals. Here's to Miller going to look for the next AJ Bramlett an Bennett Davidson.

 

[Russ Smith]

Well so much for the rating system as both Stover and Morgan were both 4-star recruits on Rivals. Here's to Miller going to look for the next AJ Bramlett an Bennett Davidson.

Stover was always supposed to be a project. I frankly didn't think he was a UCLA level recruit but from what I've heard he's shown enough in practice that they think he'll be a good player eventually. Howland said after the exhibition no, when asked if he was redshirting.

Harrison Barnes picked UNC today, there had been rumors on UCLA sites that he was going to surprise UNC and Duke and pick UCLA but no such luck. Also now hearing that Terrance Jones may be leaning towards Oregon but will probably not announce early so he can see how teams play out the season.

So I guess we're all waiting on McCallum and no idea if he announces early and where.