Howland signs Russell Westbrook

by Odysseus on Apr 21, 2006 1:11 PM PDT in Recruiting

Howland continues building the fence around SoCal:

Russell Westbrook, 6-3, 180-pound shooting guard from Leuzinger HS (Lawndale, CA), has signed a National-Letter-of-Intent to play basketball at UCLA, Bruin head coach Ben Howland announced Friday. Westbrook will be an incoming freshman next fall.

As a senior this season at Leuzinger, Westbrook led the Olympians to a 25-4 overall record and advanced to the quarterfinals of the CIF Div. IAA. Westbrook averaged 25.1 points, 8.7 rebounds, 3.1 steals and 2.3 assists. He connected on 57 three-pointers and shot .760 from the foul line.

"I'm very excited about Russell Westbrook's decision to join the UCLA family," Howland said. "He's an outstanding basketball player who is an equally impressive young man. I think he's going to be able to come in and compete and help us win basketball games immediately."

A first-team All-CIF performer, Westbrook was third-team All-State and a two-time All-Bay League MVP. Scout.com rates Westbrook as the No. 2 shooting guard in the West and as one of the Top 25 shooting guards in the nation. He was also a first-team Daily Breeze selection and the Wave Newspapers named him the Player of the Year.

[snip]

Westbrook is UCLA's third NLI signee, joining - McDonald's and Parade Magazine All-American 6-8 220-pound forward James Keefe (Rancho Santa Margarita HS) and 6-9, 225-pound post player Marko Spica, from Belgrade Serbia and Montenegro.

With Farmar and AA declaring, there is room for another guard. I'm thinking only Farmar will leave, and AA will return.

I sure am glad we have DC. Shipp returns, Keefe will be a real player, Spica will help in the paint, and Mata, Luc and Aboya should all improve with more time in the weight room and more time under Ben's tutelage.

Anyone who knows more about Westbrook, please chime in. He sounds like a good signing.

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SO, in BH's 3rd year...

... we lose:

-- a 6-6 defender/ ballhandler with limited offensive production at the 1/2/3 positions,

-- a 6-11 leaper/ rebounder/ shotblocker at the 4-5 positions,

-- a 7-0 center with limited playing time,

-- a 6-4 scoring guard with even less PT, AND

-- POSSIBLY, a 6-2, all-Pac-10 PG.

To reload/ replenish, BH signs:

-- a 6-8, McD All-American at the 3/4 positions,

-- a 6-9, Euro-sleeper (sorry) for the 4/5 spots,

-- a 6-2, All-CIF combo guard with surprising rebounding stats, AND

-- a 6-1, apparently solid, AND academically succesful, PG from out-of-state...

...AND gets back our starting SF.

THIS is how you restock the cupboard.

MIM

by Meriones on Apr 21, 2006 2:08 PM PDT reply actions

Not quiet ...

I don't think we have lost AA and JF yet. Let's not make any definitive conclusions until the story plays out. Thanks.

by Nestor on Apr 21, 2006 2:17 PM PDT up reply actions

ok ... my bad ..

I see you were referring to Ced and Janou, not necessarilly AA.

Then again who knows if AA plays lights out in the workouts he could be gone. Again I am betting he comes back ... but then again this is UCLA ... so I will always assume the worst (feel like a Red Sox fans when dealing with UCLA sports during last few years).

by Nestor on Apr 21, 2006 2:28 PM PDT up reply actions

Yep, meant Ced and Janou...

...although I understand your concern about jumping the gun.

The point is, if, if, IF!!! we lose JF or AA or both (and I still think it's better than even that we keep both), Coach has us ready to weather the storm.

These are most decidedly NOT the days of having 3 PGs one year, and none 2 years later.

MIM

by Meriones on Apr 21, 2006 4:20 PM PDT up reply actions