From NBA.com:

To begin to understand the uniqueness of Collison’s college career, consider how rare it is for an elite player to spend four years in school. Of the 30 first-round picks taken in the 2009 NBA Draft, Collison was one of only six players to use up all of their NCAA eligibility. Few collegiate athletes in any sport enjoyed as much team success as Collison, with UCLA reaching the Final Four in each of his first three years. That begs the question: How did a player of his caliber and accomplishments not end up leaving school early for the riches of the NBA?

Collison did contemplate turning pro in the summer of 2007, following his breakthrough sophomore season. After taking over the starting point guard job in 2006-07 from ’06 NBA first-round draft choice Jordan Farmar, Collison made sure the Bruins didn’t skip a beat. He averaged 12.7 points, 5.7 assists and 2.2 steals, spearheading a second straight trip to the Final Four. At that point, Collison was already on Hornets scouts’ radar, but the front office believed that if Collison had entered the ’07 draft, he would’ve been taken prior to New Orleans’ pick at No. 13 (which the Hornets used to select Julian Wright). After weighing his options, though, Collison made a somewhat surprising decision, choosing to return to college despite being projected as a lottery pick.

"He had a great sophomore year, but he wanted to go back to school and do everything he could to help UCLA win a championship," Hagen explains. "We asked him about why he didn’t come out. He said he felt like he had unfinished business, that he wanted to get his degree, and that he liked it at UCLA. And who can blame him? He ended up making it to three straight Final Fours there, which is unheard of in today’s NCAA."

Throughout his UCLA tenure, Collison never was the flashiest talent, nor was he the most-discussed member of the star-studded Bruins. One of the nation’s best recruiting college programs of this decade, over the past four years alone, UCLA has produced Farmar, 2008 lottery picks Kevin Love (Minnesota) and Russell Westbrook (Oklahoma City), 2009 first-rounder Jrue Holiday (Philadelphia), as well as competent role players including Luc Richard Mbah a Moute (Milwaukee), Arron Afflalo (Denver) and Ryan Hollins (Minnesota). All of those future NBAers played at least one season with Collison.

"One thing I looked at quite a bit was the impact he had on his teammates at UCLA," said Hornets general manager Jeff Bower, who believes Collison helped several Bruins improve individually. "If you look at it, Westbrook in Oklahoma City had a very good rookie year (in 2008-09). Jrue Holiday was a top-10 talent and became an outstanding player. Both of those guys played off the ball at UCLA, because of the job Darren Collison did. (Collison) got them shots and distributed the ball. He has terrific playmaking ability. He has the attitude that we were looking to add, someone who knows how to play with others and be a great teammate."

On another college team with less offensive talent than UCLA, Collison likely would’ve produced more than the 11.5 points per game he averaged over his four seasons. But as Bower points out, individual statistics were secondary to the team success that the Bruins achieved.

You can rest of the piece here.

I am assuming Coach Howland and his staff have already emailed it to all UCLA recruiting targets up there. Just wanted to make sure any of you didn't miss it.

How else can we show our gratitude and appreciation for DC? I am out of ideas.

GO BRUINS.