Bruin Bites: Jose Mourinho Returns to Westwood (Again), Derrick Freeman Q&A, Cal Steals a Women's Hoops Recruit, and Army Honors UCLA Neuroscientist

It's the first weekend of June, but for some reason, it's been unusually cool/wet in California.  Despite the weather, the Bruins managed to stave off elimination against Fresno State yesterday (behind the excellent pitching of Trevor Bauer), June 4 marked the one year anniversary of the loss of UCLA's intergalactic treasure, the irreplaceable Coach John Wooden, and our men's golf team fell short in the semifinals against Duke.

So if you're stuck inside on what should have been another sunny California summer weekend, let's take a quick run through of the bits and pieces of news from around the UCLA-iverse:

• Jose Mourinho is returning to Westwood once again, with Real Madrid using UCLA as their base of operations for their U.S. preseason tour.  For Mourinho, his presence in Westwood is a regular occurrence, having previously used UCLA as a training ground during his time in charge at Chelsea, Inter Milan, and last year, with Real Madrid.  Cristiano Ronaldo, Iker Casillas, and their crew will arrive at UCLA on July 11, so if you want to see one of Europe's most successful sides, be sure to head out to campus once they arrive.
• The New York Daily News has a profile on former Yankees' first-round draft pick and current UCLA ace Gerrit Cole.  The highlight, of course, is Yankees' GM Brian Cashman lamenting Cole as the "one that got away."  UCLA's gain was the Bronx's loss, especially as Cole is projected to be drafted in the first five picks, well out of reach for the boys in pinstripes.
• The Oklahoman's online news division has a pretty short, but interesting, Q&A with UCLA men's golf coach Derek Freeman.  In it Freeman discusses returning to his home state for the NCAA championship tournament, his tradition of wearing a tie as UCLA's coach, and a couple of things that went wrong that cost the Bruins a championship on the links.
• Unfortunately for UCLA, the Cal Golden Bears managed to swipe one of the key recruits for the Bruins' women's hoops team this past week. Brea Olinda High's Justine Hartman, the number 7 ranked women's basketball recruit in the nation decided to switch her commitment from Westwood to Berkeley.  According to Hartman, the loss of Nikki Caldwell to LSU was a major factor in her switch.  All-in-all, losing Hartman to Cal is a significant blow to the program.
• Finally, switching from athletics to academics, tthe U.S. Army will honor UCLA's Dr. David Hovda, a neuroscience professor, with its Strength of the Nation Award, the highest civilian award given by the Army.  Hovda's work on traumatic brain injury hhas been significant in helping the Army properly assess and treat soldiers who receive such injuries during combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.  This is something the entire UCLA community should take pride in.

There's your Bruin Bites for this unusually rainy California summer weekend.  Stay dry and fire away with your comments, thoughts, or additions.

GO BRUINS