We're all excited about the Howland's recruiting haul for 2012 including the potential to nab Tony Parker in addition to Bazz, Anderson and Adams. And yes, dare I say it, we are now in the conversation for the national championship.

However, there is one definite one and done in this class, probably two, maybe even three.

Howland (although I can't read his mind) seems to have gone big and national in recruiting since Kevin Love (perhaps someone can help me with the hard statistics, local vs out-of state recruits). This begs the question: is this the right long-term strategy for UCLA Basketball recruiting.

Roughly speaking, there are three models out there:

Kentucky: The one and done model-get the best players nationally every year, have a shot at the NC, and start all over.

Duke: Also try to get the best national players, but intentionally recruit the role players who will stick around for three to four years.

Alternative UCLA model: Make sure we get the best players from California year in/year out at every position with careful attention to the team dynamics. The schools mentioned above simply do not have the local pool of talent that we do, so they do what they have to do.

This was Coach's way. Now you might bring up Lew Alcindor as a non-local. That's fine. I think we are going to get those great players if we have the lasting solid foundation.

The debate is on!