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What the Heck is Going on with UCLA Point Guard Situation?

UCLA is supposed to be PointGuardU not Coach's Son U - Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images

What the heck has been happening to UCLA since 2009 at the point guard spot? It is not just that we have missed but even the guys we have missed on have been disasters.

Let's start with the latest casualties.

UCLA begged Stevie Clark to graduate early from high school to be a point guard for UCLA a few years back. This was following up on the Matt Carlino leaving early debacle. Carlino was promised a chance at point guard and became BYU's point guard but he never saw a minute even in practice as a point guard at UCLA. Maybe because of that, Stevie stayed in school and ended up going to Oklahoma State where this happen:

Oklahoma State freshman guard Stevie Clark was dismissed from the team following a Sunday arrest on suspicion of outraging public decency, according to a statement released Monday.

. . . Stillwater police responded to a call about a man "urinating out of a vehicle window," according to The Oklahoman.

Clark, who averaged 5.3 points and 2.7 assists in 16 games, was suspended for four games at the start of the season for violating team rules. He missed a fifth game after the January arrest.

Then there is De'End Parker. Parker was an all-star JC point guard. De'End was a three for UCLA that transferred allegedly in part because of Reeves Nelson. After he left UCLA he was kicked off the San Francisco team.

Another point guard that briefly did commit to UCLA before changing his mind was Dominic Artis. Dominc was a key cog in Oregon's successful season last year. This year he was suspended for illegally selling shoes and has been so out of sorts that Oregon's coach benched him last week for a guy that had one effective eye and a face mask.

Of course UCLA's main point guard in the post 2009 years was Jerime Anderson. Jerime was only suspended for one game for stealing picking up an "unattended laptop." But that was during his "best" season. In his bad year, he was so lazy that he lost his job as starting point guard when UCLA did not even have a backup.

Should I keep going? Even the successes have issues.

Larry Drew II worked out well for UCLA and set the UCLA record for assists. However, Larry Drew II left North Carolina in a huff in the middle of the conference season when he was benched for one of the best pure college point guards of recent years in Kendall Marshall. Again, Drew II was good for UCLA but taking him had to be considered a very risky gamble.

Another one that worked out okay was Zeek Jones. I like Zeek Jones for his effort at UCLA but others have always said he was more of a combo guard then a point guard. Howland seemingly agreed making him the 2 his senior season.

I love Kyle Anderson who I think, and others are starting to agree, is the PAC 12 MVP but he can't defend a point guard. In a way he is a point power forward.

Remember the days when UCLA had two really good point guards who could play both ways? Darren Collison with Russell Westbrook, Jordan Farmar or Jrue Holiday. Or going back a bit further how about Earl Watson and Baron Davis? Or Darrick Martin and Tyus Edny. Or even further back Darrick Martin and Pooh Richardson. If Hazzard, Harrick, Lavin, and Howland 1 could recruit two NBA caliber point guards at a time it shouldn't be too much to ask to have one good college point guard.

As far as the immediate future; next year we have one "point guard" on the roster, Bryce Alford.

Does Tyus have any eligibility left?

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of BruinsNation's (BN) editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of BN's editors.

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