We will have an open thread going up late this afternoon (prolly around 2:00 pm EST) to track the US Soccer team's final match against Brazil. As we have written before the reason we are following that action closely not just because we have a lot of soccer fans here on BN but more importantly the team is being led by a former Bruin - Carlos Bocanegra - and three other Bruins from UCLA's powerhouse soccer program. So we will do a quick little round up before the game with news and notes on other Bruins also representing the red, white and blue.

It looks like three UCLA basketball players including former Ben Ball warriors KL and RW are participating in the USA basketball national team mini-camp:

Three UCLA alums are among twenty-five top rising NBA players have accepted invitations from USA Basketball to participate in the 2009 USA Basketball Men's National Team mini-camp that will be conducted July 22-25 in Las Vegas, Nev. The selections were announced by USA Basketball Chairman Jerry Colangelo.

Trevor Ariza of the NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers, Kevin Love of the Minnesota Timberwolves and Russell Westbrook of the Oklahoma City Thunder are all scheduled to participate.

Ariza started on coach Ben Howland's first UCLA team (2003-04) before leaving after his freshman year for the NBA. Love earned consensus All-America honors in 2007-08 as a freshman and was the No. 5 selection in the 2008 NBA Draft. Westbrook played two years for the Bruins, enjoying a stellar sophomore season in 2007-08. He was the No. 4 selection in the 2008 NBA Draft.

More details on the camp over at the official site. Also the official site reports three former UCLA women's water polo player have been named to the US national team:

Former UCLA women's water polo standouts Tanya Gandy, Jaime (Hipp) Komer and Kelly Rulon have been named to the USA Women's Water Polo Senior National Team, as announced this week by USA National Team Head Coach Adam Krikorian.

Gandy, Komer and Rulon have been selected to the 14-woman roster for the 2009 FINA World Championships, scheduled to begin July 19 in Rome, Italy.

Both Komer and Rulon have represented Team USA in Olympic competition - Rulon in 2004 at the Olympic Games in Athens, and Komer in 2008 at the Olympic Games in Beijing. Gandy made her international debut on the U.S. National Team earlier this month at the FINA World League Super Finals in Russia.

Congrats and good luck to all of them. You can read all about their glorious UCLA careers over here.

Lastly, we will end the roundup zeroing on Carlos Bocanegra, the US team captain who will be leadingt the Yanks as an heavy underdog against Brazil in South Africa. He was in the middle of the Yank's history 2-0 upset over the Spaniards earlier this week. As Luke Cyphers from ESPN wrote it was Carlos who was anchoring the backline and essentially serving as the heart and soul of the American defense:

[I]t was nice to have one particular old friend back there manning the back line. "Carlos is our captain," Howard [U.S. goalie Tim Howard. - BN Ed.] said. "He's our heartbeat, he's our leader."

And when Bocanegra's head clears, he'll realize he helped lead the U.S. into the history books.

Here is to another glorious chapter for the Bruin captain this afternoon. See you in the open thread.

GO BRUINS.

This should be a big day on Bruins Nation. We are getting set for the NBA draft night. We will have an open thread up around 3 pm PST to follow all the festivities from NYC. We are hoping it will be a good night for DC and who knows perhaps there will be a miracle and JS will get picked in the second. While PAA is the longest of long shot, we will still use the thread to pay one more tribute to him and our other two seniors. Also, later today around noon PST, rye will be posting something very special concerning about our baseball team. I think you will want to come back for that.

Now let's get to some of our news and notes for today. Greg Biggins fom ESPN had a nice write up on the two commitments Neuheisel picked up earlier this week. Wesley Flowers told Biggins how staying close to his family was an important factor in his decision:

"My grandmother has raised me since I was three years old," Flowers said. "She wanted me to stay close by and her sister lives in Los Angeles. I have a lot of other family in Los Angeles as well so it's cool to have a nice support group. Plus Tevin will be with me and like I said, we're real close and always wanted to play together.

"I still want to take my trips, just to have my fun but my commitment is solid. I know I want to check out Washington and a few others. I've only been outside of California one time so I want to see what's out there but I'm solid with UCLA and excited to be a Bruin for sure."

Flowers is also willing to be flexible in terms of where UCLA coaches plug him in:

"So I camped on Sunday and did my thing and they liked me a lot. I worked out at both end and tackle and they asked me where I wanted to play in college. I said I'll play wherever helps the team win. I told them they were the experts and I trusted they would put me in the best place to maximize my ability. I have a frame for defensive end but could easily put on 40 pounds and play tackle so we'll just see how it goes."

Per Biggins Flowers will be playing "all over the line" in his senior year at Edison. So he is on track to develop as multidimensional lineman before coming into UCLA. As for Nottingham the word Biggins used is "polished":

He's very polished and will have a short learning curve when he gets to college, compared to most high school signal callers, because of the coaching he has already received and the pro-style offense he plays in.

As he continues to work out his mechanics, look for Nottingham's arm strength to improve as well. He has a college frame right now, is very accurate and understands where to go with the football.

As I said yesterday it is going to fun to find out what he can do when he is ready to compete for the starting job in about 2-3 years at UCLA. Staying on the topic of recruiting, look who was camping at UCLA:

The youngsters began their camps at UCLA today, and proud papa and former USC star Keyshawn Johnson was there to watch his son, Keyshawn Jr., participate.

LOL. One of my best college sports memories was to see our football team repeatedly beating up Meshawn's bunch from South Central. Of course now if his son wants to come over to the good side we will gladly welcome him just like we did with Tevin McDonald. Still it will be especially hilarious to see Meshawn having to put on a UCLA polo (just like Bill Walton had to out on those ugly red polos during Arizona games few years ago) if Keyshawn Jr. ends up in Westwood. Either way best of luck to the kid.

Speaking of athletes who are all about "me" Jrue Holiday opened his mouth again about life being not "fair" under Coach Howland:

Holiday is a viable option for the Knicks at No. 8. Holiday said Howland initially told him he would be the backup point guard when Collison was out of the game, but that didn't happen. "I didn't complain about it,'' Holiday said. "I asked him if I could play point a bit. But life isn't always fair."

Well few points here to add context for poor poor Mr. Holiday.

Many of us here including yours truly suggested earlier this past season perhaps Howland should have plugged in Holiday a little more at the 1 spot since he seemed to be a natural at him. However, Coach Howland used JA to back up DC for one major reason: he knew Holiday was going to leave after one year in Westwood. He didn't want UCLA to be in a situation going into next season where the roster wouldn't have anyone with legit college experience at the 1 spot. Coach Howland used JA as the backup because he wanted to get him a little seasoned before his sophomore year. In other words, Coach Howland used JA at the 1 spot over Holiday because he had his team's best interest in mind.

So for Holiday to mouth off to the press that "life isn't fair" because he didn't get to play pg at UCLA is just selfish and obnoxious. Yeah, like we are going to sit around and feel sorry for a primadonna who is about to make millions based on sheer hype without ever proving himself at the college game. Whatever.

Anyway, we will see how the NBA draft unfolds tonight. As mentioned up top we will have an open thread up starting around 3 pm PST. Here is to a good night for Ben Ball warriors who always put the team and the four letters above their own interests.

GO BRUINS.

As I was reading the stories this am about UCLA the theme became pretty clear right up front. It's about growing up experiences of student athletes who have (or will have the privelege) to put on a UCLA uniform in Westwood. Ovewhelming majority of the kids who have come through UCLA "gets it" in terms of what it means to develop and mature not just as an athlete but also as a young man or woman through their most memorable years on campus. Unfortunately every once in a while some don't make it and falter a bit. However, as noted above most of the time they shine, leave their mark as other Bruin greats and then come back to contribute even more to the family.

Today as we do this roundup, we will start with news on couple of kids who have a lot of growing up to do. First on the football front apparently E.J. Woods is considering transferring out of UCLA:

The 6-foot, 210-pound Woods plans to transfer to a junior college - College of the Canyons and Southwest Los Angeles College are two possibilities - and play for a season and then transfer to a four-year school, sources said.

He still wants to play in the Pacific-10 Conference, but it is possible UCLA would not release him to a team on the upcoming schedule. By going to a junior college and earning his associate's degree, Woods could transfer to any school.

UCLA planned to use Woods as a hybrid linebacker in 2009, with his focus on being a pass rushing specialist.

The hard-hitting Woods also has an outstanding legal matter. He still faces six misdemeanor counts of battery and sexual battery. A pre-trial hearing is set for Wednesday.

I don't think this is a story worth losing any sleep over. It doesn't matter what position E.J. settles into (if he wants to stick around at UCLA), it needs to take a back seat to his legal situation which needs to get resolved first. A kid like E.J. would be better served if he focuses on his off field related issues first (so he never ever again gets himself into a situation like that) before getting caught up with charging up the depth charts of a football program. If E.J. is not willing to learn that lesson, he and UCLA are better off if he learns it somewhere else.

Speaking of someone who has a lot of growing up to do, ESPN's Chad Ford has an amusing update on Jrue Holiday's workout in NYC (emphasis added):

Chad Ford: UCLA's Jrue Holiday was feeling the pressure. He was in New York today for a callback with the Knicks -- a team he would love to go to at No. 8. His first audition wasn't all that it should've been. He was overshadowed by more experienced players like Stephen Curry and Gerald Henderson. He struggled to shut down Curry defensively. He got frustrated. A little down. And then those old feelings of self-doubt, the ones that were on display all season at UCLA, started creeping up.

Apparently the Knicks (who you know have such a great reputation for talent evaluation) still invited him back for another workout during which he looked "much better" against Miami's Jack McClinton. Whatever. That's the second time in a week we have heard about Jrue getting frustrated in these workouts. It happened the first time in Minnesota. Reading these updates one gets the feeling that Jrue right now is doing everything he can to cash in on his reputation that was made in high school and during controlled settings of NBA draft workouts. Perhaps another reason Jrue Holiday didn't want to come back to UCLA was because he was afraid of getting exposed even more when given the responsibility of running a basketball team under intense pressure. Whatever it is, I guess under the current "one and done" rule can't really blame him for cashing out but on the other hand no one will ever mistake him of being a "Ben Ball warrior."

Speaking of Ben Ball warriors next year's freshmen are already on campus for summer school and look who is hanging around to teach the ropes. Coach Howland tweets:

Russell Westbrook came by earlier today. He is in the same summer school class as our freshmen! Its great to have him showing them the way.

RW is not the only alum hanging around Howlandwood:

Just sat with Arron Afflalo for a half hour in my office. He is up on campus lifting and playing everyday.

For some reason I can't see Jrue Holiday showing that kind of loyalty to Howland and the program after his first year in the NBA. Anyway, going back to the freshmen here is Howland's update from yesterday:

The Freshmen love it here already. What a great group! It was a lot of fun to sit with all of them together this morning before class.

If any of you are around campus this year and are checking out some of those legendary summer games at Howlandwood, would love to get some updates.

BTW freshman Ben Ball warriors are not the only freshmen who have checked in for summer school. Brian Dohn has this update re. freshmen joining the football team:

On campus today and saw freshmen offensive linemen Stan Hasiak and Xavier Su'a-Filo, and thought I would pass along how big and strong they look. In my six years covering UCLA, I cannot remember two offensive linemen coming into school with that size.

Here is to these guys having a healthy and productive summer. Right now going into next season our team is still a huge question mark. I think the difference between a 5-7 and 6-6/7-5 season will be a healthy and improved offensive line that will be able to keep our young QBs healthy and get our anemic running game going. These two kids might have the opportunity to emerge as a huge (no pun intended) factor in that OL.

So I can't wait to see and read about them in Fall camp starting this August. It will be fun to watch all of these growing up as Bruins in Westwood. I have high hopes that those two will have the opportunity to grow and develop and contribute to the efforts of rebuilding UCLA football, the same way AA and RW left their marks in Westwood.

GO BRUINS.

We will start the Monday offering our congratulations to the US Soccer team which had an incredible weekend down in South Africa. In an unbelievable fashion they were able to move on to the semifinal round of the Confederations Cup (international tournament featuring world heavy weights such as Brazil, Spain and Italy) by beating up African Champions Egypt by a score of 3-0.

Team USA needed multiple miracles yesterday to move on to second place in a group of Brazil, Italy and Egypt. They needed to make up a 6 goal difference with Italy and Egypt. Well Italy unbelievably lost to Brazil by a score of 0-3 and after the US beat up Egypt 3-0 they moved on to the semifinal round against Spain (who are on a 35 game undefeated streak). The reason we take note of this excitement here on BN is because of the strong Bruin connections with the national soccer team (which you can look up through our previous posts in the archives). Anyway, US takes on Spain as a huge underdog this Wednesday. They are going to be huge underdogs but after this weekend everything else is going to be gravy.

Okay now moving on to our own teams, Tobi Umodu in his latest weekly look into UCLA athletics gets excited about the football season:

There is nothing like the atmosphere of college football and at UCLA, that atmosphere is one of the best. Besides the fact the Bruins play in the world famous Rose Bowl and has been home to such greats as Hall of Famer Troy Aikman and future Hall of Famer Jonathan Ogden, the fans of UCLA football are as loyal as they come. No matter how bad or how good things have been, the Rose Bowl has always been filled with boisterous fans every Saturday.

The 2009 college football season is about two months away and tomorrow the UCLA football team will be on their final push before going up against San Diego State on September 5.

"We are working out four times a week. Running, lifting and throwing to make sure we are ready for our first opponent," said Senior Linebacker Mike Schmitt.

Nobody knows how disappointing last season was as much as the UCLA football team and they are making sure this season they will be ready come game time.

The Bruins showed some promise during the spring with the offense showing some more consistency and the defense continuing to dominate even without the sound defensive mind of former defensive coordinator Dwayne Walker. This is Coach Neuhiesel's second year and like he has done at the previous program he will make sure that history will not repeat itself.

Well Adam Maya from the OC Register believes the UCLA football team is going to improve (slightly) next season and compete for a spot in the bowl game. He offers 10 reasons why UCLA is going to be in a bowl game next season. I thought the following observation about UCLA being "one" team under CRN was interesting (emphasis added):

There was an obvious (and understandable) divide between the offense and defense mounting by the end of last season, the roots of which seemed to stem from a few seasons back. The current crop says that is all behind them. For now, I can only go off their word. "I remember when I was a freshman, there was hazing and all that stuff," Bosworth said. "We didn't really do that. We kind of took everyone under our wing. We made sure everyone is in the program, not steering away or unfocused. I think the offense and defense is one team."

Hmm. Seems to me like Adam is sensing something we sniffed out years ago by offering frank comments on the kind of product Dorrell was offering up on the field. It didn't take a lot to come to conclusion after three years of Karl Dorrell that chemistry was missing in the UCLA football program. It will take a while for CRN to undo the long term damage Karl Dorrell did to this program. If we can take an incremental step by putting together a 6-7 win season this year, it will be a major rebuilding block for the upcoming seasons.

Lastly, in case you missed it ESPN's Outside the Lines, did an interesting segment on NBA's "one and done" rule this weekend which included comments from our Coach Howland who has been talking about increasing the one year rule to "two years":

I thought Coach's comments was poignant. However, I am still not sure where I fall into this debate. While I don't think the "one and done" rule is working because it is allowing players like Jrue Holiday to lollygag for one year and waste everyone's time in college, I am not sure whether the two year rule will make a huge difference. There is also the idea of adopting the baseball rule, which is let the kids who want to go into NBA right away have their wish and for the rest who wants to try out college commit to three years in college.

Again, it's a topic that probably deserves a lot more well thought out discussion. So might as well open up the forum for it here.

GO BRUINS.

Wow. It looks like the North-South question put up yesterday had caused a little stir here on a slow weekend in the off season. I had a feeling it was going to make people come out and represent. As I somewhat expected it looks like the North is out to a commanding lead in our current poll. But I do know there are lot of Bruin athletics addicts on the South Side too. Even though I ended up on the North Side when I graduated, I spent my first two years on the South before the Physics 6 series finally came up as a rude awakening and huge obstacle to going to Strattons on Tuesdays for $1 pint night. Made the switch to North Campus and life became even more beautiful in Westwood. 

So for those Southies who manage to finish in style while not compromising the good times at UCLA, I salute you. I know you are out there and if you are make sure to vote so that us Northsiders can't gloat too much about it's us who really get behind our football/basketball teams.  Speaking of supporting our football/ben ball teams, if you are current student also don't forget to vote for your favorite Den shirt design for next season (HT Bruin4ever15)

As for some news and notes on this Sunday, Dohn reported recently that three UCLA incoming signees have their work cut out for them in this summer season to get into school:

Most of UCLA's freshmen football class will move in Sunday and begin summer school Monday, but three signees are in danger of not qualifying academically and have academic issues to clean up during the summer in order to enroll when August training camp begins.
Irvine High offensive/defensive lineman Nik Abele and Long Beach Jordan linebacker Taniela Maka both have work to do before being accepted into UCLA, according to sources.
Both players still have the possibility of taking care of their academic business before training camp begins, and if they do, both will enroll. However, if the academic situation is not rectified, either or both could still enroll in January 2010.

Also, JC transfers Eddie Williams has some work to do as well before enrolling in August per the same Dohn post. Good luck to these kids. Perhaps Brian Price can reach out to them or UCLA coaches can serve Price up as an example on how they can get themselves in a rewarding situation at UCLA if they stay determined and get their academics in order.

As football football players who have already completed their time at UCLA, some interesting news from the official site. Bunch of recent alums along with Coach Howard are participating in an a senior bowl game in Japan:

UCLA assistant football coach Todd Howard and six former UCLA football players are scheduled to participate in the New Era Bowl 2009. The bowl is scheduled for 6:00 pm on July 4 at Oji Stadium in Kobe, Japan. Howard and the six Bruins - wide receiver Brandon Breazell, fullback Chad Moline and wide receiver Mike Angelo on offense and defensive tackle Chase Moline, linebacker John Hale and cornerback Michael Norris - will leave for Japan on Friday, June 26. They will arrive on Saturday and practice for the week leading up to the game on July 4. They are scheduled to depart from Japan on Monday, July 6.

Good luck to them.

Lastly, it's Father's Day in Bruins Nation. So I thought I end the note with this great update from the UCLA Athletics tweeter feed:

Bob Field and Valorie Kondos Field had dinner with Coach Wooden and his daughter Nan tonight. Coach is doing well.

That was last night. So I am sure Coach is out in Southern California enjoying a wonderful Dad's Day. Wish everyone else here the same. Have a great Sunday and if you are not hanging out with your Dad today don't forget to call him and wish him a Happy Bruin Father's Day.

GO BRUINS.

More photos » by Paul Sancya - AP

MJD is planning on coming back to Westwood to finish school.

Browse more photos »

Unfortunately we have to start this Thursday with some tough news from the basketball coach. As number of you noted already in the fanshots last night DG was injured couple of days ago at the 2009 USA Basketball U19 World Championship Team Trials in Colorado Springs, Colo. Per the official site DG suffered a  "a partially torn patellar tendon in his right knee." Obviously he is out of the tryouts and is back in LA (he was scheduled to return last night). Coach Howland as always issued a calm statement:

"It is an unfortunate event, but Drew is a resilient kid and he'll get through it," UCLA Head Coach Ben Howland said. "We have a good Athletic Training staff and we will be here to support him."

Dohn reported the following comment from DG's mom - Shelly Davis - in today's Daily News:

"We won't know anything until he gets back to L.A.," said Gordon's mother, Shelly Davis. "We just don't know (about surgery). I'm just going to not panic without any information."

This is the second time DG has gotten injured at USA basketball competition. Couple of years ago, he broke his right hand in the 4th game of the 2007 USA Basketball Men's Youth Development Festival. Tough luck for the kid. The most important thing again for him and for our team right now will be to make sure he takes his time, listens to our trainers and be patient when working on returing to basketball. He needs to take his time and not rush it.

Obviously it hasn't been the best of off season for Ben Ball. News of two injuries in back to back days (while JMM is rehabing from his surgery) are tough setbacks for any program. But this is not something new for UCLA basketball. The non bandwagoners will know the kind of injury problems decimated Coach Howland's team in his third year during which his entire team became a mash unit during the season. I am confident Howland will guide us through it and do everthing he can to get other kids to step up as warriors.

Moving over to football, some really cool news out of Jacksonville about Bruin alum MJD. Per our friends at Big Cat Country (SBN's Jaguars blog) MJD is already thinking beyond his NFL career as he is attending the NFL's "broadcast bootcamp." Oh and he is also planning to return to UCLA to finish school (just like Aikman):

Jones-Drew, 24, is seemingly set for life financially, but he's already thinking about post-career plans.

"I want to continue with football whether it's coaching or broadcasting, something that's fun. I'd definitely like to stick around," he said.

Jones-Drew, who also plans to return to UCLA to earn his college degree, said he did some research when he was drafted and read "all the articles about players being broke after they've been out of the league three or four years. One of my main things is not to have that be me.''

Jones-Drew said he hasn't gone out and bought any fancy toys since signing his new contract.

"My thing is to get what I need, not what I want," he said. "I might get what I want later on. But right now, I don't need anything. I've got cars I can drive and I've got a house, and that's all I need right now."

I can't wait to have MJD on national networks. As we have seen over the years via many fanshots, posts, there isn't a bigger UCLA honk at the next level than MJD.

On the other end of the spectrum, some crazy news concerning a former UCLA basketball player Pooh Richardson. Per an AP report published in the Daily News according to an unsealed indictment Richardson passed along a tip from a detective friend in Philadelphia that feds were about the raid a home his half sister shared with a drug kingpin. According to the story Richardson is not charged in the indictment which accuses only the Philu detective of wrongdoing. Either way not a good story to get your named involved in.

Speaking of law and order, apparently it was 15 years ago yesterday we all experienced this:

OJ on the Run: The Bronco Chase (via zfacts)

HT to Lost Lettermen for that reminder.

Unforuntatey for me I never got to watch because I was driving one of those cars bottlenecked at the 405/Sunset ramp, as I was trying to get to Santa Barbara right after finishing my finals weeks of Junior year. OJ screwed it for all of us.

Lastly, since we are talking about getting screwed and Trojans, Andy Katz from ESPN is reporting that Trojies weren't able to land Jamie Dixon (from what we have heard they did have some serious discussions with him) so they are looking for Plan B: Reggie Theus. Katz reports:

Theus would fit Garrett's trend of hiring coaches with pro ties after hiring Pete Carroll from the NFL and basketball coaches with NBA ties including Henry Bibby, Rick Majerus and Tim Floyd in men's basketball and most recently Michael Cooper for the women's job.

Theus would also be a key hire in L.A. as a former actor and someone who possesses an engaging personality. Theus also has strong ties in the L.A. youth basketball community.

Well Theus would be just about perfect for Just$C*:

Let's get it done Mikey.

GO BRUINS.

Let's start the Humpday with some Ben Ball notes. We have some news concerning TH and scheduling. The news about TH is a tough. He is dealing with a back injury (that might require surgery this off season). From Brian Dohn:

[T]yler Honeycutt, a wing from Sylmar High and one of the freshmen expected to contend for a starting position, will not play this summer as he recovers from a fracture in his lower back.

He is hopeful the injury will not be an issue when practice begins in mid-October, but he was unsure if that was the case.

"Hopefully," Honeycutt said. "(Doctors) told me I'm going to need to rest for a couple of months. I don't know how long it's going to take to heal. They want me to stay off of it so it doesn't (fully) break and I have to go through surgery for it."

The 6-foot-9, 180-pound Honeycutt was hurt when he was undercut while jumping during the Academic All-American Classic on May 9. He said recent discomfort caused him to get X-rays, and he was diagnosed with a fracture "in the last bone of the back that connects to the hip" on the left side.

Honeycutt graduates from Sylmar on Friday, will move into UCLA on Sunday and begin summer classes Monday with the rest of UCLA's freshman basketball class.

"The main reason I'm going to summer school is so I can work out with (UCLA's) trainer," said Honeycutt, who added he is doing some shooting drills. "They don't want me doing any running or jumping.I've had back problems before and they want me to treat it like this for a couple of months. They want to get me in there as soon as possible and see what they can do to help me."

I guess the good news here is TH will be working with the UCLA folks to to deal with his injury asap. BTW I always there is just way too many all star games these days at the high school level. I don't see the upside to all these games after the regular season is already over. Anyway, I hope TH doesn't feel he has to rush through his rehab process. The key for him will be to stay patient and work closely with the UCLA trainers, who are some of the best in this business.

Staying with Ben Ball, the schedule for next season is out:

UCLA's 2009-10 men's basketball schedule is highlighted by non-conference contests in the 76 Classic in Anaheim, during Thanksgiving weekend; a home date with Kansas (preseason No. 1 by Andy Katz of ESPN) in the Pac-10/Big 12 Series (Dec. 6) and a trip to Notre Dame, Ind., to face the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame (Dec. 19).

In all, the schedule features 12 games against teams that were in the field of 65 in the 2009 NCAA Tournament and another possible three games against NCAA Tournament teams in the 76 Classic.

While the pairings for the eight-team 76 Classic (Nov. 26-29) have not been announced, the field is very impressive. Joining UCLA will be Butler, Clemson, Long Beach State, Minnesota, Portland, Texas A&M and West Virginia. Six of the eight teams in the 76 Classic made the 2009 NCAA Tournament field (excluding Portland and Long Beach State).

The Bruins will also play in the 16th annual Wooden Classic on Saturday, Dec. 12 at Honda Center in Anaheim against Mississippi State. This will be UCLA's seventh consecutive Wooden Classic appearance and 13th overall (9-3 in prior contests). Last year, the Bruins defeated DePaul 72-54 in the Wooden Classic.

"This year's schedule is very ambitious with the young team that we are going to have," Ben Howland said. "There are a lot of outstanding teams that we are going to play. The 76 Classic field is very impressive and Kansas will be a top five team in the polls. We also have a return trip to Notre Dame, which is always a tough place to play."

With the team we will have next season (which is going to be even younger (in terms of both game experience and age) than this year's team), I think the schedule is going to pose tough challenges. The games against Kansas (at Pauley) and at Notre Dame are going to be brutal. The faceoff with Mississippi State (if they are actually able to suit up Renardo Sidney) will be very interesting. And as Coach Howland said Pac-10 is going to be tough:

"The Pac-10 is going to competitive again this year," Howland added. "Washington is going to be very good again as will California. Six teams have advanced to the NCAA Tournament out of our Conference in each of the last two years, so it is going to be a tough race."

Speaking of the race, there are already some interesting predictions out there in terms of where our Ben Ball warriors are going to finish next season in the Pac-10. Jon Wilner from College Sports Hotline (a blog on the San Jose Mercury News' website) thinks UCLA will finish 3rd in the conference.  Nuss over at CougCenter posted his thoughts on losers and winners from the conference following the draft board shakeup and he also thinks UCLA is going to come in third. I think both of their takes are reasonable. However, given our inexperience I will be very happy right now if we finish in the top-4 of the conference next year and position ourself for a run in 2009-10 season. Anyway, going back to scheudling you can see the full slate on the official site by going here.

Before moving on from Ben Ball one more fun note to pass on. Apparently Rick Neuehisel has been helping out with hoops recruiting. From the Kitsap Sun (I gues some local paper in Washington):

Detlef Schrempf said his son Alex, who recently graduated from Bellevue, will walk on at UCLA. The 6-foot-5 forward helped lead the Wolverines to third place at the Class 3A state tournament. "Rick Neuheisel showed him around one day," Detlef Schrempf said. "He was sold."

As we have said many times, we haven't had a football coach who soaks up every aspect of our university and revels in being a Bruin like Neuheisel in decades. It's just awesome.

Lastly, let's end the roundup with an awesome story on Bruin legend Marcedes Lewis in his hometown newspaper the Long Beach Press-Telegram. Bob Keisser (one of the few Bruin alums who actually are part of Southern California's traditional print media) writes how Marcedes Lewis has been successul following college in stark comparsion to some of his team-mates from his legendary high school football team who chose a "different" route:

What's really intriguing to note is the success Lewis has had in the pros in comparison to his four good friends and fellow Poly seniors in 2001.

Hershel Dennis, Winston Justice, Manuel Wright and Bing went to USC as a package deal while Lewis resisted the pull to do likewise and stuck with his decision to play at UCLA.

That quartet enjoyed national chills and thrills at USC. Lewis was able to end his career with a 10-2 season in 2005. The pro divide has been one-sided.

Wright left USC early for the NFL and flopped, playing nine games in three seasons before being released. Dennis missed two college seasons, one for an off-field incident and one because of injury, and is out of football. Justice lost a season at USC, too, and he's made just one start in three seasons with the Eagles. Bing's tremendous potential has been held back by injuries. He finally got into his first NFL game in the Detroit Lions' finale last season after three years of pain and rehab.

Needless to say Marcedes' career in the NFL has been a little different from the aforementioned Petey coached Trojan busts. Marcedes was very clear the role UCLA played in his success at the next level:

"Honestly, I was always a leader, never a follower," Lewis said. "I have a lot of respect for (his Poly friends who went to USC) them. They made their decision and it never weighed on my mind. I was going to do what was best for me, and that was UCLA - the whole atmosphere, socially, the chance to play football and basketball.

"My mom and stepfather were supportive of me and it's the school they were comfortable with, which was important.

"I'm a hard worker, and no one can take away my work ethic. That alone helped me on this ride. But it was easier with the people around me. I've been blessed with support from my family and the chance to be around great coaches (at all levels) who helped make me the best player I could be."

A player who also understands that he can be a part of that support system now for a new generation of young Long Beach football players.

And I am sure Neuheisel and his coaching staff will make sure Marcedes lets all the next generation of young Long Beach football players know about this experience when they are considering UCLA.

GO BRUINS.

We will start our Tuesday roundup with some tough news from the football program. It appears that Osaar Rasshan's football career might be over:

Osaar Rasshan, who started three games for UCLA at quarterback, will undergo labrum surgery on his right shoulder today and take a medical retirement, ending his playing career, according to sources.

He is expected to remain with the program in a yet-to-be-determined capacity, but the retirement means the athletic scholarship is open.

If all of UCLA's incoming recruits qualify academically, the Bruins would be still two over the maximum 85 allowed by the NCAA.

Good luck to Osaar with his surgery and rehab. It didn't work out for him as a QB at UCLA. Hopefully he will be able to use his education from UCLA to find success in whatever he pursues after football. If he stays committed to program, I am sure the coaches will find a way to keep him involved. Good luck OR.

Moving on to hoops, DC keeps vowing team with his NBA draft workouts. Josh Greene posted the following review from Oakland Pre-Draft workout on Phoenix Suns' NBA website:

Darren Collison (guard, UCLA): "Darren was everything you’d expect from a kid who played point guard for Ben Allen for four years. A tremendous defender…. He knows how to play. Being the son of two track stars, it’s not surprising he runs like a track star. He always seems to be leading a break. Intangibly, he has all the things you look for in a point guard. He’s small and very lean, but very impressive – athletically and defensively."

Yeah, he really wrote Ben "Allen." lol Let's not hold it against him though. Josh and others are quickly finding out what we as Bruin fans were fortunate to watch for four years at UCLA. DC is special.

Switching gears over to soccer after a Bruin (and team captain) Carlos Bocanegra saved the day for Team USA this past weekend, the team officially named four Bruins (including Carlos) to its roster for FIFA Conderations Cup:

UCLA soccer alumni Carlos Bocanegra, Jonathan Bornstein, Marvell Wynne and Benny Feilhaber have been named to the U.S. 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup roster. The U.S. will play Italy, Brazil and Egypt in the tournament, which will be held in South Africa from June 14-28.

First up for the U.S. is a match against defending World Cup champion Italy on Monday, June 15. The match will be televised live on ESPN at 11:25 am PT. On Thursday, June 18, the U.S. will face Brazil (ESPN2, 6:55 am PT), and on Sunday, June 21, the team wraps up Group B play with a match against Egypt (ESPN2, 11:25 am PT).

If you are a soccer fan, these games are must see TV.

We will end the Tuesday with an update on Pete Carroll's bizzarre stand against keeping coach's kids away from team sidelines. The story has been picked up by number of outlets including ESPN. Predictably though the Trojan LA Times is offering up excuses as if it were Pete Carroll's surrogate:

Sidelines can be unfriendly places for kids. Heavy equipment is all over the place, and that's not including the 300-pound linemen. Grown men run out of bounds at a full sprint. Carroll once saw one of his own receivers sprain an ankle while avoiding a small child on the sideline of USC's practice field.

Uh huh. Yet somehow all the Pac-10 coaches except Carroll had no problem with coach's kids standing on the sidelines. Keith Arnold over at CollegeFootballTalk notes the obvious hypocrisy (which was not suprsingly omitted from the LAT's report linked above):

Funnily enough, an article in the Los Angeles Times less than a year ago, had Carroll speaking a different tune about sideline passes. "I wish everybody could have the experience," Carroll said then. "You can’t see anything, it’s not a great place to watch the game. It’s just kind of cool and fun to be there."

Of course, Carroll was speaking about the bandwagon celebrity contingency that help raise the Q rating of his program, not the family members of his coaching staff.

So what's the real explanation for Pete Carroll keeping little Joe away from UCLA sidelines so that he can hang out with his Dad?

Photo Credit: AP

Does Carroll hate Neuheisel that much that he is willing to extend that over to his little boy?  Again remember the key detail: Pete Carroll is apparently (per reports we have heard) the only Pac-10 coach who is against this. All other 8 Pac-10 coaches support the idea of being able to have their kids on the sidelines on gameday.

Is he going to maintain this stance all the way through Father's Day?

GO BRUINS.