Stanback Transferring

by Quickhands on Apr 30, 2008 4:07 PM PDT

From the official release:

UCLA men's basketball head coach Ben Howland announced today that 6-foot-8-inch freshman guard/forward Chace Stanback will not be returning for next season. Stanback, a two-time state champion from Los Angeles' Fairfax High School, will transfer to play his final years at another school.

Stanback, the 2007 California Division I Player of the Year, will leave UCLA after the spring quarter and hasn't made a decision as to where he will transfer.

"Chace [Stanback] is an outstanding young man and we appreciate what he did for this program this past year," Howland said. "He helped us win a Pac-10 championship and get to the Final Four and we will always be appreciative of his efforts. We are supportive of him and his future in whatever direction he decides to go."

Stanback averaged 1.0 points and 0.7 rebounds per game while appearing in 25 of the 39 games without making a start during the 2007-08 season. He played in 144 minutes (5.8 minutes per game) while shooting 40.4 percent (19-for-47) from the field and 33.3 percent (7-for-21) from three-point range on the year.

"After speaking with my family and thinking about it for a long time, I feel that it is in my best interest to explore other opportunities," Stanback said. "I want to thank my coaches and teammates because they have helped me improve as a player and grow as a man and I am thankful to them for that. I have a lot of great memories and really enjoyed my time here at UCLA."

http://uclabruins.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/043008aab.html

Can't say that I'm all that surprised by this news, given the heralded perimeter players joining the program next year.

Best of luck in the future, Chace.

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Comments

It's a shame

I believe he would have played a significant role either this upcoming year or certainly the year after. Good luck Chace, as long as you don't go to SUC.

by Tydides on Apr 30, 2008 4:11 PM PDT 0 recs

Too bad

He's a good guy and from all accounts, worked extremely hard. I think he could have been a good player for us, but oh well. Good luck Chace.

by ryebreadraz on Apr 30, 2008 4:36 PM PDT 0 recs

thats kinda weird

I expected him to get good playing time, I thought he started showing flashes of what could become a good sophmore year.

O.A.

by Ollie on Apr 30, 2008 4:48 PM PDT 0 recs

re: thats kinda weird

My thoughts exactly.

Proud to be a lifelong Bruin

by omnigeno on Apr 30, 2008 6:07 PM PDT up 0 recs

Ditto

by charnaw on Apr 30, 2008 9:26 PM PDT up 0 recs

Count me as one

who is not so surprised.

by bruin8uclap on Apr 30, 2008 7:55 PM PDT 0 recs

Surprising Move

With incoming guards and no real big men, plus Shipp saying maybe, it had to look clear that Chase had a shot if he worked at it. Look at Westbrook's improvement over a summer. Chase is 6'7" with a long wingspan making him a very good 3, but must admit he looked lost out there. Is this another Ariza in terms of having trouble adjusting to BH? Anyhow, just like K-Love and the others, we just have to move on.

Go Bruins!!!

by whittier71 on Apr 30, 2008 7:58 PM PDT 0 recs

Yep

"Is this another Ariza in terms of having trouble adjusting to BH?" Yep.

by bruin8uclap on Apr 30, 2008 8:36 PM PDT up 0 recs

This situation is nothing like Ariza's

Ariza was young for his grade and only went to UCLA because he was 17 at the time of the draft and was not eligible to turn pro. Ariza probably could have adjusted to Howland's style and demands, but he knew he was only in school until he could enter the draft and had no interest in adjusting to BH.

by ryebreadraz on Apr 30, 2008 9:30 PM PDT up 0 recs

Interesting Observation

If the rule is that you have to be 18 when you're drafted, why is it that Andrew Bynum is the youngest ever to play in the NBA at 18 years and 6 days? He had to be drafted in June, 4 months before his 18th birthday. Then the rule must have been changed from the 2004 draft to the 2005 draft. Either way, it's not a big thing, Ariza is gone and so is Chase, Ben is still coach and until proven wrong, it will be 4 Final 4's in a row.

Go Bruins!!!

by whittier71 on May 1, 2008 10:37 AM PDT up 0 recs

It may not have been 18 at the time of the draft

but it was 18 by a certain date and Ariza was too young for it. I can't remember the date specifically, I just remember it being well documented that Ariza wanted to go pro, but couldn't because of his age.

by ryebreadraz on May 1, 2008 11:23 AM PDT up 0 recs

This is disappointing...

... as I thought that Chace was in position to BLOW UP next year.

Think about it -- Chace is a 6-7/ 6-8 swingman, with freakish athleticism, and would have been one of only 5 guys on the team next year (assuming with JK, Gordon, LMRAM, and Drago, with no clue as to AA2) over 6-7.

VERY disappointing.

"In this program your passion bucket must be full to play SC." -- CRN, to Dan Patrick, 1/2008

by Meriones on Apr 30, 2008 9:39 PM PDT 0 recs

Um...

Freakish athleticism? Really?

What do you base that on exactly?

by Quickhands on May 1, 2008 12:51 PM PDT up 0 recs

I agree M

I thought Chace had the necessities - I'm sorry he decided to take the easy way out instead of competing. Ben is very achievement oriented - those who perform, play. Lorenzo is a great example of that. Anyway, sorry to see this very talented player leave.

by waters96 on May 1, 2008 9:43 AM PDT 0 recs

Surprised, but only a little...

While I expected Chace to stay and make a solid contribution this year, the news of him transferring doesn't shock me.

We had absolutely no guard rotation this year and Chace still couldn't win any time on the floor - not in conference play, not in the conference tournament with it's back-to-back-to-back games, and definitely not in the NCAA tournament. He had nobody to compete with for minutes on the perimeter after Roll went down and that was still a competition he could not win. If CBH did not yet trust the kid to come in for a few minutes and spell our guards, even when up by sizeable margins in the first half, he obviously wasn't too high on what he brought to the table this year. Now, that isn't to say Chace doesn't have potential - I certainly hoped he did - but the message that was sent to Chace was 'you're a long ways off from playing in this system'. Couple that with the fact that we've got 3 top-flight perimeter players coming in, Roll coming back from injury, and most likely 2 of 3 starters returning, and it's possible (I would even say highly likely) he would have been back riding the bench again this year.

As raw as RW was the previous year as a freshman, especially early on, CBH sure found a lot more time for him on the floor.

by cabz on May 1, 2008 11:33 AM PDT 0 recs

I agree

He must have seen the writing on the wall. If he didn't play when we had no guard depth, what makes us think he would play when they do.

by Dodger Hater on May 1, 2008 12:34 PM PDT 0 recs

Not sure what guard depth has to do with it

I always saw Chace as a 3, maybe a four if he gained a ton of weight. But a guard? I don't think he was ever projected to be a guard.

by Free the 16 on May 1, 2008 3:04 PM PDT 0 recs

4?

I also saw Chace as a 3, but that's where I saw Roll as well. Chace has a few inches on Roll, but he's not even close to the right body-type to be considered a power forward. He was 6'7, 190 when he came in... which makes him about 40 pounds lighter than Moute. He's certainly a lot closer to a SG/SF than he is to a SF/PF.

Even having another 2 or 3 with a perimeter-oriented game (read: Moute can play the 3 but couldn't knock down an open 15 footer last year) would have helped our guard rotation tremendously. I think it's pretty obvious that he was not ready to contribute, in Howland's eyes. I think that's par for the course for most Freshman, but everyone handles things differently. Given that he couldn't crack a thin line-up that NEEDED someone to step up, I'm not sure I'd put any large bets on him cracking the line-up with Roll, JS, DC, and three new highly-regarded Freshman coming in.

by cabz on May 1, 2008 4:32 PM PDT up 0 recs

i think it's unfortunate

I also thought next year would be his break out year, especially because we can use all the length we can get. Without a true center next year, Howland will likely have to do a two PF combo and that creates the need for all the big bodies we can get. He would've gotten some good minutes at the 3 and probably at the 4 if there's foul trouble for the big men.

by UCLAbruin920 on May 2, 2008 11:54 AM PDT 0 recs