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.

Bumped. Welcome to Westwood Coach Moses. GO BRUINS. -N

Wayne Moses was hired as the new Running Backs coach. Apologies if this has been posted somewhere already. Welcome, Coach Moses!

Here is the official release:

A familiar coach in the Pacific-10 Conference, Wayne Moses has been hired as UCLA's new running backs, Bruin head coach Rick Neuheisel announced today.

"Wayne is an outstanding running backs coach," said Neuheisel. "He is a great teacher and gets the best out of his players. He has enjoyed success wherever he has coached and we certainly had outstanding running games at UCLA and Washington during our time together. Wayne is a great fit for our staff, having worked with (offensive coordinator) Norm Chow and (defensive coordinator) DeWayne Walker at USC and (offensive line coach) Bob Palcic and myself at UCLA. Most importantly, he and (his wife) Rosalind are great people."

Moses spent the last two seasons as running backs coach for the St. Louis Rams. In 2007, Stephen Jackson rushed for 1,002 yards. In 2006, Jackson earned his first Pro Bowl berth after rushing for a career-high 1,528 yards (third in the NFC, fifth in the NFL). Jackson also caught 90 passes, a total that led NFL running backs and was fourth in the NFC (tied for seventh in the NFL). Jackson's 2,334 yards from scrimmage led the NFL and his 105 first downs led the NFC, second in the NFL. Jackson's 96 points tied for the NFC lead, tied for third in the NFL, in scoring for non-kickers.

Prior to joining the Rams, Moses had a 28-year college career, coaching running backs at five Pacific 10 schools since 1990, with tours at UCLA (1990-95), California (1996), Washington (1997-2000), USC (2001), and Stanford (2002-03 and 2005). Moses spent 2004 at the University of Pittsburgh. Some of the great Pac-10 players who have worked under Moses include Karim Abdul-Jabbar, Kevin Williams, Skip Hicks, and Shawn Wills at UCLA, Deltha O'Neal and Tarik Smith at Cal, Willie Hurst and Rashawn Shehee at Washington, and Kenneth Tolan and Kerry Carter at Stanford.

Moses, 53, worked with Bruin head coach Rick Neuheisel as fellow assistants at UCLA from 1990-93 and also worked for Neuheisel at Washington in 1999-2000. In their final year together, Washington won the Pac-10 title, went to the Rose Bowl and finished No. 3 in the final polls. In addition, he worked with new offensive coordinator Norm Chow and defensive coordinator DeWayne Walker at USC in 2001. He also worked with offensive line coach Bob Palcic at UCLA in 1993 when the Bruins won the Pac-10 title and played in the 1994 Rose Bowl.

In 2004, Moses was part of a Pitt team that won the Big East Championship and advanced to a BCS Bowl for the first time in school history. The Panthers won six of their final seven regular season games to earn a Fiesta Bowl berth versus Utah.

Read rest of it here.

Bumped. CRN nabs arguably the greatest OL coach ever to teach at UCLA. If you can't remember, just dust off the tapes from the 1993-94 UCLA-Southern Cal game, and watch how Ogden and co. annihilated the TrOJans. Yeah, it was Coach Palcic who was in charge of that line anchored by Ogden, Parker et al. Welcome back Coach Palcic. GO BRUINS. -N

Apologies if posted already. Okay, so this hasn't been confirmed by Coach Neuheisel himself or the local papers but...

According to this article, Bob Palcic has agreed to be the new UCLA OL coach. I don't remember him from his time at UCLA, but I'm sure there are plenty on this board who do and can fill the rest of us in.

Some excerpts from the Capital Times at Madison:

It was a natural fit for Palcic, 59, who will coach the O-line for Neuheisel. "We've been friends for a long time, and he wants me to go out there and help him resurrect the UCLA program, and I thought that's what I should do," Palcic said Sunday. "We've stayed in touch over the years. And he has always asked me if I would go with him if he ever got another head coaching job, and I always told him that I would. So when he called me up and offered me a substanial raise, I just thought it felt right. This is really the first opportunity we had to get back together."

"I'm happy that Rick has another opportunity at his alma mater," Palcic said. "He's well-liked in the UCLA community. And he's learned from whatever mistakes he's made in the past. I know he's intent on putting together a good staff, and we'll all roll up our sleeves and see if we can turn things around. I know Rick well, and I know what he wants to do offensively. He's a very intelligent guy, and I've always been impressed with his offensive mind. Having already been there (UCLA) for a year, it will be much easier going into the situation."

"Initially, it won't be easy for us. But the last time I was at UCLA, we were the best team in town, and I believe we can do it again."

UPDATE -N: The Palcic file courtesy of BadgerNation (from 2006): The Bob Palcic file
2000-05: tight ends, New Orleans Saints
1999: offensive line, Cleveland Browns
1997-98: tight ends, Detroit Lions
1994-96: offensive line, Atlanta Falcons
1993: offensive line, UCLA
1992: offensive line, USC
1986-91: offensive line, Ohio State
1984-85: offensive line, Arizona
1982-83: offensive line, Toronto Argonauts (CFL)
1978-81: offensive line, Wisconsin
1976-77: offensive line, Ball State
1974-75: linebackers/offensive line, Dayton
1973: graduate assistant/linebackers, Ball State Yeap, a TrOJan assistant who helped us win the Pac-10 in 1993. GO BRUINS.

UPDATE II -N: From Wisconsin's official site: Among the college players Palcic has coached are: current Baltimore Raven All-Pro tackle Jonathan Ogden, third-team All-American and NFL veteran (Green Bay and Houston) Mike Flanigan and first-team All-American and 11-year NFL player Vaughn Parker (all of UCLA); All-America tackle Tony Boselli (USC); first-team All-Big Ten offensive linemen Bob Maggs, Jeff Uhlenhake, Joe Staysniak, Jeff Davidson and Alan Kline (all at Ohio State); All-American Ray Snell (Wisconsin). Not bad at all. Well played Coach Neuheisel. Keep it coming. GO BRUINS. -N

UPDATE III - N:Interesting article from local Wisconsin paper - the La Crosse Tribune - on what kind of job Coach Palcic did with the Badger offensive line: When Bob Palcic arrived as the University of Wisconsin offensive line coach before the 2006 season, he inherited an all-world left tackle in Joe Thomas and not much else.

Thomas, who was coming off major knee surgery, and Kraig Urbik were the only returning starters. Urbik, who started every game at right tackle as a redshirt freshman in 2005, was promptly moved to right tackle.

''They were a good offensive line here the year before I got here,'' Palcic said. ''They lost some key people. We had to pretty much start from scratch. We had Joe Thomas, but there were a lot of holes in that offensive line, with not very much depth.''

Palcic has done a commendable job of patching things up, and for the most part the line has been solid in his two years. But it won't be until next season that Palcic will get what he wants: Depth and competition at every position.

''Next year, we'll be the strongest line in the three years I've been here,'' he said. Well, I know there have been some concerns (based on CRN's Washington experience) about CRN's ability to develop (and bring in) a good OL. I'd say this is a solid start. GO BRUINS.

UPDATE IV -M: It's official. From the formal release: Bob Palcic, who spent the last two seasons coaching the offensive line at the University of Wisconsin after 12 years in the National Football League, has agreed to join the UCLA coaching staff, Bruin head football coach Rick Neuheisel announced today.

Palcic brings over 30 years of experience to Westwood, where he also coached in 1993. UCLA won the Pacific-10 championship that season and played in the 1994 Rose Bowl. The Bruin offensive line featured seniors Vaughn Parker and Craig Novitsky, both of whom earned All-America honors and played in the NFL. It also included sophomores Jonathan Ogden, 1995 Outland Trophy winner and NFL All-Pro, and Mike Flanigan, who has been an NFL star for over a decade. Neuheisel was also an assistant on that Bruin staff.

"Bob is one of the top offensive line coaches in the country at any level," said Neuheisel. "The young men in our program will be able to draw upon his wealth of experience to assist in their development as players on the field and men off the field. I can't tell you how thrilled I am to bring Bob back to UCLA."

GO BRUINS.

Bumped from the diaries. GO BRUINS. -N

I know that there have been some people who haven't cared what USC thinks about our coaching search or who we hire or whatever, but I wanted to share this.

One of my closest friends played football at USC from 2000 to 2004. He played for Hackett, and then for Carroll/Chow. You don't have to worry about this being "Trojan spin" because he and I have been friends for about 15 years and I trust his opinion.

On Chow...He said to me, and I quote, "You are SO LUCKY that you didn't hire Chow. I played for him, and know him personally, and he would have been a disaster as a head coach." He said that all the so-called personality issues are very real and would greatly impact his ability to be a successful head coach. And by the way, my friend loves Chow, but is 100% convinced that he would have been a disaster of a head coach. And that on the recruiting trail, Carroll would have eaten him alive.

So I asked him....which coach being hired at UCLA would scare you most? And while USC is as scared of UCLA football as we are of USC basketball (read: not at all), he said Neuheisel, hands down. He believes that RN would be able to go head-to-head with Carroll for every single recruit in Southern California. Right now, if all things are equal with a recruit, Carroll has the advantage, being a superior salesman. He believes that RN would eliminate that disparity, and that USC and UCLA would have to legitimately fight it out for all the top-notch recruits.

Take that for what it is worth, but it's coming from a guy who knows his football and knows the Pac-10 and SoCal recruiting landscape.

And now on to my thoughts on RN....I am disgusted by the amount of vitriol that has been spewed about RN on various message boards. RN has been discussed and treated like some sort of sub-human being, unworthy of breathing the same oxygen as the rest of us. The guy has made mistakes. He was a very young head coach, he cut corners, and got busted for it. While there certainly were a lot of violations, they were minor in nature. He wasn't exactly out there strangling hookers to protect his players. The way some people have spoken about him has truly made me sick.

I think RN is a very good coach. And while no coach is a guarantee for success, I think RN is a pretty safe bet. It's a myth that he "destroyed" programs. At CU, they had disciplinary problems before him, and after him. Maybe there's just something in the Boulder water supply. At UW, everyone knows he got a raw deal, as he was so vindicated in court.

RN has won a Rose Bowl, both as a player and as a coach. He can coach, he can recruit and he wants the job badly. He's not the perfect candidate, but who is? What I can't stand is this holier-than-thou attitude of some UCLA fans, who sit atop their ivory tower and look down on RN as the scum of the earth. That's unfair, and undeserved. It's not a morality contest. We're hiring a football coach.

There has been much said about us being the laughing stock of college football with the "search" we are conducting. I disagree. UCLA football is so irrelevant that we cannot possibly be the laughing stock of college football because the college football world doesn't give a shit about UCLA football. And to be honest....that's a far sadder position to be in than to actually be the laughing stock.

I feel like I have rambled long enough, and I don't know if any of this will come out coherently. If we're not going to hire RN, then I say we just triple Ben Howland's salary, and let him coach football and basketball. Who is with me?

Go Bruins.

ESPN has an article grading the various coaching searches and hires that have taken place this off-season. For UCLA, the current grade is Incomplete, for obvious reasons. Thought it might be of interest to some people. There isn't any earth-shattering information in the article, but it provides a nice look into what has been going on in athletic departments around the country these past few weeks.

Here is the excerpt about the UCLA search

"The process: The Bruins are slowly moving along in their search for Karl Dorrell's replacement. Dorrell was fired after leading UCLA to a 35-27 record and a bowl game in each of his five seasons. Former USC offensive coordinator Norm Chow, now the offensive coordinator with the Tennessee Titans, appears to be one of the front-runners. So does former Washington and Colorado coach Rick Neuheisel, now offensive coordinator with the Baltimore Ravens. Philadelphia Eagles secondary coach John Harbaugh, brother of Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh, will interview for the UCLA job. Interim coach DeWayne Walker, the Bruins' interim coach, also has interviewed for the job.
Grade: Incomplete" Does anyone think we will have a coach before the Las Vegas Bowl? It seems unthinkable that we won't, but who knows at this point.

Also, will be at Pauley tonight for the slaughter of the Leathernecks. Will try and take some good pictures and post them afterward.

Rivals.com has a story up where two of its writers picked the college basketball coach that they would most want to build their hypothetical program. One writer picked Kevin Stallings of Vanderbilt (a very good coach) but the other picked our very own Ben Howland. In my opinion, and I know this is shared my many others, Coach Howland is not only the best program builder, but the best coach in college basketball, hands down.

A couple of excerpts...

"That's why I'm taking Ben Howland. Very few places have more pressure than UCLA, and Howland has handled it marvelously. He has led the Bruins to back-to-back runs to the Final Four, and no one would be surprised if they make a third consecutive trip to college basketball's promised land."

"Howland has also proven he can adapt styles to his personnel. When speedy point guard Darren Collison moved into the starting lineup last season, the Bruins immediately began playing at a faster pace and scoring more points.

Most importantly, Howland's teams play great defense and have great chemistry. Those are perhaps the two biggest keys to winning it all, which I have no doubt Howland will do someday. "

The article isn't a whole lot more than I just copied and pasted, but here is a link for those that are interested.

http://collegebasketball.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=751925

GO BRUINS!

What a great moment for a great Bruin!

South Gate HS, Lorenzo's alma mater, recently retired his high school basketball jersey. A great accomplishment for Lorenzo and I'm sure the whole South Gate community is very proud of him, just as the Bruin community is!

I love seeing Coach Howland there, as well. Not that I didn't expect him to be there, but I still loved to see it. In watching him or listening to him talk, you just know how much Coach Howland cares about his players and how badly he wants to see them succeed, both on and off the court.

Anyway, thought some of you would enjoy this video. It's about 7 minutes long. Hope no one has already posted it.

Congratulations, Lorenzo and GO BRUINS!

I need to write a bit more to hit the 200 word minimum, so here goes. I've been very pleased with Luc's play recently. He's been really active attacking the basket, and just looks so much more comfortable now that he is back to primarily playing the 4 spot. Even though it was ISU, Collison does look like he is getting back to full strength, and it was great to see Mike Roll hit a couple of 3's. He needs to hit some now to get his confidence back up to where it was before he got hurt.

Hard to disagree with the sentiments posted over at the CoachesHotSeat Blog:

UCLA - This has been another coaching search full of leaks.  Next thing I am going to read in the LA papers is that Dan Guerrero has gone to the bathroom and on his way back to his office he took a call from another coach that wanted to talk about the UCLA job.  Are these LA reporters camped out in Guerrero's office, or is there someone at UCLA who calls up these reporters every time someone makes a move on the coaching search front?  Why the people at UCLA feel the need to broadcast their every move is beyond us, but these are also the people that immediately eliminated from consideration the one and only guy that wants the job that also fits everything that Guerrero wants in a new head football coach.  That coach is Texas Tech's Mike Leach.  We are not quite sure why Leach was removed from consideration so quickly, it could have been pressure from the Pac-10 office who hate Leach's honesty, or it could have been that Guerrero doesn't want a head football coach that will actually stand up and tell you what he is thinking.  As for the candidates that have been mentioned by the LA papers, DeWayne Walker, Norm Chow, and Rick Neuheisal, we cannot help but say, WHAT?  None of these guys remotely fit the parameters that Dan Guerrero outlined in the press conference after the firing of Karl Dorrell, and as for what the Champions across town at Heritage Hall think of the above 3 men.....Wait, the USC people are laughing hysterically as they imagine facing off with any of these guys in the coming years.  UCLA should be hiring a proven head coach that has won on the Division I-A level, and if they hire one of these other guys and it doesn't work out, Dan Guerrero is going to find that no matter how many championships you pile up in other sports, no one gets a 3rd chance to hire a football coach.  We will be watching with great interest the rest of this UCLA coaching search, because up to this point it has been a great disappointment.

Bumped from the diaries. Quickhands flags a must read article for everyone interested in our coaching search, that gives us a lot to think about. GO BRUINS. -N

Apologies if this has been posted before. The NY Times Magazine from December 4, 2005 has a long profile of Mike Leach. It is written by Michael Lewis, author of "Moneyball" and "The Blind Side."

I know the pros and cons of Leach have been debated, probably endlessly. But reading this article, I became very interested in him. Maybe I'm a sucker...

I found this part particularly interesting:

"Leach made his way to the sideline and from his back pocket pulled a crumpled piece of paper with the notations for dozens of plays typed on it, along with a red pen. When a play doesn't work, he puts an X next to it. When a play works well, he draws a circle beside it - "to remind myself to run it again." But at the start of a game, he's unsure what's going to work. So one goal is to throw as many different things at a defense as he can, to see what it finds most disturbing. Another goal is to create as much confusion as possible for the defense while keeping things as simple as possible for the offense." Anyway, check it out for yourself. It's a long read, but well worth it. I'm especially interested to hear people's thoughts after reading it.

GO BRUINS!

From the official UCLA site, here are Coach Howland's comments on our newest Bruins!

"We got all four Letters of Intent back, they are all official now, and needless to say, I'm a happy guy," Howland said. "You got a happy coach today in Westwood because I feel like we have a great recruiting class. Not only in terms of their abilities ¬- because you have four of the best players in the country - but also all of them are great kids from great families. I'm excited about the class and all four of these kids and I'm looking forward to their arrival next fall."

"Jrue Holiday is really talented and he's as athletic as anyone that I have recruited since I've been at UCLA and as good an athlete as anyone in the country," Howland said. "He's very strong, a quick jumper and is an outstanding ball handler. What I love about Jrue is that he has multi-position capabilities. He can guard a one, two or three and can handle the ball and run the point or can play at shooting guard. He's a nightmare matchup for people. He's a very good defender and is unbelievably competitive."

"Drew Gordon is an outstanding athlete, a big-time athlete," Howland said. "He has great physical abilities and is a great rebounder. He is one of the best rebounders that I have recruited. He has a lot of potential and a huge up-side. He has a good low-post scoring ability and he'll have the opportunity to compete for a lot of playing time as a freshman."

"Jerime Anderson is an outstanding true point guard that is very athletic and an outstanding defender," Howland said. "He showed huge improvement in his game this summer and in my opinion, is one of the best guards in the country. He's got a great mentality and is very outgoing with natural leadership qualities, so I'm very please about Jerime joining our basketball family."

"Rounding out the class is Malcolm Lee, who is another multi-talented athlete who is very skilled," Howland said. "He can play point or at the off-guard because he's a very good shooter. I have already threatened him that I'm going to pull him out of the game if he doesn't shoot more once he gets to UCLA because he's such a good shooter. Sometimes I think he passes up shots because he's so unselfish. Malcolm can be a lock-down defender because he has very quick feet."