We will start with some pretty good news. Coach Howland held a teleconference last week during when he shared positive update on JMM's recovery from surgery:
UCLA center J'mison Morgan is progressing quickly a week after having arthroscopic knee surgery.
That's what coach Ben Howland said Friday, predicting that Morgan's right knee should be "pretty good to go" by June.
"Bobo is already very mobile," Howland said. "He's also lifting weights and he looks good."
It sounds like he will not lose much time in terms of off season conditioning and workouts this summer. So that is very encouraging. Speaking of workouts Howland also shared the following:
The Bruins concluded workouts this week, and Howland was enthusiastic about how his returning players did.
One player you can count on not returning is Jrue Holiday. WWL's Chad Forde becomes the first traditional media writer to report what many have been hearing in the background for a while (emphasis added throughout):
Sources close to the situation insist that Evans, Henderson, Holiday and Calathes will eventually hire agents and stay in the draft.
While Holiday is going through the song and dance of "testing the waters" and holding on to his scholarship, UCLA is losing out on potential recruits. The most public example so far is Reggie Moore, a guard from Brewster Academy in New Hampshire, who UCLA coaches had expressed interest in recently. Moore just committed to WSU because he was uncertain about the scholarship situation at UCLA:
Moore, a 6-1 guard, averaged 13 points and 10 assists at Beach and then signed with Fresno State. But he requested and was granted a release from the letter and attended prep school.
Moore visited Oregon and Iowa State, and turned down visits to Memphis and UCLA, which apparently is unsure about the status of guard Jrue Holiday, who has entered his name in the NBA draft without hiring an agent.
Thanks a lot Jrue. If the Holidays really cared about UCLA and were looking out for the best interest of the program they would released UCLA from the commitment to his scholarship by now, that would have allowed Howland and his staff to pursue possibilities such as Moore.
Anyway, it sure sounds like Coach Howland is ready to move on (emphasis added):
"We're just going to be really young next year, with or without Jrue Holiday," Howland said.
We should be doing the same. Time to move on instead of holding on to pollyanish/delusional hope of returning of Holiday.
GO BRUINS.