It's been a busy week here at BN since we last checked in during the mid-week edition of Bruin Bites. We've discussed the release of this year's football media guide with initial impressions of the depth chart, talked about our football out-of-conference schedule and how Boston College would be a great fit, shared the Big XII edition of AllHailMightyBruins' popular name association game, took note of Chris Kluwe's ultimate winning retort to NFL wash-out loser Nate "Inaction" Jackson, discussed how the lack of a true home court might impact UCLA's basketball team this upcoming season, talked about the difference between U$C's hammering by the NCAA and the NCAA's punishment for Ohio State, checked in with recruiting updates for our soccer programs, and broke down how the recent past for UCLA basketball could project for the future of the program regarding Shabazz Muhammad and Jordan Adams.
So, with the weekend coming to an end, let's give you the bits and pieces from around the UCLA-iverse:
- Let's start with football and the gamblers aren't liking the Bruins' odds this season, with Doc's Sporting Service's prediction coming in at 6-6 or 5-7. The Bruins could shock a lot of people, but at this snapshot in time, with uncertainty at QB and a weakened offensive line, and the defense being a complete unknown, people aren't staking their money to the Bruins' odds of success.
- Sticking with football, Bleacher Report has a list of the ten UCLA football players primed for a breakout season this year. Of course, it's exactly who you would expect to play significant roles this season: Nelson Rosario, Anthony Barr, Jordon James, Cassius Marsh, Owa, Datone Jones, and Riley all made the list, along with Kip Smith, Brehaut, and Joe Fauria.
Transitioning from the team to the venue, the criminal scumbag that stabbed other fans at the UCLA-U$C game at the Rose Bowl last year, pleaded no contest (which is treated the same as a guilty plea) to stabbing the two victims in Los Angeles Superior Court. In exchange, Anthony Cisneros will spend the next 15 years as a permanent guest of the Department of Corrections. Enjoy prison a**hole, you earned it.
Switching to water polo, four players from our women's water polo squad earned All-American honors. Senior stand-out Priscilla Orozco made first team, while senior Grace Reynolds brought home second team honors. Juniors K.K. Clark and Caitlin Dement earned third team honors, while seniors Kelly Easterday and Megan Burmeister received honorable mentions. Congratulations to all the ladies who brought back individual glory. Let's hope next year doesn't end in third place, but in first.
Former Bruin stand-out point guard (and one of two foundational pieces for turning UCLA's program around) Jordan Farmar is in the middle of a youth skills basketball camp at UCLA, which teaches youngsters more than basketball, including healthy eating and living, regular exercise, and eco-friendly green awareness. Despite being in the middle of camp, JF had time to sit down for some Q&A with Yahoo! Sports' Ben Horney. Very cool read for a very cool program by JF.
Switching to campus news for a moment, researchers at UCLA continue to demonstrate why UCLA is one of the greatest academic, innovative universities in the world, being the first to map out a certain DNA sequence in stem cells that gives a major boost to stem cell research on campus. Very cool stuff.
Okay, going back to basketball, this week the Los Angeles Times ran a profile piece of new UCLA assistant coach Korey McCray, his expected role with the team this year, his background as a coach, and that he brings more to the table than a couple of top-shelf basketball recruits.
Finally, on the hoops recruiting front, highly-touted power forward Brandon Ashley has narrowed his college choice down to Arizona, Georgia Tech, Kentucky, Oregon, Syracuse, Texas, and UCLA. The Bishop O'Dowd (Oakland) product stands at 6'8" and is widely considered one of the, if not the, top power forward prospect in the nation (Scout has him ranked as the #1 PF this year at this snapshot in time). Moreover, this upcoming senior year, he'll be joining fellow Bruin recruiting target and Bay Area product Dominic Artis to basketball academy Findlay Prep.
And with that, those are your end-of-the-weekend Bruin Bites. Fire away with your thoughts, comments, and additional bits and pieces from around the UCLA-iverse.
GO BRUINS
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