Bruin Bites: UCLA Tops in Pac-12 For Player Stipends & Looney Undergoes Surgery

Good morning Bruin fans. Here is your daily Bruin briefing.

Stipends

2015-2016 will be the first year when Division 1 schools can provide stipends to their players. USA Today published their survey of schools and Utah and UCLA have budgeted the most money in the Pac-12, $1 million, for the 2015-2016 academic year. Well, that's not exactly true. As Joey Kaufman points out "Stanford and USC did not disclose figures, as they are private schools". UCLA players will receive a $5,500 stipend this school year. Kaufman explains:

The amount is largely based on whether health insurance is included and if a player is living on campus or off campus. Division I schools can provide additional scholarship aid to players for food, travel and miscellaneous living expenses. The amount they can give to their athletes is set by their respective financial aid offices, who then report the COA figures to the federal government in order to calculate student financial aid.

Any guesses on how much the players at those other two schools will be getting?

Basketball

Unfortunately,  Kevon Looney will be out four to six months after undergoing surgery on his right hip. According to Fox Sports, Kevon had surgery to repair a torn labrum yesterday, and is expected to make a full recovery. Warrior GM and Bruin Bob Myers said he felt it was best to address the issues now. I think Kevon is in good hands with Meyers overseeing his young career. I hope Looney's rehabilitation gets him back on the court soon and better than new. It will be fun watching him play with that Golden State offense!

Football Camp

First, don't forget that tonight at 5 pm in San Bernardino, the Bruins will hold a scrimmage and will stay around afterwards to sign autographs and take pictures.

You can find some great practice photos from UCLA Athletics and their latest film highlighting the talented and deep receiving corps which has been going up against a talented and deep secondary:

Ryan Hollins explains why the UCLA Bruin own this town (and why the Lakers are a playoff team). Oh well - 1 out of 2 isn't bad, He also talks about Josh Rosen, Coach Mora and other football related things as he spends the morning with Max & Marcellus.

A huge thanks to Bruin'96 for finding this explanation of what Jim Mora's tongue lashing means for Josh Rosen. Chris Foster tells us that the Bruin receivers are wary of the competition - from their own teammates, and Matthew Joye of the Daily Bruin reports that Mora was really riding the offense hard at practice yesterday.

Ed Lewis and Joey Kauffman recap Thursday's practice and update the injuries:

Thank you Ed Lewis for making today's Cover Two Recap available.

Soccer Kicks

UCLA Athletics and Bruin Films are putting together a new series, The Life. In the first episode they take an inside look at the life of UCLA women’s soccer player Gabbi Miranda:

Physics and Dark Energy

UCLA physicist, Paul Hamilton, is testing theories of dark energy by mimicking the vacuum of space. I was just thinking that there must be some application for this type of energy which "causes galaxies to accelerate away from one another" for the football team. Thoughts? Ideas?

Fan Appreciation

Don't forget that Fan Appreciation Day has been rescheduled for Saturday at 9 am in San Bernardino with food provided by Stater Bros. Actually, the food looks pretty good:

Stater Bros. is planning for 2,000 attendance and will serve brats, chips and soft drinks while supplies last.

Today there will be a practice in the morning (8:30 am) and a scrimmage this evening (5 pm). I imagine many of you will get out there for the scrimmage (which will be followed by autograph and photo opportunities) and we invite you to share your observations in a fanpost or in a thread. This is your thread for day 11.

Enjoy, and as always...

Go Bruins!