A year ago, UCLA basketball players Jordan Farmar and Josh Shipp
were freshmen participating in the Nike Los Angeles College ProCity
College League in the hopes of getting acclimated to the college
game.
One year later, their roles have changed ““ they are now
the veterans helping the new UCLA freshmen get used to the level of
competition in college.
“It was great playing with all the freshmen,” Farmar
said. “I think they can definitely learn a lot from this
summer before the season begins.”
Saturday was the first time Farmar and Shipp teamed up with all
five of UCLA’s incoming recruits, playing on Sinclair’s
Bruins of the Los Angeles ProCity League, to give Bruin fans a look
at the lineup of the near future.
Farmar and Shipp started the game playing alongside freshmen Luc
Moute and Alfred Aboya, two forwards who hail from Cameroon and
were playing in their second summer game.
Aboya, for one, has been encouraged by his experience playing
with the Bruin sophomore guards.
“Both Jordan and Josh have been great,” Aboya said.
“They are really helpful to us freshman, and we’re
always looking to learn.”
During the second half of Saturday’s game, Aboya made his
presence felt on the court as he grabbed five offensive rebounds
and scored eight points en route to finishing with nine rebounds
and 12 points for the game.
Moute, meanwhile, finished with six points and four rebounds on
his own while finishing off several of Farmar’s six
assists.
“The freshmen are very athletic, and they have a high
basketball IQ,” Sinclair’s Bruins coach Cedric Jones
said. “Playing with a great point guard like Jordan, they
will have no problem adjusting.”
Moute will most likely be competing for playing time with Shipp,
who finished his afternoon with 12 points and three rebounds.
Throughout the game, Shipp and Moute were both on the court and
looked comfortable playing off one another.
“All the freshman, including Luc, are very
unselfish,” Shipp said. “If they can continue that,
they can help us out greatly next season.”
The player Farmar and Shipp will probably play with most next
season, though, is the Bruins’ highly recruited freshman Ryan
Wright, out of Ontario, Canada.
Wright finished with a modest four points and five rebounds, but
was playing in his first game with the team and had no prior
experience with the Bruin sophomores.
“It was tough for that first time,” Wright said.
“But I know I have to be ready because both players will
always be looking for me.”
Wright was joined in his first game by Darren Collison, a point
guard out of Etiwanda who will look to spell Farmar during
stretches next season.
Collison had eight points and four assists in total, and was on
the court with Farmar for short periods of the game.
When asked what he could learn from playing with the sophomore,
Collison was extremely excited.
“Anything I can learn from Jordan is a plus,”
Collison said. “Jordan has run the system for a year, and I
look to help him out any way I can this season.”
On Saturday, the freshmen were giving the highest praises to the
sophomores, but in the end it might be Farmar’s feelings that
have the biggest impact on the team.
“Its obvious that we’ve made an upgrade for the
future,” Farmar said. “We’ve told them to just
keep working hard and the results will come.”