Jordan Farmar won’t have to leave his native Los Angeles to
realize his NBA dreams after all. Farmar, who led UCLA to the NCAA
Championship game in his sophomore campaign this last season, was
selected by the Los Angeles Lakers with the No. 26 overall pick in
the first round of the NBA Draft on Wednesday night. Later that
night, senior center Ryan Hollins was the second round draft choice
of the Charlotte Bobcats to make it two Bruins about to embark on a
pro career.
Farmar had declared for the draft alongside fellow sophomore
guard Arron Afflalo, as neither player hired an agent so they could
retain their college eligibility if they chose to withdraw from the
draft by the June 18 deadline. Although Farmar was never guaranteed
the first round pick he was looking for, his impressive showing in
the pre-draft workouts in Orlando, Fla., proved to be the turning
point. Farmar garnered attention from scouts around the country
with a 42-inch vertical leap.
"A player we didn’t think we’d get — we’re
happy to have him," Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak told the
Associated Press. "He’s 19 years old, he had an excellent two years
at UCLA, he’s very talented.â€
Farmar averaged 13.2 points and 5.3 assists as a freshman at
UCLA and 13.5 points and 5.1 assists as a sophomore, when he was a
first-team All Pac-10 performer. Now his hopes of becoming a
starting point guard are within reach, and he will have the chance
to play in front of friends and family.
"Words can’t express how I feel right now," Farmar said on a
conference call with the Associated Press. "I can’t think of a
better situation than this. It’s a perfect situation. I felt I had
a good chance if I was on the board I would be here."
"I get to stay close to them for a little bit longer
— nobody knows how long it will last," he
said.
While Farmar has been credited with restoring the tradition of
the UCLA basketball program, Hollins has completed one of the
quickest and most improbable career turnarounds in the country.
Hollins, a 7-foot big man labeled as "long" by NBA standards, was a
relative disappointment his first three years in Westwood and
wasn’t starting until halfway through his last season, when
injuries and offensive ineptitude gave him a second chance.
Seemingly out of nowhere, Hollins became a force in the paint.
He dominated the Pac-10 Tournament, leading the Bruins to their
first conference tournament title since 1987. He continued his
strong play, being named the Oakland Regional Most Outstanding
Player after UCLA beat Gonzaga and Memphis to advance to the Final
Four.
"Everything has just happened so fast I didn’t even know what to
think," Hollins said in a telephone interview. "But I never doubted
myself, and I always thought I could make it to the next
level."
"The people who doubted me were just another obstacle, but
that’s the way sports works. Hopefully I will keep it going."