For nearly 10 minutes, Arron Afflalo stood by himself on the court following the conclusion of Saturday’s game.
It certainly wasn’t by the doing of Afflalo, who has always been known to be humble and refuse to take any credit for himself.
But due to a delay by the TV cameras that were supposed to interview him, Afflalo stood there idly as he basked in the cheers of the Bruin students who chanted “one more year, one more year.”
It was a moment that Afflalo, who is expected by many to turn pro after this year, cherished following the game.
“It makes me proud that everybody shows me the appreciation,” Afflalo said. “It’s certainly attention I appreciate, and I’m glad the fans understand the contributions that I have made to this program.”
Saturday’s game was supposed to be senior day, but due to the fact that the Bruins are without a senior on their roster, much of the attention fell onto Afflalo.
In the press conference following the game, Afflalo, who led the Bruins with 20 points, was asked numerous times whether he would be returning to UCLA next year.
“It is tough on these kids, because they are constantly asked the question,” coach Ben Howland said. “Arron has handled it great, because he knows those questions are going to be out there, and he is just focused on the task on hand.”
For Afflalo, Saturday was a day of reflection on the accomplishments he and his fellow teammates Lorenzo Mata and Josh Shipp had experienced during their three years at UCLA.
After playing to nearly half-empty crowds their freshman year, the three players on Saturday celebrated their first undefeated season at home since the 1974-1975 season in front of a sellout crowd of 12,001 at Pauley Pavilion.
“People in LA enjoy a winner,” Shipp said. “If we keep building our program, and improving, our support system will continue to get better.”
More importantly, the three players did their part in restoring the tradition-filled Bruin program from the depths it had reached before they joined the program.
And on the day UCLA celebrated the 40th anniversary of their 1967 championship team, no one appreciated that fact more than Afflalo.
“We were coach Howland’s first recruits,” Afflalo said. “I would like to think that we had a small part (in rebuilding), but we need to have consistent success over a long period of time before we consider ourselves one of the nation’s premier programs.”
Afflalo reiterated on Saturday that he still has not made a decision regarding his status with the Bruins next season.
However, he admitted that the decision-making process this season will be a little easier after having entered his name in the draft last season and gone through workouts with NBA teams.
“I am a little more mature about my situation,” Afflalo said.
“I am less worried than I was last year, because you understand that things will be presented to you in due time.
“Whenever you go through any situation in life, you understand what you have to go through. (Going through the process) will certainly help my decision.”
If Afflalo does decide to return, he will certainly have a lot to look forward to. Next year, the Bruins will be bringing in the nation’s No. 1 recruit in forward Kevin Love, and they will be one of the teams favored to win the national title.
“Kevin (Love) is a great player and I would love to play with him,” Afflalo said.
TITLE CELEBRATION: The 1967 Bruin championship team was honored at halftime, and all 12 players were present, including the 1967 College Player of the Year Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, known during his time at UCLA as Lew Alcindor.
Abdul-Jabbar walked with coach John Wooden out to the middle of the court, and when the starters of the 1967 team were announced, Abdul-Jabbar was given the loudest cheer.
The other prominent members of the 1967 team were Bruin greats Mike Warren, Lucius Allen and Lynn Shackleford.
The 1967 team was, at the time, the youngest team ever to win a national title with four sophomores and one junior in the starting lineup.
At the end of the ceremony, legendary coach John Wooden spoke to the crowd.
“Thank you all for being here,” Wooden said. “It’s very nice to see this place being filled again. Although this is the last home game, it’s far from being our last game this year.”
PAC-10 SEEDING: Because Washington lost to Oregon on Saturday night, UCLA earned the No. 1 seed for the Pac-10 tournament, which takes place in two weeks.
The Bruins clinched a share of the Pac-10 title on Saturday, and because of Washington’s loss, they won the tie-breaker against Washington State to get the No. 1 seed.