As a history major, the birth of our nation is a very important holiday to me. But this year it took a backseat to the Jrue Holiday that occurred the day before, when the best Southern California combo guard prospect since Baron Davis gave his verbal commitment to play for Coach Ben Howland.
For those of you not familiar with Holiday, he is what you could call “kind of a big deal” in the world of basketball recruiting. He was sought after by basically every school in the country before narrowing his list to Washington and UCLA. Last Tuesday he chose the Bruins, even though his older brother Justin already plays for the Huskies.
While I have not yet seen Holiday play in person, I use the Baron Davis comparison based solely on optimism and YouTube recruiting videos. He is hailed as coachable and athletic. He can play defense, slash and shoot. (Hey, I can do the first, coach, pick me, pick me!) He is also the second five-star recruit in as many years for Howland ““ Kevin Love will arrive in Westwood this summer.
The addition of Holiday to the 2008 class, along with highly regarded guards Malcolm Lee and Jerime Anderson, and power forward Drew Gordon means that UCLA is going to be good for a very long time.
Additionally, these prospects give Howland a sense of security in the backcourt, even if starters Darren Collison and Josh Shipp leave after next season to declare for the NBA draft.
The class reminds me of Howland’s 2004 class, his first at UCLA. Just like the 2008 class, the 2004 class also featured an excellent guard trio in Jordan Farmar, Arron Afflalo and Josh Shipp, and a dependable big man in Lorenzo Mata.
Even though Howland’s first class will always have a special place in my heart for helping rebuild UCLA basketball into a powerhouse, the 2008-2009 class has more potential for greatness, and may turn out to be the number one class in the nation. This says a lot, considering both Farmar and Afflalo were first round NBA draft picks.
Of course, potential doesn’t mean anything if you don’t work hard, drink your Muscle Milk, and listen to your coaches. I thought I had potential yesterday. I could have gotten a job, maybe read a book, or gone to the gym. All I ended up doing was cutting my toenails and watching rap battles on Jumpoff.tv (great site by the way).
The point is, under Howland, these players will work hard and have a chance to be good. Really good.
If Howland can make Lorenzo Mata a formidable center and send an undersized Arron Afflalo to the first round of the NBA draft, imagine what he can do with four players all ranked in the top 30 of the 2008 class.
As many of you can probably tell, I’m really excited about this class. I might even be excited enough to stick around for a fifth year just to watch it play. But we’ll see how that goes.
Most importantly, Howland has shown he can recruit the best, and that elite players in California can’t easily resist joining the Bruins. All of the 2004-2005 and 2008-2009 players are from the Golden State, with everyone but Gordon being from the Los Angeles area.
Not to get political with anyone, but I want to close down the borders.
By that, I mean the California borders to other high profile basketball programs. And I’m positive every Bruin can agree with that.
If you’re a fifth-year senior excited about this class, e-mail Steve at sreed@media.ucla.edu.