Ladies and gentlemen, it’s official.
The UCLA basketball team will have the best freshman class in the country next season.
Now I’m not trying to overinflate any expectations for a team that is still six months away from playing its first game, but cut me some slack. This group is downright nasty.
Headlined by the recent addition of J’Mison “Bobo” Morgan in tandem with Jrue Holiday, pretty much everyone has the Bruins tabbed as the top recruiting class. That includes ESPN, CBS SportsLine, recruiting Web sites such as Rivals and Scout, and everyone else ““ from the guys fixing my shower to your grandma.
You’d have to be crazy not to think so.
Along with five-star recruits Morgan and Holiday, the four-star trifecta of Drew Gordon, Malcolm Lee and Jerime Anderson comprise one of the most complete incoming groups in the country over the past few years. The class has even drawn comparisons to the “Fab Five” ““ Michigan’s 1992 freshmen that led the team to the championship game (not the members of Duran Duran, sorry ’80s pop fans).
Let’s just put it this way: There are a handful of teams that would start all five of UCLA’s recruits immediately.
Anderson, probably the least hyped of them all, is a 6-foot-2-inch point guard with a knack for defense. He’s got Darren Collison’s defensive edge and Jordan Farmar’s ears, putting up 17.2 points per game as a high school senior. He can get to the basket like it’s giving out free pudding.
Oh, and his fast-break dunks? Shades of Russell Westbrook.
Next there’s Lee, a 6-4 combo guard who earned a McDonald’s All-American tag this past season. He’s got a sweet outside jumper and maneuvers better in traffic than a Mini Cooper.
He tore up last month’s Nike Hoop Summit against some of the top high school players in the world, too. Though he didn’t put up eye-popping numbers, at times he looked like the best player on the court.
He’s a versatile player who will look to compete with Josh Shipp and Michael Roll at the three position.
Gordon, a 6-9 power forward, is a bruiser with no problems going up against bigger guys. At the Hoop Summit, he battled 7-footers and still managed to put up 15 points and seven boards. (For those curious, Holiday, Lee, Gordon and Anderson played for the Junior Team. Everyone but Anderson started.)
In terms of rebounding, Gordon has better timing than a Swiss watch and punishes defenses with his ability to pick the offensive glass clean. He should be getting plenty of minutes as a freshman.
Morgan, the 6-10, 275-pound Texas thumper, is the frosting on UCLA’s cake. He took a recruiting class that was already deemed No. 1 by some and brought it to a whole new level in one news conference.
There’s not too much to say about him that hasn’t already been said in these pages but he is going to be a big time player.
Then there’s Holiday ““ the kid who’s supposed to be the best guard coming out of the west since Baron Davis (not to put any added pressure on the guy.)
He can pretty much do it all. The 6-3 combo guard can get into the paint faster than a kid at his first day of preschool. He’s got more handles than a tandem bike, dishes better than a busboy and drives better than Tony Stewart. (Holiday can go to his right.)
So call up your grandma, ask her opinion on the incoming freshman, and she’ll tell you what everyone knows: They’re in a class of their own.
E-mail Feder at jfeder@media.ucla.edu if you can ride your bike with no handlebars.