Two weeks ago, prior to the UCLA men’s basketball team’s last home game of the season against Oregon, senior forward Josh Shipp stood on the Pauley Pavilion court for the final time in a UCLA jersey.
Making his 130th career start ““ surpassing Earl Watson’s 129 for the Bruin record ““ the fifth-year senior walked to center court with his father Joe Shipp and his mother Debbie Shipp at his side to thunderous applause from the UCLA home crowd.
For Shipp, it was the culmination of a long five year journey, which began at Fairfax High School in Los Angeles and will end with a degree in sociology in June.
When asked what his thoughts were about the ceremony that day, Shipp couldn’t find the words.
“A lot of mixed emotions,” Shipp said. “I’m sorry. I don’t think I really realized how special it was at the time. I think I’ll reminisce the next few days, the next weeks. But for us, it was more important to get a win.”
His mother, Debbie Shipp, could find the words though, describing it as a bittersweet moment.
“It was bitter because that was the last time he would ever play in Pauley, and it was hard to comprehend that after so many years,” she said. “So it was a sad moment. But it was sweet because I knew that he was going to get his degree, he was playing well, he made a huge contribution to the program and still continued to do so. He has worked so hard, and he deserved everything.”
This season, Josh Shipp has been vital for a Bruin team that is seeking a fourth consecutive Final Four appearance. He is second on the team in scoring, with 14.4 points per game; during the final weeks of the Pac-10 regular season, Shipp played a vital role in turning things around for the Bruins.
After the dispiriting loss to Washington State on Feb. 21 gave the Bruins three losses in four games, Shipp helped initiate a turnaround in which the Bruins won the final four games of the conference season to finish in second place in the Pac-10. Over those final four games, Shipp averaged 22.8 points per game, including a career-high 28 points against Oregon on Senior Day.
“He’s had a great year this year, especially as we’ve come down the stretch run here these couple weeks,” coach Ben Howland said. “I think he’s probably playing his best that he’s ever played in his career.”
Teammate and fellow senior Darren Collison has also noticed how important Shipp has been to the Bruins in the last few weeks.
“He’s so experienced. He knows exactly what he has to do to win a ball game himself,” Collison said. “It takes a lot of pressure off myself, other guys on the team, and we expect that from Josh Shipp. He’s one of our star players, and he’s going to do exactly just that to win a ball game.”
Shipp attributes his recent offensive success to letting the game come to him as opposed to pressing to make plays, something that could have been said about Shipp last year. Last season, Shipp struggled throughout with his outside shot, shooting just 32.4 percent from 3-point range during the season.
Add in the two hip surgeries he has undergone, one of which caused him to miss all but four games in the 2005-2006 season, and the five years Shipp has had at UCLA have not always been a smooth ride. Yet through it all, Shipp maintains that the struggles have helped him mature.
“I learned how to just persevere and never quit,” Shipp said.
Debbie Shipp has seen a young man who has grown up to understand the importance of making the most of any opportunity given to him, and has learned to make the right decisions.
“For me it was a blessing (these past five years),” Debbie Shipp said. “As a parent, you can do or say anything and be the best parent in the world. But it’s up to the child to make the decisions. At that age of accountability, they have to choose between right and wrong. … It’s been a blessing to have children who really valued opportunity. And Josh has valued the opportunity to play in a program like UCLA.”
An added aspect of Josh Shipp’s responsibility that has been heightened this season has been in the leadership department. Whether it’s from leading his team on the court during games, working hard in practice and the gym, or having dinners with teammates after games, Shipp has become a mentor to his younger teammates.
“(I’ve learned) just to be in attack mode all the time,” freshman Jrue Holiday said. “Josh definitely is all the time in practice and in the games.”
His mother has noticed it, too, from his unselfishness on the court to the off-court interactions with his teammates. Debbie Shipp said that after every game, win or lose, the parents take the players out to eat.
“It gives them a chance to establish a relationship off the court and develop a bond,” Debbie Shipp said. “It’s important, and I think Josh has been a catalyst for that.”
Josh Shipp said being a leader is simply working hard and setting an example.
“For us, it starts every day in practice,” Shipp said. “We try to come out with a great effort every day in practice and get better.”
Shipp along with Collison and senior center Alfred Aboya constitute UCLA’s winningest class in the history of the program, accumulating 121 career victories. Yet at the end of the day, a new banner has not been raised in Pauley Pavilion during their tenure. Despite three Pac-10 Championships and three Final Four appearances, only national championship banners hang from the rafters.
So if the Bruins should fail to win the title this season, does Shipp identify failure with his time at UCLA?
“Not at all,” he said. “There’s a lot of guys that don’t even make the tournament. I think for us, it’s been an accomplishment in itself to make it to three. I think we’ve had a great career here, and we just want to try and end on a good note this year.”
When the Bruins’ journey eventually comes to an end in the upcoming weeks, Shipp will have walked off the court for the final time as a UCLA Bruin, and the question of “What’s next?” will arise. For Shipp, the only certainty is that he will graduate in June. Other than that, “We’ll play it by ear and see how it goes.”
But no matter what happens, Shipp has his time spent at UCLA, and the development he has undergone both on the court and off, with him forever.
“I feel like I’ve grown a lot,” Shipp said. “Off the court, I’ve just matured a lot. I’m not that little kid who came out from high school anymore. On the court, just trying to do whatever it takes for the team to win. That’s the main thing.”