After spending his rookie season in the NBA with the New Orleans Hornets, former UCLA point guard Darren Collison was traded to the Indiana Pacers earlier this month. Collison spent much of last season in the Hornets’ starting lineup, filling in for oft-injured superstar Chris Paul.
Somewhat surprisingly, the latest stop on Collison’s roller-coaster ride is back at the UCLA campus, where he is taking a class to finish his degree as a history student. The Daily Bruin’s Sam Strong caught up with Collison in his final days as a Bruin student to talk about everything from his first NBA season to his thoughts on the current state of UCLA basketball.
Daily Bruin: What was your initial reaction when you stepped back on to Bruin Walk after being away for a little while?
Darren Collison: It took me back to the UCLA days. There are a lot of memories on this campus, like just being around my teammates and taking long walks to class. There are a lot of different memories, but a lot of good memories, too.
DB: The current team has had some issues at the point guard position. Have you been tutoring them or playing with any of the point guards?
DC: I haven’t really had the chance to talk to anybody yet. I played with (Lazeric Jones) in a workout, and he’s going to be a good player for them. I’m excited to see him play. I see Jerime (Anderson) from time to time, and I’m definitely excited for him as well. I think they should be OK at the point guard spot with those two players.
DB: How much do you keep track of how the Bruins are doing? I know you’re busy with the NBA’s schedule, but how much do you track their progress?
DC: Not as much. You’re so caught up in the season, it’s an 82-game season, so you’re so busy traveling that you don’t get a chance to watch any games. But they have this thing in the NBA where you’ll hear about it if your school loses, especially if you’re playing against another player that went to the school your team is playing.
I heard about it quite a bit last year against Kansas, with my (former) teammate Julian Wright, and against Cal with Sean Marks, so you’ll hear about it. … You don’t know too much about what’s going on in the season, but you’ll hear about it because somebody will tell somebody, and it will get back to you.
DB: What made you decide to come back and finish your degree?
DC: Nothing’s promised. You may have a good career and work hard, but injuries are still in play so you never know what’s going to happen. And just in case that does happen, I have a backup plan. That’s why I’m going back to finish school and get my degree.
Basketball is my heart and my love and something I want to do for a long time, but there’s no promise.
It’s not so much the injuries but whenever you’re trying to develop businesses and do endorsement deals, people want to see these things like, “OK, he got his degree at UCLA.” And eventually I want to be my own boss and run my own business someday … and I definitely want to take advantage of that.
DB: A lot of people around here were excited to see what you could do with the Hornets. How are things going for you with the Pacers so far?
DC: They’re going well. They’re telling me a lot of good things about the organization and the community, and hopefully I’m going to be able to provide that for them and give the same feedback that they gave me since I’ve been up there. Hopefully, I can do that. Hopefully, I can stay humble and continue to work and give them what they haven’t had in a long time.
DB: Last season was a bit of a letdown for coach Ben Howland’s team. How close do you think these guys are to turning the corner and getting back to the Final Four like you did?
DC: As soon as possible. I think they’re going to do it this year. You look at some of the guys on that roster, it was a learning experience for them last year.
And I think guys like Tyler (Honeycutt) and Tyler Lamb coming in with (Jones), Jerime (Anderson) and Josh (Smith), the center, I think those guys are going to have a lot of success coming their way when the season starts, and I’m definitely excited for them.
I know Coach is a competitor, and if he has one losing season, you can count on it that he’s not going to have another. He’s going to come back strong, and those guys are already having a good start. They’ve had a good summer, and they’re all committed, so those are all the things you need to be successful.
They’ve been in the gym quite a bit. That’s something I reminisce about throughout my times is going to the gym and playing against the pros every summer. When you see players like that committed in the offseason, you’re going to see a lot of good results in the season, so I’m definitely excited for them.
DB: After you graduate, how much do you plan on being involved with this program?
DC: All the time. Whenever I get a chance. Whenever I’m in town and (Howland) lets me know about it, I’m more than willing to come through and contribute in any way that I can.
Once you’re part of a family, you’re always part of the family forever. I’m a Bruin for life, so whenever I get the opportunity, I’ll help the community out in any way. I love UCLA. I love the fans that supported me there, and I love the L.A. area. Whenever I get a chance to do those things, I’m always going to be there for them.
DB: I think a lot of former players feel that same way. What is it about this program that makes former players gravitate back here?
DC: It’s just the experience that you have with your teammates. I remember the experiences that I had with my teammates when I was there, and you just want to relive that moment. Whenever you get a chance to be around your old teammates, you tend to want to do things like you did the old way.
That’s what brings you back every other summer. I get the chance to see Russell (Westbrook), Kevin (Love) and Luc (Richard Mbah a Moute) through summer obligations to UCLA, and we tend to want to do it again together so the experience that we had at UCLA can never be forgotten.