I wasn’t able to catch the morning practice at Spaulding field today but I was told I missed quite the red-carpet affair. P-Diddy, Kevin Love, Russell Westbrook and Baron Davis all stopped by. Davis is taking classes to finish his degree this summer. Justin Combs, Diddy’s son, is a cornerback in New York and could be getting a look in Westwood.
Kevin Prince looked, to steal a Rick Neuheisel phrase, sharp in the afternoon session of team drills after an even better morning. He didn’t have any competition as Richard Brehaut missed his second straight day of practice because of a sprained left foot.
Prince completed a long touchdown to Joseph Fauria and zinged a crossing route to Randall Carroll for another score.
Neuheisel hinted that the next step for Prince is to get his mind to move with his feet. The coach threw some new routes at Prince today that he said “bamboozled” his quarterback but he seemed pleased with Prince overall.
“If we can get his understanding of that faster and his feet to move quick as his understanding, we’re going to be where we need to be,” Neuheisel said. “He’s getting closer but today was a step forward.”
Brehaut has healed up quicker than expected and could be back as early as Thursday’s practice, just in time for Saturday’s scrimmage at Drake Stadium.
Two-minute flop
A two-minute drill…drill to end practice Wednesday was not pretty. Neuheisel had to burn two timeouts and Prince was sacked once.
“That was a two minute drill that went lousy,” Neuheisel said. “The defense won and you want to make these things competitive so that you get great looks by both sides of the ball. We didn’t get off to a good start and that’s what two minute drives are about. You’ve got to get some rhythm.”
Mascarenas concussed
Redshirt sophomore free safety Alex Mascarenas suffered a concussion Wednesday, dealing another minor blow to UCLA’s safeties. Senior Tony Dye is still sitting out nursing a groin issue and redshirt freshman *Tevin McDonald has been missing practice with an injured ankle.
Neuheisel expects Mascarenas back early next week.
“You want to be careful with a guy like Tony but now we’re putting a lot of pressure on these other kids because they’re having to take too many snaps,” Neuheisel said.