It took just nine days for all the optimism surrounding the 2014-2015 UCLA men’s basketball season to evaporate. Just nine days after getting confirmation that its leading scorer would be coming back to the team next season, UCLA was blindsided by a change of heart.
After initially announcing on April 17 that he would return to UCLA for his junior season on April 17, sophomore guard Jordan Adams reversed his decision and will enter the NBA draft, a source with knowledge of the situation confirmed.
“Jordan informed us (Saturday) that he has decided to enter this year’s NBA draft,” said coach Steve Alford in a statement. “He had two terrific seasons while at UCLA. I enjoyed coaching him this past season and wish him and his family all the best.”
But with Adams out of the picture, “the best” for the Bruins seems to have dropped a notch in terms of expectations for next season. The Bruins will be a completely different team next year, returning just three rotation players out of the eight that got regular minutes last season, assuming junior guard Norman Powell does not also bolt for the NBA.
With Adams, sophomore guard/forward Kyle Anderson and freshman guard Zach LaVine all headed to the NBA, and the graduation of redshirt senior forwards Travis and David Wear, Powell could be the Bruins’ only returning starter should he decide to forgo the draft. And with three backcourt players – who doubled as three of UCLA’s four highest scorers – gone, the Bruins will look to guards Bryce Alford and Isaac Hamilton, who will be sophomores next season, to pick up the slack.
Alford was named to the Pac-12 All-Freshman team after averaging 8.0 points and 2.8 assists in 2013-2014. Hamilton, meanwhile, was forced to sit out the year after being ruled ineligible from breaking his letter of intent to attend the University of Texas – El Paso. Of UCLA’s four incoming freshmen, none primarily play guard, leaving UCLA’s backcourt – its strength this past season – looking very thin.
But those four recruits do bring with them a level of hope that UCLA can tread water in a likely weaker Pac-12 field next season. Forward Kevon Looney and center Thomas Welsh participated in the McDonald’s All-American game earlier this month, and Looney, a consensus five-star recruit and rated as high as the nation’s No. 10 player in the 2014 high school class, is expected by many analysts to have a big freshman year.
Joining Looney and Welsh are guard/forward Jonah Bolden and forward Gyorgy Goloman, giving UCLA a deep wealth of frontcourt talent, a luxury they weren’t afford this past season.
So while Adams’ departure could reduce the scoring of UCLA’s backcourt, its incoming talent in the frontcourt could provide the Bruins with a more consistent interior presence. At the very least, the defending Pac-12 champions will look much different come October.
Compiled by Kevin Bowman, Bruin Sports senior staff.