UCLA men’s basketball’s sophomore forward Wanaah Bail has been ruled academically ineligible and will miss the remainder of the season, UCLA Athletics announced Saturday. Bail did not travel with the team to Alabama for its game Sunday.
In 11 games played this season, Bail averaged 1.5 points and 2.6 rebounds in nine minutes per game.
The ruling makes UCLA’s biggest problem – its lack of depth – even more dire. Without Bail, the Bruins’ frontcourt is limited to junior forward/center Tony Parker, freshman forward Kevon Looney, freshman center Thomas Welsh and freshman forward Gyorgy Goloman.
Welsh and Goloman combine to average just over 21 minutes per game, but will likely be called upon to play more than that for the rest of the season to provide Looney and Parker support off the bench.
Bail’s ineligibility leaves the Bruins with just eight rotation players, putting even more strain on the starters. UCLA’s depth concerns first became an issue before the season, when freshman guard/forward Jonah Bolden was ruled ineligible to play this year by the NCAA and transfer guard Jon Octeus was not admitted.
Compiled by Kevin Bowman, Bruin Sports senior staff.
This dumpster fire of a basketball program was blessed by Dan Guerrero last year with an extension of Steve Alford’s contract, extending the $10 million buyout for another year. And Alford’s inability to recruit an elite point guard — for reasons which are obvious to anyone who watched Bryce Alford’s pathetic behind-the-back pass last week when we were behind to Kentucky 24-0 — means we’re in desperate trouble.
We’re in trouble, but not the wealthy Alford family.
Something’s wrong with this picture.