UCLA men’s basketball may harbor some concerns over its lack of guard depth this season, but that shouldn’t be an issue next year. Four-star 2015 guards Aaron Holiday and Prince Ali made their commitment to UCLA official, signing national letters of intent Wednesday night, UCLA announced.
Holiday, the brother of former UCLA women’s basketball guard Lauren Holiday and former UCLA guard and current New Orleans Pelican Jrue Holiday, is ranked as the No. 36 player in the 2015 recruiting class by Scout.com.
At 6-foot-1, 175 pounds, Holiday figures to play point guard in college behind sophomore guard Bryce Alford.
“He is a quick, tough guard who possesses the ability to be both an efficient scorer and a lockdown defender,” said coach Steve Alford in a press release.
Ali, meanwhile, seems to have the body of a shooting guard, at 6-foot-4, 190 pounds. Scout.com ranks Ali as the No. 38 player in the class of 2015.
Like Holiday, Ali also already has a connection to the Bruins. Ali was teammates with current UCLA freshman forward Gyorgy Goloman at The Sagemont School in Weston, Fla. last season where the two helped their school win the Class 3A Florida state title.
“Prince is an extremely talented player who has established himself as one of the premier backcourt players in the country,” Alford said in a press release. “He’s a big, athletic guard who has tremendous versatility and comes to our program with a strong understanding of a winning culture.”
The addition of two athletic players to the backcourt figures to help a UCLA team that will lose its current most athletic guard – senior Norman Powell – after the season.
Compiled by Kevin Bowman, Bruin Sports senior staff.