Tuesday, January 21, 1997
M. HOOPS:
Bruin fans greet prospective recruit Baron Davis in hopes of
convincing him to commit to UCLABy Hye Kwon
Daily Bruin Staff
During UCLA’s huge conference win over Arizona last Saturday,
the Pauley Pavilion student section engaged in a chant of, "We want
Baron! We want Baron!"
Much to the chagrin of World War I historians in Bunche Hall,
they weren’t interested in initiating a course on the life and
experiences of the Red Baron, the infamous German pilot.
No siree bobski, the frenzied crowd was talking about a teenager
attending a local high school who, despite his youth, has now
assumed the role of a Messiah for UCLA basketball. He is portrayed
as a player who will pull the Bruins out of the quagmire in which
they currently find themselves and lead the program back into the
promised land where it will prosper for generations to come. Only
if he chooses to come to school here, that is.
Crossroads High School’s Baron Davis, one of the nation’s top
point guard prospects who orally committed to UCLA only to recant
his decision soon after, was among the 11,268 in attendance at
Pauley Pavilion Saturday afternoon. The crowd did its best to
influence Davis’ decision with the repeated chants, but UCLA’s
monumental 84-78 win over the No. 6 Wildcats itself was the Bruins’
most significant leverage in the Davis sweepstakes.
First, Saturday’s win was UCLA’s first victory of the season
over a top-25 team  a couple of debacles against No. 1 Kansas
and No. 22 Stanford being the results of previous
opportunities.
Second, the Bruins were playing a team which has had a knack for
recruiting the brightest of California’s prospects over the years.
Much like Kansas, which is reportedly hot on the trail for Davis,
Arizona has built its recent power base on the backs of the Golden
State’s sons.
Arizona’s crop of California players includes ex-Wildcats and
NBA players Reggie Geary, Sean Rooks, Steve Kerr and Chris Mills;
and current players Miles Simon, Bennett Davison, Jason Lee and
Donnell Harris.
"This was one of the biggest games of the season because of the
implications," UCLA swingman Kris Johnson said. "This win is
definitely up there."
However, here comes the bad news for UCLA fans.
Davis, who has publically said in the past that he would
"definitely sign" with UCLA if Steve Lavin gets the permanent head
coaching job, is apparently far from committing to the Bruins. At
least not yet. Not while UCLA remains unranked, not while Lavin is
still the interim head coach, and not while the Bruins are still
unproven against teams like Kansas, Stanford, Duke and
Louisville.
"It’s pretty wide open," Davis said on Saturday of his college
choices. "I’ve got it down to about five or six schools."
On the bright side for Lavin, the season is only halfway over
and Davis will likely wait until spring to make his final decision
known. Furthermore, there will be plenty of chances for Lavin and
his team to prove to Davis that he’ll be coming into a winning
program.
Just to name a few, there’s the much anticipated rematch against
Stanford, the showdown against Duke, road games against USC,
Louisville and Arizona. And, if all goes well, the NCAA Tournament.
In other words, chances galore.
Hopefully for UCLA, the recruits will be watching.
JUSTIN WARREN/Daily Bruin
The Bruins hope to land prize recruit Baron Davis, who had
orally committed to UCLA before recanting his decision soon
after.