The nets are cut, the buzzer has sounded and the accolades are ready. Bruins from all sports set records, won awards and made headlines throughout the country. To commemorate an eventful 2015-2016 year, the sports editors – TuAnh Dam, David Gottlieb, Michael Hull, Grant Sugimura and Hanson Wang – present the Daily Bruin Sports Yearlies for the best, the worst and the most interesting highlights UCLA Athletics had to offer.
Best dorm decor: Josh Rosen’s hot tub
Very early on, there were signs that we were getting more than just a star quarterback in Josh Rosen.
He showed up on campus two quarters early, trading in the second semester of his senior year in high school for some time on frat row. Rosen joined Sigma Alpha Epsilon – one of the “top houses” at UCLA – in winter quarter. If you knew someone in a discussion section with him, even they told you he had a personality.
But before the F–k Trump Instagram posts and before Jim Mora compared him to Johnny Manziel, there was the hot tub.
In a way, the hot tub let the world know that Rosen would not be content in only entertaining us on the field.
As one story goes, a young lady at the University of Arizona known only as @totallychristine on Instagram held a sign asking Rosen to call her. One way or another, she ended up in Westwood. Specifically, in Saxon Suites, sitting in the hot tub with Rosen.
Of course, all good things must come to an end. The hot tub violated UCLA’s residential housing policy, and as far as we know, Rosen’s dorm is now sans-hot tub.
Nonetheless, we applaud Rosen’s effort and look forward to covering his antics as he finishes off his career as a Bruin.
Most clutch: Bryce Alford, Arizona vs. UCLA
Pauley Pavilion was all set up for “Russell Westbrook Night”, and to many in the stands, seeing Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant was the main attraction of UCLA’s game against then-No. 7 Arizona.
Junior guard Bryce Alford proved them wrong.
After a discouraging road sweep at the hands of Washington and Washington State – the two schools picked to finish at the bottom of the conference, the Bruins faced a do-or-die game.
Alford, much maligned as he is, scored 22 points as UCLA raced out to an early lead. The Wildcats, however, slowly clawed into the Bruins’ lead, tying the score at 84 with less than 15 seconds remaining.
What happened next was like a movie scene.
Freshman guard Aaron Holiday dribbled across the timeline and tossed the ball to Alford, who then received a ball screen from senior forward/center Tony Parker. Alford slowly dribbled to his right with seven seconds left on the clock. Then six, then five. Suddenly, he stopped on a dime, dribbled behind his back and launched a stepback three.
Splash.
Most under the radar: Women’s golf
It’s not often that a team has the player of the year, three All-Americans, and a No. 1 ranking for part of the season and still not have much recognition.
UCLA women’s golf did just that.
The Bruins weathered an underwhelming start where they only won one of their first five tournaments. But as in every sport, success isn’t about how you start – it’s about how you finish.
And UCLA completed the year at a scalding-hot pace, winning four of its last seven stroke-play tournaments.
Junior Bronte Law led the way with seven top-four finishes – including three where she at least shared the lead – in 10 tournaments, which culminated in her being named the PING Women’s Golf Coaches Association Player of the Year and a WGCA first team All-American.
Freshmen Lilia Vu and Bethany Wu are first team and honorable mention All-Americans, respectively, as the two combined to place in the top 10 seven times over the course of the season.
The Bruins’ season ended in the NCAA semifinals, which is still better than a lot of other sports can say. For these reasons, their body of work was the most under the radar.
Best Coach: John Speraw, UCLA men’s volleyball
The coach of the year award goes to John Speraw. In his fourth year as UCLA’s men’s volleyball coach, he is widely considered one of the premier coaches in the country and has certainly shown his merits this season.
Speraw’s squad went from a 13-14 record, the worst season UCLA volleyball has ever had, to a 25-7 record and a final four appearance.
Speraw harnessed the energy and raw talent of his young team, one that had no starting seniors, and developed it into a serious championship contender.
And with the same starting rotation returning next season, the future is bright for UCLA volleyball.
Being a successful collegiate coach would be enough for most, but not for Speraw.
As the head coach of the U.S. men’s volleyball national team, Speraw has found even greater success. Most recently, Team USA brought home championships in the 2014 FIVB Volleyball World League and 2015 FIVB Volleyball World Cup. Now they look forward to contending for the gold in the 2016 Summer Olympic Games.
And if the stats don’t tell the story, then the approval of USA Volleyball will. Speraw just received a contract extension to helm the U.S. men’s national team through the 2020 Olympics.
Overachiever: Women’s basketball
Last season was described as one “bogged down by inconsistency, weakness under pressure and a lack of cohesion between teammates.”
But this season was different.
The UCLA women’s basketball team didn’t win more than three games in a row until the very end of the 2014-2015 season, and finished off with a record of 19-18.
This past season the Bruins rolled to a 26-9 record and made their first Sweet 16 appearance since 1999.
And even though UCLA will lose seniors Nirra Fields and Kacy Swain, four of their five starters will return.
The Bruins also boast a strong recruiting class headlined by four-star forward Allyson Rosenblum from Mater Dei High School and guard Nicole Kornet, a transfer from Oklahoma.
In one season, UCLA women’s basketball went from a mediocre program to one that is very close to being considered nationally elite.
And after bursting on the scene to defeat Hawai’i and South Florida in the tournament, the Bruins now hunt for a conference championship, a final four appearance and a national title.
Best Male Athlete: Nicholas Scarvelis, UCLA track and field
As an indoor shot put first team All-American, Pac-12 shot put champion, NCAA Western Regional shot put champion and with potentially two more All-American accolades coming his way in this year alone, Nicholas Scarvelis is far and away the best male athlete of the year.
He goes into his last meet as the fourth best shot putter to come through the legendary UCLA throws program that boasts the NCAA record-holder John Godina. The redshirt senior is a three-time Pac-12 champion, and his 67-7.50 rocket is the farthest throw in the nation this year by 9.5 inches.
That throw would have won 10th at the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London, and Scarvelis will get the chance to actually place in the Games when he throws for Greece in Rio de Janeiro this summer.
Over his five-year UCLA career, he’s also made an impact on UCLA that’s greater than just his individual achievement. When he committed to UCLA, his teammate, sophomore Braheme Days, said it provided “incentive for other talented people to come behind him.”
Even as he leaves, the throws team will be getting another high-target recruit named Nathan Esparza, but it remains to be seen if anyone in the near future can contribute to the throws team as much as Scarvelis has this year and over his entire career.
Best Season: Men’s water polo
Wins aren’t just the desired result for the men’s water polo team, they’re expected. Anything less than perfection means coach Adam Wright’s team will work until it gets things right. The woes are never anything like offense or defense, but small minutiae of the game. The result? Complete mastery.
It’s not easy to post a 30-0 record. Each weekend that the men held their undefeated streak intact, they added another target on a back that already had two – one for being defending national champions and another for their No. 1 ranking.
But strong senior leadership from Anthony Daboub and Danny McClintick and an All-American lineup of juniors like Ryder Roberts, Gordon Marshall, Patrick Fellner and UCLA all-time career saves leader Garrett Danner meant nobody could even catch up in the race to the end of the season.
They capped off their perfect year with a win against USC for the national championship. It doesn’t get any better than that. Unless you also beat them three more times. Which the men’s water polo team also did, 10-9, 11-6, and 6-3.
Underachiever: Men’s soccer
A top-five recruiting class, eight starters from last year’s NCAA runner-up squad – including dynamic offensive star Abu Danladi – and a preseason No.1 ranking.
Things were falling in place for UCLA men’s soccer to make another championship run. Then they lost three of their first four matches.
The Bruins struggled to put together complete games – particularly on defense, after goalkeeper Earl Edwards Jr. graduated. Although they showed flashes of brilliance, including a 4-2 upset of then-No.6 Akron, UCLA never gained momentum. The Bruins finished the year just above .500 at 11-9-1 after a loss in the second round of the NCAA tournament to Seattle.
The Bruins lost a handful of seniors, but more importantly lost top recruiter and associate head coach Nick Carlin-Voigt after he left for a head coach job at Portland.
Another top-five recruiting class and a year’s worth of experience for stars Danladi, Seyi Adekoya, and Pac-12 Freshman of the Year Jose Hernandez have UCLA as the favorites again for a national championship.
Or they’ve become excellent candidates for next year’s Underachiever of the Year award.
Best Female Athlete: Jordin Canada
Last year’s Pac-12 women’s basketball Freshman of the Year only got better.
As the Bruins’ point guard, Jordin Canada led the team on both ends of the floor, registering 16.1 points, 5.7 assists and 2.3 steals per game – with the latter two good for second in the conference.
Coaches and the media named her to the All-Pac-12 and Pac-12 All-Defensive teams, and her high level of play throughout the season directly led UCLA to a runner-up finish in the Pac-12 tournament and its first Sweet 16 appearance in 17 years.
The sophomore also jumped into the national spotlight this season, as she was named to John R. Wooden Award Late Season Top 20 and an honorable mention All-American.