The circus came to Westwood yesterday.
But instead of shuffling into a big top, some 30 reporters and
eight cameras from as far away as San Diego flooded the Morgan
Center’s UCLA Hall of Fame.
The crowd ““ which included athletic director Dan Guerrero
““ gathered to hear basketball head coach Steve Lavin speak
publicly for the first time since a Los Angeles Times story
reported that he had talked with confidants about resigning
mid-season and paid witness to Lavin’s classic linguistic
acrobatics.
“At no point have I considered resigning, and at no point
will I resign,” he said.
Lavin also dismissed reports that he spent the past few days
soul-searching, instead describing a weekend that included NFL
football, college basketball, turkey sandwiches and the hit movie
“Chicago.”
He said that his true “confidants” are his parents,
John Wooden, Pete Newell and Purdue coach Gene Keady.
“I don’t know who these “˜friends and
confidants’ are, or where they’re hiding out, speaking
on my behalf,” Lavin said. “By the end of reading that
Times story, I even thought I was resigning.”
Lavin has maintained his penchant for gallows humor, even as the
noose tightens to a level beyond remembrance. He even jokingly
compared the press conference scene to Orson Wells’
“War of the Worlds.”
Though hardly laughing, Guerrero similarly tried to diffuse the
volatile situation.
“It’s not open to speculation and we’re not
going to do anything other than support this team,” Guerrero
said. “The level of dissatisfaction is being generated
externally.”
Other than Lavin’s denial of any intention to resign, the
biggest news to come out of the standing-room-only press conference
surrounded a team meeting that took place before practice on
Monday.
The players called the meeting, but coaches were present.
“Some players were concerned that I was considering
resigning,” he said. “It wasn’t so much kids
voicing displeasure as it was us saying “˜we’re better
than we’re playing.'”
Bruin players seemed to concur, though they stopped short of
revealing any specifics.
“A lot of people got things off their chests,”
senior Ray Young said. “We’re trying to ensure that
everyone’s not going to go off on his own island.”
Other mulling rumors put to momentary rest included a reported
intra-team rift.
“The team is fine,” sophomore Ryan Walcott said.
“Nothing’s going on between the upper and lower class
players.”
Sophomore Cedric Bozeman responded to reports that he was
unhappy and considered transferring.
“I have no idea where those rumors came from, but it hurt
me to see them,” he said.
Underlying nearly every player’s comments was a desire to
return a degree of pride to a program on track for a monumentally
disappointing season.
“It’s like we’ve forgotten who we are and what
we’re playing for,” junior Jon Crispin said.
“It’s like we’re not UCLA anymore.”