Fullerton’s Daniels newest member of
Howland’s staff
Cal State Fullerton head coach Donny Daniels will be an
assistant coach at UCLA, Ben Howland announced Friday.
A long-time assistant at Utah under Rick Majerus, Daniels helped
bring All-Americans Keith Van Horn and Andre Miller into the Ute
program and is expected to be instrumental in recruiting at UCLA as
well.
“I’m elated that Donny Daniels has accepted the
position,” Howland said in a statement. “His experience
as a head coach and running his own program will be invaluable to
helping us build our UCLA program.”
Daniels met with Howland in person on Tuesday and then flew to
Utah the following day to discuss the job opportunity with his
family. By late Thursday evening, he had made his decision.
“When you’re driving a Chevy, and you get a chance
at a Rolls-Royce, you need to take it,” Daniels told the
Orange County Register. “UCLA is down right now, but Ben has
shown he can turn programs around. He did it at Northern Arizona,
and not for one or two years but three. He did it at Pittsburgh,
too. It’s time to go get some players and try to bring that
program back.”
In his third year as head coach at Fullerton, Daniels led the
Titans to a 10-19 record despite dealing with probation and a rash
of injuries. He had signed a one-year contract extension after the
season before the opening at UCLA became available.
In addition to hiring Daniels, UCLA also announced that Chris
Carlson, Howland’s former director of basketball operations
at Pittsburgh, will perform the same duties at UCLA.
Carlson will be responsible for the day-to-day operations of the
program and will act as a liaison to the athletic administration
and other school officials. Carlson will also assist in
coordinating the players’ practice, game and daily schedules.
“I’m very excited to have Chris join our
staff,” Howland said. “He brings an excellent
background to our program. I have known Chris since our days
together at UCSB and his administrative and organizational skills
are at the highest level.”
Women’s tennis has bad weekend against Bay
Area
The No. 15 UCLA women’s tennis team closed out the season
with 6-1 losses to Bay Area rivals Stanford and Cal last weekend.
The Bruins (13-10, 4-4) were once again hampered by injuries this
weekend, as Jackie Carleton didn’t even make the trip and
senior captain Sara Walker didn’t play on Saturday against
Cal.
The brightest spot of the weekend came on Friday on the No. 1
doubles court where Walker and Laura Gordon upset Stanford’s
Lauren Barnikow and Erin Burdette 9-7. Barnikow and Burdette are
the No. 1 doubles team in the nation.
But the Bruins lost on courts two and three, enabling Stanford
to secure the doubles point. In singles play, Feriel Esseghir
defeated Burdette 6-4, 2-6, (11-9), but that was the only point
UCLA was captured as the Cardinal won all five other singles
matches, four of them in straight sets.
On Saturday it was more of the same for the short-handed Bruins.
A 9-7 UCLA win at No. 2 doubles by Sarah Gregg and Susi Wild was
rendered meaningless by Cal victories on courts 1 and 3. Wild was
forced to play No. 1 singles because of the absence of Walker and
Carleton, and she kept things close with No. 7 Raquel Kops-Jones
7-5, 6-3. UCLA’s only point came at No. 5 singles where Anya
Loncaric defeated Jody Scheldt 3-6, 7-5, (13-11).
The Bruins have until Thursday to try and get healthy before
they take the court in the four-day Pac-10 championships in Ojai,
Calif.
Men’s track & field members of all ages excel
in invitational
Sophomore Ben Aragon may have been overshadowed by former UCLA
All-American Jess Strutzel Saturday, but Aragon had no problem
demonstrating where the future of UCLA’s distance team
lies.
As one of only a few Bruin athletes to participate in the
invitational competition at the Mt. SAC relays this weekend, Aragon
finished fifth in the men’s mile in 4:05.83, racing against
top distance runners in the country, including Strutzel, who won
the event.
Aragon’s performance on the track wasn’t the
weeken’s only highlight. Junior Nick Thornton finished eighth
in the 800 meters with a season best 1:49.68 (NCAA Regional
Qualifier). Sophomore hurdler Jonathan Williams took fourth overall
in the 110m hurdles in 14.22 and also combined with sophomores
Robert Hambleton and Mario Bassani and freshman Chauncee Smith in
the 4x100m relay, finishing sixth in 41.22.
Senior John Barbieri placed fourth in his section and finished
15th overall in the 400m hurdles with his time of 52.24 while
freshman Matt Williams finished sixth in his section in 52.61.
In the field, shot-putting freshmen Jeremy Silverman and Jake
Knight took seventh and eighth, in 58 feet, 7.5 inches and 57-4.25,
respectively, and sophomore Yoo Kim finished in a three-way tie for
fourth with his vault of 16-6.75.
Women’s team pole vaulter rises in Mt. SAC
Relays
When Chelsea Johnson arrived at UCLA in September, she was
expected to follow in the footsteps of Bruin legend Tracy
O’Hara, who graduated in 2002.
After struggling with her technique in her first few meets,
Johnson has finally hit her stride.
Saturday at the Mt. SAC Relays, the freshman phenom posted a
season-best mark of 13-5.25, just three-quarters of an inch short
of her personal best. That jump qualified her for the NCAA Regional
Championships, and was good enough for sixth place, albeit more
than a foot below eventual champion O’Hara.
On the track, senior Tiffany Burgess continued to shine, placing
sixth in the 800 meters with a mark of 2:04.62 (NCAA Regional
Qualifier). Sophomore Jessica Cosby and senior Chaniqua Ross also
posted regional qualifying scores in the shot put and discus,
respectively.
Compiled by Jessica Bach, Jeff Eisenberg and Brian Kiley, Daily
Bruin Senior Staff.