The muggy heat is circling a gymnasium at West Los Angeles
College, where James Keefe is trudging his 6-foot-8, 220-pound
frame up and down the floor in the Say No/Procity Summer League. He
isn’t at Pauley Pavilion, with the banners hanging above the
players’ head as the crowd builds, yet this is the start of
Keefe’s tenure as a Bruin.
Every summer, UCLA men’s basketball players can be found
practicing their game against other players throughout Southern
California. Keefe, a power forward, will be playing alongside guard
Russell Westbrook, who combines with Keefe to make up the entire
2006 recruiting class for the men’s basketball team.
Following the tradition of years of Bruin basketball and the
leadership of assistant coach Kerry Keating, the freshmen will be
honing their play while college basketball is dormant. But the
Bruins’ run in the NCAA Tournament in March is enough
motivation for the players to run up and down the court in the
summertime.
“Obviously, their success is great, it means I just have
to work that much harder,” Keefe said. “I saw what
Alfred (Aboya) and Luc (Richard Mbah a Moute) did the summer before
their freshman year, and I want to do the same.”
Keefe and Westbrook are just two out of many freshman
student-athletes who will finally begin their college careers after
years of recruiting. At this point it may seem like a formality,
but this is when it actually starts to matter.
“I definitely want to get bigger before school
starts,” Keefe said. “And work on my inside game. The
speed at the college level is completely different.”
Keefe, out of nearby Santa Margarita Catholic High School, has
played on all-star teams with sophomore Mike Roll since fifth
grade. He kept in touch with players during last season, and spoke
to the coaches just before UCLA left for the Final Four in
Indianapolis.
After being courted by a slew of programs during the recruiting
process and getting familiar with UCLA once he made his choice,
Keefe is now about to head off to college. Now the speculation of
his potential ends and the work begins.
“Its been a long time coming,” Keefe said.
“Ever since I heard the announcement, I have worked really
hard to get prepared for this.”
The fall quarter seems to put a little more pressure on athletes
for fall sports, who must juggle academics and sports right
away.
UCLA football coach Karl Dorrell will be welcoming his
highest-rated recruiting class when training camp begins in July.
It is an eclectic mix of talent ““ the class is headlined by a
pair of linemen, a wide receiver and a place kicker.
Offensive lineman Jake Dean of Paraclete High School in
Lancaster and defensive linemen Darius Savage of Morse High School
in San Diego bring depth to a depleted corps. The top-rated Bruin
recruit is wide receiver Terrence Austin, out of Long Beach Poly
High School, who was rated as the ninth best player at his
position.
Kai Forbath was recruited out of Sherman Oaks’ Notre Dame
High School as the No. 1 kicker in the nation, but is expecting to
redshirt the upcoming season while senior Justin Medlock puts the
finishing touches on a prolific collegiate career.
Although he won’t officially begin his tenure at UCLA
until late September, the schedule for incoming football players
makes it seem like he became a Bruin several months ago. Forbath
and several other football recruits are taking a pair of summer
school classes and will begin their first training camp in
July.
“I feel like the (recruiting) process ended a long time
ago,” Forbath said. “I’m glad to get the summer
school classes out of the way so I can balance everything a little
easier when the school year begins.”
One of the determining factors in Dean’s decision was his
relationship with former Offensive Coordinator Tom Cable, who left
the program to assume offensive line coaching duties with the
Minnesota Vikings soon after National Signing Day.
“I was impressed by Tom Cable,” said Dean the day
before National Signing Day. “He made me feel like the Bruins
were committed to winning for years to come.”
Cable is one of five assistant coaches from last year’s
football staff who are no longer with the program. When the
incoming freshmen join the team next month, they will still be
getting acquainted with their team, as many of the coaches who
enticed them to come to UCLA will no longer be here.
Perhaps more than anything else, a new recruiting class reveals
the constant flux of a college athletic program. Just ask
women’s basketball coach Kathy Olivier, who lost First Team
All-Pac-10 guards Nikki Blue and Lisa Willis to graduation and will
use her freshmen to rebuild the team. Moniquee Alexander, out of
the Pendelton School at IMG Academy, figures to see significant
playing time as a 6-foot-6 center who brings size and strength to a
finesse team.
“There are going to be more position battles, wide
open,” Olivier said. “Every few years you have that.
The players you bond with leave the program, and go out into the
real world, and you bring in new players to build from
scratch.”
With reports from Sagar Parikh, Bruin Sports senior
staff.