Although the uncertainty regarding Jordan Farmar’s draft
situation has settled, heading into this summer’s workouts,
the Bruins are still full of questions. Three out of the five
starters from last year’s championship runner-up team are
gone, and projected key contributor Josh Shipp is coming off of a
serious hip injury that sidelined him for most of last year. Most
importantly, sophomore guard Darren Collison will be given the
enormous task of replacing the All-Tournament performer Farmar at
the point guard position. Farmar, for one, thinks Collison will be
fine. “Darren is getting nothing but better,” Farmar
said. “Every time I come here he’s working hard.
He’ll step right in and be ready to go.” During spring
workouts, Collison showed he was ready to take on the bigger role.
With work in the weight room, he went from his mid-season weight of
148 pounds to a considerably bulkier 160 pounds. “He really
committed himself to getting bigger,” Howland said.
“He’s the one true point guard on scholarship in the
program, and he’s slated to be the starting point guard next
year.” Helping out at the point guard position will be junior
guard Arron Afflalo, who has played the position intermittently in
the program. Having Afflalo withdraw his name from the draft and
return to school for his junior year was a big boost for the
Bruins, especially considering the youth of next year’s team.
“He’s one of the best guards in the country next
year,” Howland said. “We’re very fortunate to
have him back in the program. He’s just such a great leader
and a great person. He’s the total package.” The
Bruins’ two freshmen, Russell Westbrook and McDonald’s
All-American James Keefe, are also expected to have an impact.
Westbrook was a late signing for the Bruins, and will have an even
bigger impact now that Collison and Afflalo are the only two
scholarship guards. Keefe, meanwhile, has been vocally committed to
the Bruins since his sophomore year of high school, and will be
looked at to contribute at either the small forward or power
forward position. “I think James will be able to come in and
immediately compete,” Howland told scout.com. “We have
eight players returning as our nucleus right now, and we hope that
Russell and James will be able to come in and contribute to
that.” Both Keefe and Westbrook are currently playing with
the Sinclair Bruins of the Nike SayNo/ProCity Summer League, and
work out with current Bruins Alfred Aboya, Lorenzo Mata, Ryan
Wright and Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, all of whom are staying in Los
Angeles to work out over the summer.
STILL NO SPICA: The Bruins’ third signed
freshman, Marko Spica of Belgrade, Serbia-Montenegro, has still not
received a passing score on the SATs, and is currently not eligible
to play for the Bruins next season. Spica, who is 6 feet 9 inches
and 225 pounds, averaged 11 points and 7 rebounds for the Serbian
Junior national team the past two seasons. There is currently no
timetable for when the Bruins will find out if Spica will
qualify.
LOVE TO VISIT: High school senior Kevin Love,
of Lake Oswego, Ore., will be taking an unofficial visit to the
UCLA campus this week with his parents, scout.com reported. Love,
the nation’s No. 2 recruit for the high school class of 2007,
is deciding between the Bruins and North Carolina, and has said he
will take official visits with both programs in the fall before
making his decision. Love already came to the UCLA campus earlier
this year for a recruiting trip and watched the UCLA-Arizona
basketball game in early February.
ASSISTANT COACH LEAVING?: Assistant coach Ernie
Ziegler is one of three finalists for the Central Michigan head
coaching job. One of Howland’s former assistants at
Pittsburgh, Jamie Dixon, is now the head coach at Pittsburgh.