A reporter asked defensive backs coach Demetrice Martin if this year’s secondary is the most experienced one he’s coached during his four-plus years at UCLA. Martin didn’t even hesitate when he heard the question. “By far,” he said. “These guys have been playing together, they know each other’s shortcomings, they know each other’s strengths.” UCLA’s […]
Author Archives: Matt Joye
UCLA football brings in mental conditioning coach, referees at fall camp
Thursday marked the first time in fall camp that referees were on hand to make sure that everything was done in a fair and orderly manner. Fittingly, Thursday also marked the first time in fall that a player was thrown out of practice. The player was freshman middle linebacker Lokeni Toailoa. He got into a […]
UCLA football sees abundance of running backs for 2016
The UCLA football team has a problem that many teams would actually like to have: an overload of talent at the running back position. Heading into the 2016 season, a big question facing offensive coordinator Kennedy Polamalu is “How do I get all of these guys enough touches?” Sophomore Soso Jamabo is a former five-star […]
Fall training camp kicks off at home in consideration of player health
The collision course begins Monday. Every year, the UCLA football program goes through a two-week ordeal of practices and two-a-days in mid-August heat to prepare for the start of the season in September. This year, the team has the fortune of being in Westwood for the first of those two weeks, instead of being in […]
Paralympian Blake Leeper forges path to Rio on Drake Stadium track
If you walk into Drake Stadium on a weekday around 11 a.m., you’ll see a group of elite-level athletes working out with legendary sprint coach and UCLA alum John Smith. Allyson Felix, a four-time Olympic gold medalist, could be there one day. Tyson Gay, a sprinter for the U.S. Olympic Team, could be there another. Fellow […]
Losing Kevin Gowdy to MLB draft extends UCLA’s search for recruits
John Savage didn’t think he was going to lose this one. Almost every year, the UCLA baseball coach loses one or two of his recruits to the Major League Baseball draft. Players drafted in the first few rounds command signing bonuses that make a college scholarship look like pennies. “We really anticipate a lot of […]
UCLA men’s basketball guard Prince Ali receives knee surgery
UCLA men’s basketball player Prince Ali underwent successful knee surgery Friday on a torn meniscus. The sophomore guard will be re-evaluated in mid-November – right when the NCAA men’s basketball season begins – per UCLA Athletics. A torn meniscus is a familiar injury to UCLA sports fans, as linebacker Myles Jack suffered the same injury last […]