ALL-USA duo pulls UCLA from doldrums
If anyone needed to pull a rabbit out of a blue and gold hat, it was UCLA men’s basketball coach Ben Howland.
The Bruins finished this season 19-14 and missed the NCAA tournament. A story in March in Sports Illustrated portrayed a program in turmoil.
But Howland now is wrapping up a recruiting class that includes USA TODAY ALL-USA first-team players Shabazz Muhammad and Kyle Anderson.
“I think signing this class was important, and there was some pressure on (Howland),” Scout .com national recruiting analyst Evan Daniels said.
After Muhammad, a 6-6 forward from Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas), signed last week, Howland said, “No question it was huge. I think that Shabazz’s in- terest in UCLA initially encouraged Kyle when Kyle signed. . . . What’s great for me is the kids recruiting each other.”
The Bruins also are in the running for Mcdonald’s All-american center Tony Parker of Miller Grove (Lithonia, Ga.). He’s expected to announce his college choice Monday.
Muhammad comes with potential risks. He played in AAU for Dream Vision, and Benjamin Lincoln, a financial adviser with ties to Dream Vision coach Clayton Williams and Muhammad’s father, Ron Holmes, has said he told NCAA investigators that he paid for Muhammad’s unofficial recruiting visits to Duke and North Carolina.
Muhammad’s upside makes him worth the gamble, Scout .com West Coast recruiting analyst Greg Hicks said.
“The big thing is he’s the kind of kid who can change the cul- ture of the program,” Hicks said. “He’s a really hard worker, and he wants to win badly. They could use more kids like him.”