UCLA’s latest high school basketball signing class could make history.
It may not exist.
For the first time in at least a quarter-century, the Bruins are not expected to land a high school prospect during the early signing period that began Wednesday.
It’s possible they don’t land a high school player in the spring or summer either, largely due to their roster construction. The team has just two seniors in addition to three players who plan to redshirt next season in hopes of an expanded role.
Read more: There is no I in the picture: UCLA, stocked with talent, puts egos aside in the title quest
Moreover, there is such a thing as the transfer portal.
“There’s really only one rule: You can transfer any year,” said UCLA coach Mick Cronin, who calls all the players free agents. “So who the hell knows [what will happen] next spring? Who knows? And then you now sign early, it used to be binding, now it’s just an aid. If a man wants to change, he can sign with you and if he decides to change his mind, they set him free [of his scholarship]. There are no rules, let’s just be honest about it.”
Cronin was referring to structural recruiting changes with the NCAA recently eliminating the National Letter of Intent. Now the players agree to binding subsidy agreements. Within five years, Cronin said, players could sign contracts based on the current state of play.
UCLA would have liked to announce a future arrival on Wednesday. Cronin and his staff doggedly pursued Nikolas Khamenia, a star forward from Harvard-Westlake, as part of an intense recruiting battle that ultimately turned in Duke’s favor when Khamenia announced last month that he would become a Blue Devil.
The Bruins can always add one or two high school players after the season to fill the gaps left by the departures of Lazar Stefanovic and Kobe Johnson, the only players on their roster whose eligibility is about to expire. They could also turn to the transfer portal, which has become an increasingly important part of their recruitment strategy thanks to what Cronin described as exponential growth in name, image and likeness funding.
After missing the NCAA Tournament last season for the first time since playing for Cincinnati in 2010, Cronin looked for a talent upgrade, primarily through the transfer portal. The coach imported Johnson (from USC), Tyler Bilodeau (Oregon State), Eric Dailey Jr. (Oklahoma State), William Kyle III (South Dakota State), Skyy Clark (Louisville) and Dominick Harris (Loyola Marymount) to complement a freshman class that includes guards Trent Perry and Eric Freeny, in addition to walk-on Christian Horry.
Considering it was the second consecutive season that Cronin had added at least eight new players, roster stability appears to have gone the way of wide shorts.
“The days of building the program are over,” Cronin told The Times last summer. “I think our best opportunity to build with guys is to recruit Southern Californians who are more likely to stay at UCLA because they want to be home. The one thing I’ve learned – and research bears this out – is that boys from Southern California tend to come back when they go to school somewhere else and they tend to thrive better when they’re here , and that doesn’t just apply to UCLA. also at other schools in Southern California.
“So I think your chance to recruit a high school player like Eric Freeny who’s going to be with you for a long time might be your chance to still do it like we used to. But how many such guys will there be? Don’t know. This is all so new.”
Read more: UCLA blows up Boston University despite known shooting and turnover issues
Complicating Cronin’s high school recruiting efforts leads to escalating uncertainty about how many roster spots will be available in this new era of free agents. After last season, Adem Bona left for the NBA; Kenneth Nwuba was no longer eligible; Will McClendon, Jan Vide and Berke Buyuktuncel transferred to other schools and Ilane Fibleuil joined a team in his native France.
“When we signed guys,” Cronin said this summer, “the guys who left us in the portal all shouted and said, ‘Can we meet again, coach?’ I think it will be difficult for me to play.” And I said, ‘I understand.’ It’s just a new era, things you never dreamed you’d be doing an interview about, but this is where we are now.
Cronin confirmed Wednesday that Freeny would redshirt this season along with Brandon Williams and Devin Williams (no relation) to maintain eligibility in hopes of a bigger role in future seasons.
“In this day and age you have to build a team year by year and obviously you hope you don’t have to start from scratch every year,” Cronin said. “So there are some prospects that we could have a team – Kobe and Lazar are seniors and one or two guys could make it to the NBA – but if we could have a lot of guys back that would be great, that would be many people are great. of reasons – less craziness for me in the spring with some continuity for 2025-2026, but you just don’t know.”
Etc.
Junior point guard Dylan Andrews, who sat out the Bruins’ win over Boston University on Monday with a groin injury, remained sidelined for the portion of practice reporters allowed to observe Wednesday. His status is considered day by day.
Get the day’s best, most interesting and strangest stories from the LA sports scene and beyond with our newsletter The Sports Report.
This story originally appeared in the Los Angeles Times.
