PE.com - College Sports

VOTE: Should UCLA upgrade its home schedule?

Sun, 06 Jul 2008 09:00:00 -0800

Here's the tentative list of non-conference games at Pauley Pavilion for those who haven't memorized it yet:

Nov. 12 Coaches vs. Cancer First Round (1)
Nov. 13 Coaches vs. Cancer Second Round (1)
Nov. 29 Florida International
Dec. 7 Cal State Northridge
Dec. 17 TBD
Dec. 20 Mercer
Dec. 23 Wyoming
Dec. 28 Louisiana Tech
Feb. 7 Notre Dame

Westbrook signs

Sat, 05 Jul 2008 09:00:10 -0800

How much can $6 million buy you in Oklahoma City? Russell Westbrook is about to find out. The former UCLA star signed a multi-year contract with the Seattle ... err ... Oklahoma City Sonics, the team announced.
Terms of Westbrook's deal were not announced, but the NBA's rookie scale calls for the fourth pick in the draft to be making approximately $6 million during his first two years in the league. Not bad for a kid who this time last year was unsure whether he'd beat out Michael Roll for a starting spot in the UCLA backcourt.

UCLA's Coaches vs. Cancer opponents

Fri, 04 Jul 2008 12:52:06 -0800

For those curious who UCLA might be playing in the 16-team Coaches vs. Cancer tournament next season, my understanding is the other three host schools will be Michigan, Duke and Southern Illinois.
Each of those schools will host first- and second-round games on Nov. 12 and 13. If all four host schools advance, the Nov. 20 semifinal matchups at Madison Square Garden would be UCLA-Michigan and Duke-Southern Illinois.
I don't know what schools will be in UCLA's pod yet, but tournament organizers have done everything in their power to create a UCLA-Duke final, so I wouldn't expect any riveting additions to the home schedule. Tournament officials reportedly went so far as to replace Pittsburgh with Southern Illinois because they were worried the Panthers could beat Duke and ruin their dream final.

UCLA's Malcolm Lee named Team USA finalist

Fri, 04 Jul 2008 09:00:00 -0800

UCLA incoming freshman Malcolm Lee was named one of 14 finalists for the 2008 USA Men's U18 National Team Thursday. The Riverside North alum will learn if he has made the team Tuesday when the 12-player roster is scheduled to be finalized.
The U.S. squad, coached by Davidson's Bob McKillop, will participate in the 2008 FIBA Americas U18 Championship, held July 14-18 in Formosa, Argentina. The top four finishers will qualify for the 2009 FIBA U19 World Championship, scheduled for July 2-12 in New Zealand.
Here's a more detailed look at Lee's quest to make the U-18 team this summer.

Mbah a Moute meets Milwaukee

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 10:00:00 -0800

Luc Richard Mbah a Moute arrived in Milwaukee Tuesday full of energy, optimism and pithy one-liners. Asked for his initial thoughts on his new basketball home, the former UCLA forward told the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, "I learned that you have a lot of beer out here, and I know it gets really cold in the winter."
Mbah a Moute also got serious with the Milwaukee media, describing his joy at realizing his NBA dreams and his penchant for defense he displayed so often at UCLA. Here's a quick video from Mbah a Moute's introductory press conference for those who would like to see more.

Sizing up Howland's new contract

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 07:00:00 -0800

With UCLA basketball coach Ben Howland signing a contract extension Tuesday that will pay him $1.97 million next season, I wanted to give readers an idea of how that compares with his peers. Based on some quick research, Howland's salary is competitive with what some of the nation's top college basketball coaches reportedly will earn in base salary next season:

- Billy Donovan (Florida), $3.5 million
- Thad Matta (Ohio State), $2.5 million
- John Calipari (Memphis), $2.35 million
- Billy Gillispie (Kentucky), $2.3 million
- Tom Crean (Indiana), $2.3 million
- Ben Howland (UCLA), $1.97 million
- Roy Williams (North Carolina), $1.8 million
- Tubby Smith (Minnesota), $1.8 million
- Tom Izzo (Michigan State), $1.7 million
- Rick Pitino (Louisville), $1.65 million
- Bill Self (Kansas) $1.4 million (Expected to renegotiate this offseason)

Also interesting is charting how quickly Howland's base salary has increased during his tenure. UCLA has added another season to Howland's seven-year contract after each of his five seasons, boosting his annual salary following all three Final Four appearances.

Howland's annual salary
2003-04: $900,000 (11-17, 7th in Pac-10)
2004-05: $900,000 (18-11, lost to Texas Tech in NCAA first round)
2005-06: $900,000 (32-7, lost to Florida in NCAA title game)
2006-07: $1.15 million (30-6, lost to Florida in Final Four)
2007-08: $1.5 million (35-4, lost to Memphis in Final Four)
2008-09: $1.97 million (???)

Tentative UCLA basketball schedule

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 15:48:14 -0800

Here's a look at UCLA's tentative basketball schedule released by the Pac-10 in its annual offseason prospectus. No real surprises here: DePaul is the tentative Wooden Classic opponent as I reported a few weeks ago, while Texas, Notre Dame and the Coaches vs. Cancer semifinals and finals are the other marquee non-conference games.
If there's one minor surprise here, it's that the UCLA-Notre Dame game is Feb. 7 in the heart of the Pac-10 season. Ben Howland has previously said he values having some teaching time with only one game during USC week, but I would think the date of this game may have been dictated by TV.

Tentative UCLA basketball schedule
Tues., Nov. 4 Humboldt State (Exhib.)
Fri., Nov. 7 TBD (Exhib.)
Wed.,, Nov. 12 Coaches vs. Cancer First Round (1)
Thurs., Nov. 13 Coaches vs. Cancer Second Round (1)
Thurs., Nov. 20 Coaches vs. Cancer Semifinals (2)
Fri.., Nov. 21 Coaches vs. Cancer Final (2)
Sat., Nov. 29 Florida International
Thurs., Dec. 4 at Texas (3)
Sun., Dec. 7 Cal State Northridge
Sat., Dec. 13 DePaul (4)
Wed., Dec. 17 TBD
Sat., Dec. 20 Mercer
Tues., Dec. 23 Wyoming
Sun., Dec. 28 Louisiana Tech
Fri., Jan. 2 at Oregon State
Sun., Jan. 4 at Oregon
Sat., Jan. 10 at USC
Thurs., Jan. 15 Arizona State
Sat., Jan. 17 Arizona
Thurs., Jan. 22 at Washington State
Sat., Jan. 24 at Washington
Thurs., Jan. 29 California
Sat., Jan. 31 Stanford
Wed., Feb. 4 USC
Sat., Feb. 7 Notre Dame
Thurs., Feb. 12 at Arizona
Sat., Feb. 14 at Arizona State
Thurs., Feb. 19 Washington
Sat., Feb. 21 Washington State
Thurs., Feb. 26 at Stanford
Sat., Feb. 28 at California
Thurs., Mar. 5 Oregon
Sat., Mar. 7 Oregon State
Mar. 11-14 Pac-10 Tournament (5)

(1) Coaches vs. Cancer, Los Angeles, Calif.
(2) Coaches vs. Cancer Semis/Finals, N.Y., N.Y. (MSG)
(3) Big 12/Pac-10 Hardwood Series
(4) Wooden Classic, Anaheim, Calif. (Honda Center)
(5) Los Angeles, Calif. (Staples Center)

Update on UCLA's Lorenzo Mata-Real

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 15:42:50 -0800

UCLA coach Ben Howland said Lorenzo Mata-Real is in Las Vegas this week trying out for the Japanese Professional Basketball League. The event began Monday and will run through Thursday. One hundred fifty players will try out in front of every coach in the league, and approximately 24-40 jobs will be available.

Howland's contract details

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 10:56:08 -0800

UCLA coach Ben Howland's contract extension is a seven-year deal that will pay him $1.97 million for the 2008-09 season and escalates to $2.3 million for the 2014-15 season.
The deal is a significant bump over the extension he signed last summer. Howland made $1.5 million for the 2007-08 season and would have made $2 million by the end of the contract in 2013-14.

ESPN's Bad Night Good for Pac-10's UCLA, USC

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 10:26:37 -0800

As you listened to ESPN anchor Stuart Scott, North Carolina grad and one of a long line of ACC honks on the network that covers that league, you had to feel sorry for them last Thursday.

In an NBA Draft dominated by the Pac-10, a conference the network only looks at from afar most days, the lack of familiarity came glaringly through.

As in Scott's amazement that here was a conference "not known as a basketball power'' or words to that effect, making all the news.

Too bad Scott didn't pay attention to this note from the University of Arizona that shows that the Wildcats, with Jerryd Bayless' No. 11 lottery pick became the team with the most overall NBA Draft picks in the last 20 drafts since 1989 with 29 players selected.

That's one more than No. 2 Duke's 28 and three more than No. 3 UCLA's 26. So a Pac-10 Conference, with the first- and third-most players drafted over the last two decades, might not be a power only in the minds of those who don't pay enough attention to leagues they don't broadcast compared to the ones they do.

Here's the list of NBA Draft Choices since 1989

1. ARIZONA 29

2. Duke 28

3. UCLA 26

4. Kansas 22

5. North Carolina 21

Connecticut 21

7. Georgia Tech 19

Here's the Pac-10 office's take on the draft that had STANFORD's Brook Lopez selected 10th by the New Jersey and ARIZONA's Bayless picked 11th by Indiana, Pac-10 players comprised five of the 14 lottery picks. Stanford's Robin Lopez was chosen 15th by Phoenix and CALIFORNIA's Ryan Anderson selected 21st by New Jersey.
:

WALNUT CREEK, Calif.-- USC's O.J. Mayo was taken by Minnesota with the third pick overall in the 2008 NBA Draft, followed in order by UCLA teammates Russell Westbrook to Seattle and Kevin Love to Memphis to lead a record seven Pac-10 players drafted in the first round. The previous high for the Pac-10 was five first round selections, which occurred twice - 1979 and 2001.

It was the first time three Pac-10 players were among the first five selections of the NBA draft.