Recently in UCLA Basketball Category

UCLA incoming freshman Malcolm Lee learned Tuesday that he is one of 12 players to earn a spot on the U.S. squad that will participate in the FIBA U18 Americas Championship July 14-18 in Formosa, Argentina. The Riverside North alum will be looking to help the U.S. defend its gold medal and qualify for the 2009 FIBA U19 World Championship, scheduled for July 2-12 in New Zealand.

Here's some video highlights of Xavier Henry to give you an idea of the caliber of athlete he is. UCLA is one of four finalists for Henry, along with Memphis, Kansas and Texas.

Elite shooting guard prospect Xavier Henry intends to visit UCLA, his father Carl told me last night. Henry was expected to decide between Kansas and Memphis in the next few days, but his father said he will delay his decision a little longer to give himself time to visit both UCLA and Texas.
Henry, whose father played at Kansas, stars at Putnam City High in Oklahoma. I'll have more later this week on UCLA's chances of landing Henry, who is considered by most to be the top guard prospect in the class of 2009.

UCLA's Lorenzo Mata-Real is one of 22 prospects vying for a spot on the Lakers' summer-league team this week. A Lakers spokesman said the team expects to finalize a 13-man roster for the Las Vegas Summer League Thursday after evaluating their players during two-a-day practices at their facility in El Segundo.

Russell Westbrook made his professional debut for the NBA's unnamed Oklahoma City franchise this afternoon, scoring 18 points in a 95-78 summer-league loss to the Indiana Pacers in Orlando. The former UCLA guard logged nearly 31 minutes, going 7-for-13 from the field and tallying five assists against just one turnover. Afterward he spoke about playing for Oklahoma City instead of Seattle.
"It's all happened so fast," Westbrook told The Associated Press. "It's something you have to live with. It happened so fast. I'm very excited to be in the position I am now."

I spoke to Cameroonian national team coach Lazare Adingono via e-mail this afternoon, and here's what he said regarding the chances Luc Richard Mbah a Moute will participate in Olympic qualifying:

"Luc, has promised to do everything he can to join us and compete for his country. I am not sure the management of his new team, the Bucks, will agree to give him a few days away from his new team at the period of the year. I think Luc is one of the best young talents that Cameroon has and of course if he was to miss this tournament it will be a big blow to the Team and the country. I hope that he will granted a few days from his team to help us compete against the best in world."

Luc Richard Mbah a Moute's opportunity to help Cameroon qualify for the 2008 Olympics appears to rest in the hands of the Milwaukee Bucks.
According to this story on the FIBA Web site, Bucks officials are deciding whether they will request that Mbah a Moute play for their summer-league team beginning this week or allow him to join UCLA's Alfred Aboya and the rest of the Cameroon national team at its training camp in France. Cameroon begins pool play against Croatia on July 14 in Athens, Greece.
This tournament is a landmark moment for Cameroon, a fledgling basketball nation that has never come this close to qualifying for the Olympics before. Mbah a Moute helped lead Cameroon to its best-ever result at the African Championships last summer, a second-place finish that earned the country a berth in the Olympic qualifying tournament.

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

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.

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 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.

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.

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 (???)

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)

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.

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.

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.
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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.

UCLA coach Ben Howland is expected to get a raise and a contract extension today. I'll have details later this morning once they're available.

One of UCLA's primary recruiting targets for the class of 2009 is Michael Snaer, a talented shooting guard from Moreno Valley Rancho Verde High. Snaer said he received a scholarship offer from UCLA after his breakout junior season, and hopes to make his decision by the end of the summer.
Though Snaer did not attend UCLA's elite camp this past weekend because of a minor knee injury he suffered Friday, the 6-foot-4 guard is still seriously considering the Bruins along with USC, Florida, Cal, Stanford, Arizona, Kansas and a host of others. He likes UCLA's campus and coaching staff but has concerns about whether he'd be able to earn immediate playing time. Here's a transcript of the conversation I had with Snaer today:

On where he is in the recruiting process:
I'm still getting to know every school because there are a lot of new schools recruiting me. There are still new schools hopping in every day, so I've got to get to know them so I don't make the wrong decision. I don't really have a leader at this point. I'm pretty much neutral on every school.

On whether he enjoys the attention:
It's exciting but it's kind of confusing. You start to get a feel for what you like, and here comes a new school. It gets confusing.

On who the new schools are that he's hearing from
I'm having a really good summer, so a lot schools are starting to approach me that weren't interested before. Schools like Virginia Tech, Florida ... there are so many schools that I can't even name them all.

On UCLA:
I'm really interested in them. Their coaches are cool. I like talking to them. I've been on the campus, and it's nice. And I know a couple guys who are going there next year. That's pretty much all I can go off of right now.

On why he didn't attend the UCLA elite camp:
I hurt my knee, so I didn't get a chance to make it out there. I hurt it the day before at another camp. It was just a little bump, so I'm stretching it and icing it. I'll be back on the court today or tomorrow.

On whether he has received a scholarship offer from UCLA:
Yeah, I got one. It's been there for a minute, not sure how long.

On whether immediate playing time is a concern, especially at UCLA:
Yeah, it is, just with the guys they have coming in ahead of me.

On what's important to him in deciding on a school besides playing time:
The coaches, seeing the way they play, what their style is like. It also has to be somewhere I can get to the next level from. The academics are always important. I have to like the guys I'm playing with. I have to be able to get in the weight room or the gym, it's all that stuff.

On what he's trying to improve this summer
I'm a really good shooter, but I'm trying to work on my ball-handling. I'm trying to get that tip-top because I know I have to handle the ball a lot. That's probably what I'm working on the most.

On his timetable:
I'll probably try to decide by the end of the summer

There's some talk that UCLA and Kansas could play a home-and-home series starting in 2009-10 as part of the Big 12-Pac-10 challenge. I doubt anything has been finalized yet, but from what I know this would make a lot of sense.
The Pac-10 was pleased with the interest in the initial challenge last year and gave no indication that it had any plans to pull the plug on the event. And once the initial two-year series is complete this year, the conferences intend to devise new match-ups, paving the way for what could be a highly appealing Kansas-UCLA matchup.