SAN FRANCISCO – Head coach Steve Alford, senior Thomas Welsh and junior Aaron Holiday represented the UCLA men's basketball program at Pac-12 Media Day on Thursday, hosted at the Pac-12 Conference's office and network studios.
 
Coach Alford, Welsh and Holiday participated in numerous interviews with members of print, broadcast and online media, in additional to taping various promotional videos to be used by national broadcast networks and at the Pac-12 Tournament in Las Vegas next March.
 
"We're excited about our season," Coach Alford said. "We are pretty healthy right now, which is always critical when you're 10 days in. We've opened up a brand new practice facility that we're absolutely excited about. And I have two gentlemen with me – Thomas Welsh, one of the best bigs in the country, and Aaron Holiday, one of the best guards in the country. Both are incredible young men, so I'm glad that they're joining me here today."
 
Welsh, a 7-foot center from Redondo Beach, Calif., enters his senior season having averaged 8.4 points, 6.8 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game through 99 career contest. The former standout at Loyola High School averaged 10.8 points and a team-leading 8.7 rebounds per game as a junior in 2016-17.
 
Welsh will enter his senior season with 114 career blocked shots, the fifth-highest total in school history.
 
Holiday, a 6-foot-1 guard from Chatsworth, Calif., will begin his junior campaign having averaged 11.4 points, 2.9 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game in 68 career contests. Holiday has played in every game for UCLA the past two seasons, shooting 41.4 percent from three-point range – a mark that currently stands as the sixth-highest career percentage in UCLA history.
 
As two of nine returning letterwinners from last year's team that went 31-5, both Welsh and Holiday are expected to play pivotal roles for UCLA in 2017-18. The veteran duo helped UCLA advance to last season's NCAA Tournament as the No. 3 seed in the South Region. During the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament in Sacramento, Calif., the Bruins secured wins over Kent State and Cincinnati.
 
Earlier on Thursday, UCLA had been tabbed as the No. 3 team in the annual preseason Pac-12 men's basketball media poll. Arizona was picked as the preseason favorite to win the conference's regular-season title, and USC was slated second (complete poll available here).
 
Other key contributors who return for UCLA this season include senior Gyorgy "G.G." Goloman and redshirt sophomores Prince Ali (6-foot-3, guard) and Alex Olesinski (6-foot-11, forward). Goloman averaged 3.7 points and 2.4 rebounds coming off the bench as a junior last year. Ali and Olesinski were both sidelined with injuries in November and December last season and took redshirt years.
 
In addition, UCLA welcomes seven freshmen to their program this season. The Bruins' incoming class has been rated as high as No. 5, nationally, by ESPN.com and Scout.com. UCLA's freshman class includes a pair of McDonald's All-Americans in Kris Wilkes (Indianapolis, Ind.) and Jaylen Hands (San Diego, Calif.). The Bruins backcourt will also feature Chris Smith (Chicago, Ill.), LiAngelo Ball (Chino Hills, Calif.) and Joseph Wallace (Woodland Hills, Calif.). Joining UCLA in the frontcourt are Cody Riley (Kansas City, Kan.) and Jalen Hill (Corona, Calif.)
 
The Bruins will host an exhibition game against Cal State L.A. on Wednesday, Nov. 1, in Pauley Pavilion. Game time is slated for 7:30 p.m. The Bruins' exhibition game will be televised by the Pac-12 Network.
 
UCLA will open its regular season against Georgia Tech in Shanghai, China. That game will begin at 8:30 p.m. (PT) on Friday, Nov. 10. Adjusted for the 16-hour time difference, UCLA's game in China will tipoff at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 11 (standard time in Shanghai). The Bruins' season opener will be nationally televised that Friday evening in the United States by ESPN.
 
Tickets for UCLA's game against Georgia Tech in Shanghai are now on sale (for more information, click here).  
 
Season ticket packages for 2017-18 men's basketball campaign are now on sale for less than $19 per game. To secure seats for all the home games in 2017-18, call (310) 206-5991 or visit uclabruins.com/tickets. Fans can click here to download the men's basketball schedule directly to their calendar.