University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
Men's Basketball Rankings and Notes
November 9, 1998
Important Dates--Here are some dates to mark on your calendar.
Sunday, Nov. 8--Bruin Basketball Media day, highlighting the UCLA men's and women's teams, will be held in Pauley Pavilion, starting at 2 p.m. (please see attached release). Here's how the Bruin men will split up for their intrasquad game (two, 20-minute halves, clock running).
Blue Team Gold Team (actually in White Uniforms) 0 Jerome Moiso, F/C 4 JaRon Rush, F 3 Billy Knight, F/G 5 Baron Davis, G 11 Todd Ramasar, G 20 Brandon Loyd, G 13 Travis Reed, F 21 Ryan Bailey, G 22 Rico Hines, F 23 Matt Barnes, F 25 Earl Watson, G 30 Sean Farnham, F 34 Ray Young, G 50 Dan Gadzuric, C
Tuesday, Nov. 10--UCLA will open the exhibition season, hosting the California All-Stars in Pauley at 7:30 p.m. As of Tuesday, Nov. 3, the All- Stars were 2-1, beating Hawaii 80-72 on Nov. 1 and San Diego 90-71 on Nov. 2 and losing to Pepperdine 87-79 on Nov. 3. Fresno State hosted the California All- Stars, featuring former Bruin Bob Myers, on Wednesday night. Here's the All- Stars' schedule before playing UCLA--Nov. 5-at Weber State; Nov. 6-at Utah; Nov. 7-at BYU; Nov. 8-at UTEP and Nov. 9-at New Mexico.
Thursday, Nov. 12--The Bruins will host the Taiwan National Team at 7:30 p.m. in Pauley. The Taiwan squad was 0-1 as of Nov. 4, losing at St. Mary's 89- 66. Here's the schedule before facing UCLA--Nov. 5-at San Jose State; Nov. 6-at Stanford; Nov. 7-at CS Stanislaus; Nov. 9-at Santa Clara; Nov. 10-at Pepperdine and Nov. 11-at UC Santa Barbara.
Thursday, Nov. 19--UCLA opens the 1998-99 season, hosting Dick Davey's Santa Clara Broncos, from the West Coast Conference, at 7:30 p.m. in Pauley Pavilion.
Wooden and Naismith Awards--Bruin sophomore guard Baron Davis is on the early preseason lists for both the Wooden and Naismith Awards given annually to the nation's top collegiate player.
Davis Update--Since the start of fall camp, Davis, who had an ACL repair done on his left knee in April, has been cleared to participate in all activities, with the exception of scrimmaging. About two weeks ago he was examined (and was told to continue not scrimmaging). Davis was examined again on Thursday and was not cleared for contact. He will be examined again sometime next week.
Bumps and Bruises--No, Bruin assistant coaches Michael Holton and Steve Spencer don't have any eligibility remaining, it just looks that way. Because UCLA has had several players slowed with nagging injuries and the flu, both coaches have been participating in UCLA's scrimmages so the Bruins would have enough players to even have a scrimmage. Here's a list of the walking wounded--Baron Davis, left knee; Brandon Loyd, flu and right ankle; Matt Barnes, left knee; Dan Gadzuric, flu and left knee; Rico Hines, left knee; Billy Knight, right groin; Jaron Rush, flu and left knee; Sean Farnham, right foot.
Youngsters--According to research from the SMU Sports Information Office, the Bruins are tied for the second youngest team in the U. S. Southwest Louisiana is the youngest, with four freshman and nine sophomores, followed by UCLA (five freshman, seven sophomores)/Minnesota (seven freshman, five sophomores)/William & Mary (six freshman, six sophomores). Here are the youngest teams in America. 1. SW Louisiana (four frosh, nine sophomores=13 underclassmen); 2. UCLA (5F, 7S= 12)/ Minnesota (7F, 5S=12)/William & Mary (6F, 6S=12); 5. Boise State (7F, 4S= 11)/Wake Forest (5F, 6S=11); 7. Arkansas (8F, 2S=10)/LSU (8F, 2S=10)/ New Hampshire (6F, 4S=10)/ San Diego (6F, 4S=10)/ USC (4F, 6S=10).
Preseason Rankings (National)-- According to the AP Preseason poll released Nov. 5, the Bruins were rated No. 12, one of four teams from the Pac-10 that were ranked--No. 3 Stanford, No. 12 UCLA, No. 14 Washington and No. 18 Arizona. In the ESPN/USA Today poll released Wednesday, Nov. 4, UCLA is ranked No. 13. In all there were four Pac-10 teams in the Top 25--No. 2 Stanford, No. 13 UCLA, No. 14 Washington and No. 20 Arizona. Duke is the top ranked team in both polls. UCLA's highest preseason ranking is No. 4 by The Sporting News and lowest is No. 33 by Lindy's. Here are some other national rankings (with predicted Pac-10 finish).
No. 4--The Sporting News, first in the Pac-10 No. 10--Preview Sports,
No. 3 in Pac-10
No. 13--Slam and Sport Magazines
No. 15--Street & Smith; No. 3 in Pac-10
No. 17--Blue Ribbon Top 40
No. 18--Dick Vitale Preseason Top 25, No. 2 in Pac-10 No. 28--
Basketball News, No. 5 in the Pac-10 No. 33--Lindy's, No. 3 in Pac-10
Athlon--third in the Pac-10
Preseason Individually--
Athlon--Earl Watson, second-team All-Pac-10 Basketball News--- Baron Davis, No. 4 player in the U. S., Baron Davis, second-team All-Pac-10 Dan Gadzuric, Newcomer of the Year
Lindy's-- Baron Davis, third-team All-American; No. 4 point guard in U. S.; first-team All-Pac-10 Dan Gadzuric, No. 6 incoming freshman in U. S.; third-team All-Pac-10 Jerome Moiso, No. 14 incoming freshman in U. S., Pac-10 Newcomer of the Year JaRon Rush, No. 17 incoming freshman in U. S. Ray Young, No. 30 incoming freshman in U. S. No. 10 (Tied) Frontcourt in U. S.
Preview Sports--Baron Davis, first-team All-Pac-10 Ryan Bailey, Top Newcomer in the Pac-10 Dan Gadzuric, No. 1 incoming freshman in U. S. JaRon Rush, No. 6 incoming freshman in U. S. Sport--Dan Gadzuric, All-Class of 2002
Street & Smith--Baron Davis, No. 5 point guard in U. S.; high honorable mention All-American; first-team All-Pac-10 Dan Gadzuric, Top Newcomer in Pac-10 No. 5 best frontcourt in the U. S.
The Sporting News--Baron Davis, No. 5 point guard, first-team All-Pac-10 JaRon Rush, Pac-10 Newcomer of the Year Backcourt No. 4 in U. S., Frontcourt, No. 7 in U. S. Vitale's --Diaper Dandies in U. S., No. 4 Dan Gadzuric, No. 10 JaRon Rush Baron Davis, No. 7 point guard in U. S.; second-team All-Pac-10 Ryan Bailey, impact transfer in Pac-10
Preseason Rankings (Pac-10)--According to a poll, released Nov. 5, of media members who cover the Pac-10, Stanford, with 36 first-place votes, will win the 1999 conference race, with UCLA fourth. Here's the preseason standings--1. Stanford, 2. Arizona, 3. Washington, 4. UCLA, 5. California (one first place vote), 6. Arizona State/Oregon, 8. USC, 9. Washington State, 10. Oregon State.