College Chalk Talk - National Coaches' Diary Series: Scott Garson, Asst. Coach - UCLA
Scott Garson
Link to Bio
UCLA Bruins
Assistant Coach
UC Santa Barbara ('99)
• Instrumental in recruiting the 2008 Bruins' class, ranked as the number one recruiting class in the nation.
• Prior to coaching at UCLA, Scott served under Rick Majerus for five seasons (1999-2004) at Utah.
• Worked with current Washington head coach Lorenzo Romar while at Pepperdine during the 1998-1999 season.
Nov 19, 2010
NCDS: Scott Garson, Asst. Coach - UCLA
It is the time of year when every college coach in America is excited about the prospects of their season. The late nights watching film in the office are here, and the adrenaline keeps us going every day. Whether you have a young team or a veteran team, no matter where your team has been picked to finish, everyone gets a fresh start.
After a few weeks of practice, I was very anxious to see how our young group here at UCLA would do against someone other than ourselves. We have a team this year, comprised of only two upperclassmen with any experience on the Division 1 level and no seniors in the entire program (including our walk-ons.) So far, we are 3-0 and getting better with each outing.
Malcolm Lee, our Captain this season, is a junior, and is the only player we have with real experience as he started all 32 games last season and played 35 minutes per game. Reeves Nelson and Tyler Honeycutt are Sophomores, and were both named to the Pac-10 All-Freshman Team last season. Those three are the returning nucleus that we know need to have good years for us to have the type of season we expect to have.
Lazeric Jones, a junior college transfer, has already made a great impact for us at the point guard position, and Josh Smith, a Freshman McDonald’s High School All American, is our starting center.
We are really picking up the pace of the game this season with this group and that starts with our ability to rebound. Tyler and Reeves are one of the best rebounding forward duos in the country (they combined for 29 rebounds in our win over Pacific on Tuesday.) The great thing about both of them is their unique abilities to push the ball on the break themselves after rebounding. Our team and our fans are really enjoying the up-tempo style Coach Howland is emphasizing in our first three games this season.
Our bench is comprised of some new faces and some players that are much improved from a season ago. Brendan Lane plays both power forward and center for us, and he is playing with great confidence right now. The 20 pounds of muscle he added in the off-season is helping him in every aspect of his game.
Jerime Anderson worked to really improve his outside shooting during the Spring and Summer. Our staff has a lot of confidence in Jerime’s ability to shoot the ball from the perimeter now, and Jerime will make some big shots for us this season with this added confidence in his game.
Tyler Lamb, the CIF player of the year at Mater Dei High School last season, is already playing a lot of minutes for us as a freshman. Tyler is very tough, has a great feel for the game, and is the best defensive freshman guard we have had on the perimeter since Arron Afflalo. Tyler started on Tuesday, due to Malcolm’s sprained ankle, and really put the clamps on several of the Pacific players.
Anthony Stover, a redshirt freshman center, is giving us great energy off the bench. He runs the floor like a deer, and is a tremendous shot blocker. Anthony plays really hard and with great passion, which gives us a real spark. Matt Carlino, is a true freshman guard who can really shoot the ball. He has been sidelined with a concussion, but we are hoping to get him back before our trip to New York next week.
All in all, I am very optimistic about our team. We are young, but we have good talent and terrific chemistry. We are only going to get better as the season continues. David and Travis Wear, who transferred to our program from North Carolina, are helping to make our practices very competitive, which is necessary for us to improve. Our emphasis to push the ball in transition is already helping to take advantage of our athleticism.
I look forward to seeing where this team can go this season. New York will be a big challenge next week when we take on a very good Villanova team. We will find out how much we have grown in this young season already. The madness has begun!
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