Thursday, April 12, 2012
UCLA's new basketball players
UCLA's new basketball players
Shabazz Muhammad will be joined by Jordan Adams, Kyle Anderson and Larry Drew II.
By Ben Bolch
The Los Angeles Times
April 12, 2012
Name; Pos.; Ht.; Wt.; Previous school; CommentJordan Adams; SG; 6-5; 205; Mouth of Wilson (Va.) Oak Hill Academy; One of the top perimeter shooting prospects in the country should boost Bruins' three-point accuracy.
Kyle Anderson; PG; 6-8; 215; Jersey City (N.J.) St. Anthony; A versatile talent who can play the one to the four but will probably utilize exceptional basketball IQ as starting point guard.
*Redshirted last season after transferring.
Shabazz Muhammad; SG/SF; 6-5; 207; Las Vegas Bishop Gorman; Widely
considered one of the top players in the country, the swingman could spearhead a
big turnaround for Bruins.Absolutely priceless...
Coach Ben Howland and staff watching Shabazz pick UCLA. Kudos to bruinjake for posting on BZ.
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
UCLA Signs Shabazz Muhammad to a National Letter of Intent
Thanks to OldBruin for posting this on BZ.
UCLA Signs Shabazz Muhammad to a National Letter of Intent
UCLA Signs Shabazz Muhammad to a National Letter of Intent
 |  Shabazz Muhammad |
April 11, 2012
2012-13 Season Ticket Information
LOS ANGELES - UCLA head coach Ben Howland announced today the signing of Shabazz Muhammad to a National Letter of Intent to attend UCLA in the fall of 2012.
Muhammad, a 6-foot-6-inch, 215-pound wing out of Las Vegas (Bishop Gorman High School), is a McDonald's All-American and joins the early signing class that consisted of fellow McDonald's All-American, Kyle Anderson, a 6-foot-8-inch, 225-pound point guard out of North Bergen, N.J. (St. Anthony High School) and Jordan Adams, a 6-foot-5-inch, 220-pound wing out of Atlanta (Oak Hill Academy).
"Shabazz Muhammad is the No. 1 player in the country and his signing at UCLA is huge for our program," Howland said. "I'm just so excited because he is a great kid that embodies what is needed to be an excellent student-athlete. He is an outstanding student who is a great person and is obviously a very special player. He brings so many skills to the table. He is very athletic and is a very strong and explosive player who is a very good passer and scorer and is an outstanding shooter. He will be a very special player for us."
Muhammad led all high school seniors in scoring at 29.4 points per game and also averaged 10.1 rebounds and 2.4 assists to lead the Gaels to a 28-4 record and the 2012 Nevada 4A State Championship. He scored a game-high 36 points in the state title game. He was named the 2012 Naismith Boy's High School Player of the Year and selected by the McDonald's All-American committee as the 2012 Morgan Wootten Player of the Year. He also was named the MVP of the 2012 McDonald's All-American game on March 28, leading the West to a 106-102 victory over the East, scoring a game-high 21 points in 22 minutes of action. He also won the Powerade Jam Fest dunk contest and will play for the West in 2012 Jordan Brand Classic on April 14 in Charlotte, N.C. Despite a record-setting 35 points from Muhammad, the World Select Team captured an 84-75 win over the USA Junior National Select Team in the 2012 Nike Hoop Summit.
While at Bishop Gorman HS, the left-hander was named the 2011 and 2012 Gatorade State Player of the Year in Nevada under head coach Grant Rice. He was also honored as the 2012 Las Vegas Review-Journal's Class 4A Boy's Basketball Player of the Year. He played four varsity seasons at BGHS where he captured three (2009, 2010 and 2012) Nevada 4A state titles while becoming the program's all-time leading scorer. On the season, he scored 40-plus points four times and 30 or more points 10 times in 2012. As a junior in 2010-11, he averaged 25.1 points and 7.7 rebounds to help his team to a state semifinals appearance.
"I chose to be a Bruin so I will be at UCLA next year," Muhammad told the nation on a live telecast on ESPNU on April 11. "I look forward to the challenge of getting them back on top. I know that they are the leaders in championships with 11 and that Kyle Anderson and Jordan Adams are great additions to the program. There is a lot of great pieces returning on the team that will make it a great team in the future."
Muhammad is ranked as the No. 1 player in the nation by Rivals.com and No. 2 by ESPN.com and Scout.com. ESPN and Scout have him rated as the No. 1 small forward in the country while Rivals ranked him as their No. 1 shooting guard. He joins Kyle Anderson, who is rated as the No. 3 player in the country by Rivals.com, the No. 4 player by Scout and No. 5 by ESPN. Anderson is rated the No. 1 small forward by Rivals and the No. 2 small forward by ESPN and Scout behind Muhammad. The third signee of the class is Jordan Adams, who is rated the No. 41 player in the country by ESPN.com. Adams is also rated No. 62 by Rivals and No. 75 by Scout. ESPN rates Adams as the No. 9 small forward in the country while Rivals has him at No. 14 and Scout at No. 16. Muhammad's signing to UCLA jumped the Bruins from No. 12 on ESPN's recruiting class rankings to No. 3. UCLA is the only program to land two of the top five recruits in the 2012 class.
2012-13 Season Ticket Information
LOS ANGELES - UCLA head coach Ben Howland announced today the signing of Shabazz Muhammad to a National Letter of Intent to attend UCLA in the fall of 2012.
Muhammad, a 6-foot-6-inch, 215-pound wing out of Las Vegas (Bishop Gorman High School), is a McDonald's All-American and joins the early signing class that consisted of fellow McDonald's All-American, Kyle Anderson, a 6-foot-8-inch, 225-pound point guard out of North Bergen, N.J. (St. Anthony High School) and Jordan Adams, a 6-foot-5-inch, 220-pound wing out of Atlanta (Oak Hill Academy).
"Shabazz Muhammad is the No. 1 player in the country and his signing at UCLA is huge for our program," Howland said. "I'm just so excited because he is a great kid that embodies what is needed to be an excellent student-athlete. He is an outstanding student who is a great person and is obviously a very special player. He brings so many skills to the table. He is very athletic and is a very strong and explosive player who is a very good passer and scorer and is an outstanding shooter. He will be a very special player for us."
Muhammad led all high school seniors in scoring at 29.4 points per game and also averaged 10.1 rebounds and 2.4 assists to lead the Gaels to a 28-4 record and the 2012 Nevada 4A State Championship. He scored a game-high 36 points in the state title game. He was named the 2012 Naismith Boy's High School Player of the Year and selected by the McDonald's All-American committee as the 2012 Morgan Wootten Player of the Year. He also was named the MVP of the 2012 McDonald's All-American game on March 28, leading the West to a 106-102 victory over the East, scoring a game-high 21 points in 22 minutes of action. He also won the Powerade Jam Fest dunk contest and will play for the West in 2012 Jordan Brand Classic on April 14 in Charlotte, N.C. Despite a record-setting 35 points from Muhammad, the World Select Team captured an 84-75 win over the USA Junior National Select Team in the 2012 Nike Hoop Summit.
While at Bishop Gorman HS, the left-hander was named the 2011 and 2012 Gatorade State Player of the Year in Nevada under head coach Grant Rice. He was also honored as the 2012 Las Vegas Review-Journal's Class 4A Boy's Basketball Player of the Year. He played four varsity seasons at BGHS where he captured three (2009, 2010 and 2012) Nevada 4A state titles while becoming the program's all-time leading scorer. On the season, he scored 40-plus points four times and 30 or more points 10 times in 2012. As a junior in 2010-11, he averaged 25.1 points and 7.7 rebounds to help his team to a state semifinals appearance.
"I chose to be a Bruin so I will be at UCLA next year," Muhammad told the nation on a live telecast on ESPNU on April 11. "I look forward to the challenge of getting them back on top. I know that they are the leaders in championships with 11 and that Kyle Anderson and Jordan Adams are great additions to the program. There is a lot of great pieces returning on the team that will make it a great team in the future."
Muhammad is ranked as the No. 1 player in the nation by Rivals.com and No. 2 by ESPN.com and Scout.com. ESPN and Scout have him rated as the No. 1 small forward in the country while Rivals ranked him as their No. 1 shooting guard. He joins Kyle Anderson, who is rated as the No. 3 player in the country by Rivals.com, the No. 4 player by Scout and No. 5 by ESPN. Anderson is rated the No. 1 small forward by Rivals and the No. 2 small forward by ESPN and Scout behind Muhammad. The third signee of the class is Jordan Adams, who is rated the No. 41 player in the country by ESPN.com. Adams is also rated No. 62 by Rivals and No. 75 by Scout. ESPN rates Adams as the No. 9 small forward in the country while Rivals has him at No. 14 and Scout at No. 16. Muhammad's signing to UCLA jumped the Bruins from No. 12 on ESPN's recruiting class rankings to No. 3. UCLA is the only program to land two of the top five recruits in the 2012 class.
Shabazz Muhammad commits to UCLA
NEXT VIDEO 
The most talented offensive player in the Class of 2012 is headed to Westwood. Shabazz Muhammad (Las Vegas, Nev./Bishop Gorman), ESPNU's No. 2 overall recruit, announced Wednesday on ESPN's "Signing Day Special" that he will sign with the Bruins over Kentucky and Duke.
The addition of the 6-foot-6 Muhammad rockets coach Ben Howland's recruiting class to No. 2 in the class rankings, one slot behind Pac-12 rival Arizona. The Bruins' haul in the early period was constructed around do-it-all small forward Kyle Anderson (Fairview, N.J./St. Anthony's) and scoring maven Jordan Adams (Lawrenceville, Ga./Oak Hill), ranked Nos. 5 and 41, respectively.
"Shabazz Muhammad is the No. 1 player in the country and his signing at UCLA is huge for our program," Howland said. "I'm just so excited because he is a great kid that embodies what is needed to be an excellent student-athlete. He is an outstanding student who is a great person and is obviously a very special player. He brings so many skills to the table. He is very athletic and is a very strong and explosive player who is a very good passer and scorer and is an outstanding shooter. He will be a very special player for us."
UCLA had been the perceived leader for Muhammad since last year, but recruiting trips to Duke, Kansas, Kentucky and the burgeoning presence of Muhammad's hometown UNLV program had cast doubt on his final decision.
The Bruins were in desperate need of a significant recruiting haul coming off a difficult 19-14 season, which ended with a loss to Arizona in the second round of the Pac-12 tournament.
More On Shabazz Muhammad
Shabazz Muhammad's committment to UCLA means one thing. The Bruins and coach Ben Howland are back, writes Reggie Rankin. Blog 
• UCLA Report | ESPN Los Angeles
Muhammad's ability centers around the left-hander's explosion to the rim, his commitment to improving and his overall offensive package. Muhammad was the McDonald's All-American game's Most Valuable Player after scoring 21 points with six rebounds for the West team. Last weekend, he broke the Hoop Summit scoring record with 35 points for the U.S. in a loss to the world All-Stars.
After a strong summer in 2011, Muhammad ascended to the No. 1 spot in ESPNU's overall rankings. Muhammad ceded the position to Nerlens Noel (Everett, Mass./Tilton) when Noel announced he would rejoin his original class and join a college program next season.
Muhammad led Bishop Gorman to a state title in his final game in Nevada. His sister is a professional tennis player.
ESPN Los Angeles' Pete Yoon contributed to this report.
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