Jrue heeds his country's call

UCLA's Jrue Holiday Selected for 2013 USA Basketball Mini-Camp

Former UCLA guard to compete at mini-camp in Las Vegas from July 22-25

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Jrue Holiday

UCLAMBB website

June 13, 2013

Former UCLA guard Jrue Holiday, currently playing for the Philadelphia 76ers, is one of 27 NBA players who has accepted an invitation to attend the 2013 USA Basketball Men's National Team mini-camp in Las Vegas, Nev., from July 22-25.

Holiday, who starred at UCLA in 2008-09, started 78 games for Philadelphia last season and led the 76ers in minutes (37.5 mpg) and scored a career-best 17.2 ppg (No. 22 in the NBA). In addition, he led Philadelphia in assists with a career-best 8.0 apg (No. 4 in the NBA). He finished the year averaging 4.2 rebounds and 1.58 steals per game.

The USA squad is highlighted by 20 players with USA Basketball experience, including one 2012 Olympic gold medalist and each of the last three No. 1 NBA Draft selections.

Holiday played in the 2013 NBA All-Star Game and placed fifth in voting for the 2013 NBA Most Improved Player award. He has played his entire professional career with Philadelphia (2010-13). He is represented by Philadelphia native and UCLA basketball great Jerome "Pooh" Richardson, president of Rival Sports Group.

Last summer, Holiday was a member of the 2012 USA Basketball Select Team that trained against the U. S. Olympic team during its July 6-11 training camp in Las Vegas. The U.S. team, under the direction of Duke men's basketball head coach Mike Krzyzewski, won the Gold Medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, England. Members of that team included former UCLA players Russell Westbrook (Oklahoma City Thunder) and Kevin Love (Minnesota Timberwolves).

Westbrook and Love are unable to participate in the upcoming July 22-25 mini-camp because both are nursing injuries suffered during the 2012-13 NBA season. Love had right hand and left knee surgery during the regular season and Westbrook suffered a right knee injury in the playoffs that required surgery.

As a high school senior in 2007-08 at Campbell Hall School in Studio City, Calif., Holiday was named the Gatorade Player of the Year and was a member of the USA Basketball Junior National Select Team that competed in the annual Nike Hoop Summit. In 2007, he participated in the USA Basketball Youth Development Festival.

As a true freshman at UCLA in 2008-09, Holiday started all 35 games at guard and averaged 27.1 minutes per game and finished second on the team in assists (3.7 apg) and steals (1.6 spg) and was the Bruins' fifth-leading scorer (8.5 ppg). UCLA went 26-9 that season, finishing second in the Pac-10 standings (13-5) and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Holiday was selected No. 17 overall by Philadelphia in the first round of the NBA Draft.

Assisting Krzyzewski at next month's mini-camp will be Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim, Chicago Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau and New Orleans Pelicans head coach Monty Williams.

The invited players will assemble in Las Vegas on July 21 and will conduct daily training sessions from July 22-24 and close out the mini-camp with the 2013 USA Basketball Showcase, a blue-white intra-squad game on Thursday, July 25 at 6 p.m. (PT) at the Thomas & Mack Arena on the campus of UNLV. All USA practices will take place at UNLV's Mendenhall Center and are closed to the general public.

Tickets for the 2013 USA Basketball Showcase on July 25 will go on sale June 13. Tickets start at $10 and can be purchased by calling 702-739-FANS or at by visiting UNLVtickets.com.

Following the Las Vegas mini-camp, the next major competition for Team USA will be the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup (formerly the FIBA World Championships) from Aug. 30 through Sept. 14 in Spain. For additional information about USA Basketball and the 2013 USA Basketball mini-camp, please visit the official website of USA Basketball at usabasketball.com.

UCLA Announces Schedule for 2013-14 Men's Basketball Season

UCLA Announces Schedule for 2013-14 Men's Basketball Season

Games against Alabama (at Pauley Pavilion) and Duke (at Madison Square Garden) highlight non-conference slate

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Steve Alford

from The UCLA Men's Basketball website

June 18, 2013

UCLA's 2013-14 Schedule (PDF) 

The 2013-14 UCLA men's basketball schedule released on Tuesday includes 19 home games, highlighted by the only matchup of the season between UCLA and Pac-12 Conference rival Arizona, a visit from defending Pac-12 Tournament champion Oregon, and a non-conference game against Alabama of the SEC.

In addition, UCLA will face ACC power Duke in the CARQUEST Auto Parts Classic on Thursday, Dec. 19 at Madison Square Garden in New York. The matchup will pit two storied programs that have won a total of 15 national championships, 11 for UCLA and four for Duke.

In all, UCLA will play non-conference games against four teams that finished the 2012-13 regular season with an RPI of better than 80, Duke (1), Missouri (42), Alabama (64) and Weber State (78). RPI is a tool used by the NCAA to rank teams based upon a combination of wins and losses and strength of schedule.

"All of us in the program have been working tirelessly this spring and summer to prepare for the upcoming season," said first-year UCLA Head Coach Steve Alford. "We are excited to get in front of our fans and represent UCLA."

The Bruins will open their second regular season in renovated Pauley Pavilion, and first under Alford's tutelage, on Friday, November 8 against the Drexel Dragons. The following week, UCLA hosts Oakland (Nov. 12), before welcoming Sacramento State to Westwood on Monday, Nov. 18.

As previously announced, UCLA will host two regional round games in the Continental Tire Las Vegas Invitational at Pauley on Friday, November 22 and Sunday, November 24. The Bruins will then compete in the final two rounds of the event at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas on Thursday, November 28 (Thanksgiving) and the following day. Though UCLA's opponents for each of those four games will be announced by tournament organizers in the near future, the remaining three teams in the Las Vegas portion of the event will be Missouri, Nevada and Northwestern.

UCLA returns home after the holiday weekend to face UC Santa Barbara on Tuesday, Dec. 3. The Bruins then travel to Missouri for their first road game of the season on Dec. 7, a Saturday, in a re-match of UCLA's thrilling, 97-94 overtime victory in Pauley during the 2012-13 season. UCLA hosts Prairie View A&M on Saturday, Dec. 14.

A cross-country trip then awaits the Bruins as they tussle with the Blue Devils at "The World's Most Famous Arena." The game marks the second time in the last three seasons that UCLA has played at The Garden. The St. Johns Red Storm hosted the Bruins there on Saturday, February 12, 2012.

UCLA's non-conference slate concludes with a home game against Weber State (Sunday, Dec. 22) and the aforementioned contest against Alabama six days later (Saturday, Dec. 28) in Pauley Pavilion.

UCLA opens conference play on Jan. 4, 2014 with a home contest against crosstown rival USC, followed by Arizona on Jan. 9 and Arizona State on Jan. 11. This year's home conference slate also includes welcomes visits from Stanford (Jan. 23), Cal (Jan. 25), Utah (Feb. 13), Colorado (Feb. 15) and Oregon (Feb. 26), before concluding with the Bruins and the Beavers on March 1. The Pac-12 Tournament, featuring all 12 teams, will be held at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas (March 12-15, 2014) for the second consecutive season.

In 2012-13, UCLA finished with a 25-10 overall record and won the Pac-12 Conference regular-season title (13-5) and finished second to Oregon in the conference tournament. The Bruins lost to Minnesota in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

Season tickets for the 2013-14 UCLA Men's Basketball campaign are on sale now. For more information or to purchase season tickets, please visit UCLABruins.com or call 310-UCLA-WIN.

The schedule is tentative and subject to change due to television.

Tentative 2013-14 UCLA Men's Basketball Schedule

TBD - Exhibition
Fri, Nov. 8 - Drexel
Tue., Nov. 12 - Oakland
Mon., Nov. 18 - Sacramento State
Fri., Nov. 22 - Las Vegas Invitational Regional
Sun., Nov. 24 - Las Vegas Invitational Regional

Thu., Nov. 28 - @ Las Vegas Invitational (Orleans Arena)

Fri., Nov. 29 - @ Las Vegas Invitational Finals (Orleans Arena)

Tue., Dec. 3 - UC Santa Barbara

Sat., Dec. 7 - @ Missouri

Sat., Dec. 14 - Prairie View A&M

Thu., Dec. 19 - Duke @ Madison Square Garden

Sun., Dec. 22 - Weber State
Sat., Dec. 28 - Alabama
Sat., Jan. 4 - USC
Thu., Jan. 9 - Arizona
Sat., Jan. 11 - Arizona State

Thu., Jan. 16 - @ Colorado

Sat., Jan. 18 - @ Utah

Thu., Jan. 23 - Stanford
Sat., Jan. 25 - California

Thu., Jan. 30 - @ Oregon State

Sat., Feb. 1 - @ Oregon

Sat., Feb. 8 - @ USC

Thu., Feb. 13 - Utah
Sat., Feb. 15 - Colorado

Thu., Feb. 20 - @ California

Sat., Feb. 22 - @ Stanford

Wed., Feb. 26 - Oregon
Sat., Mar. 1 - Oregon State

Thu., Mar. 6 - @ Washington State

Sat., Mar. 8 - @ Washington

Mar. 12 - Mar. 15 - Pac-12 Tournament @ MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, NV

Mar. 18 - Mar. 19 - NCAA First Round

Mar. 20 - Mar. 23 - NCAA Second and Third Round

Mar. 27 - Mar. 30 - NCAA Regional

Apr. 5 & Apr. 7 - NCAA Final Four @ Dallas Cowboys Stadium, Arlington, TX

Questions ahead for UCLA hoops

May, 23, 2013

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By Peter Yoon | ESPNLosAngeles.com

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This is supposed to be a quiet period in NCAA basketball, but that hasn't been the case for UCLA.

The Bruins have been in scramble mode almost since the day athletic director Dan Guerrero announced Steve Alford as the coach to replace Ben Howland, and the latest incident came over the weekend, when Guerrero issued a puzzling statementin response to an L.A. Times article about Alford. 

That statement is just the latest incident during hectic two-month stretch in which question after question about Alford, his past and how and why he was hired have dominated discussions about UCLA basketball. About the only way to silence all of this, of course, would be to redirect attention to the team and its potential. 

Unfortunately for Alford and UCLA, there are plenty of questions and issues surrounding those aspects of the program, too. Here, we look at five of the biggest questions surrounding the UCLA program as it transitions into the Steve Alford era: 

1. Can Alford win over the UCLA fan base?

While this certainly is the biggest issue du jour, it’s also the most easily addressed. All Alford needs to do is land a couple of top-notch recruits and then get the team winning. 

Sounds simple enough, but Alford started out behind in the recruiting race and would now need to pull off some magic in order to land a player who can impact next season’s team. 

Let’s face it: Alford was not the top choice for UCLA fans. UCLA showed interest in Shaka Smart of Virginia Commonwealth and Brad Stevens of Butler before turning to Alford and his hire came as a surprise to the Bruins faithful. 

His name had not previously come up in lists of potential candidates for the job, and some have been slow to fully accept him as a worthy leader for this proud program. 

Alford still has a shot, but the real answer to this question won’t come until next March. The only way to truly impress UCLA fans is to win in the NCAA Tournament. Conference titles and tournaments mean little. Sweet 16s, Elite Eights and Final Fours speak volumes. 

2. Does UCLA have enough depth?

Alford inherits a team with only six scholarship players returning and only one of them -- Jordan Adams -- averaged more than 11 points per game last season. 

Three freshmen are slated to arrive in late June, so the Bruins will have nine scholarship players to start next season and the good news is that is one more than they played with for much of last season. 

The Bruins managed to survive with limited numbers and won the Pac-12 regular-season title in 2012-13, but they also got pretty lucky on the injury front. A few players missed a game or two here and there, but not until Adams broke his foot in the Pac-12 tournament did a Bruin suffer a significant injury.

Sophomores Kyle Anderson and Adams and seniors Travis Wear and David Wear will bring plenty of game experience and junior Norman Powell should be ready to take a step forward in his development, but Tony Parker played sparingly last season and the other three players on the team will be true freshmen. 

There is talent there. Incoming recruits Bryce Alford and Zach LaVine were named to the Parade Magazine All-American high school team while Anderson earned second team All Pac-12 honors last season and Adams was UCLA’s second-leading scorer. Still, the lack of bodies is a concern -- a fact brought to the attention of Alford and his staff during offseason workouts. They had only five healthy scholarship players present because Adams is still recovering from his broken foot. Relying on similar injury luck as last season is a risky proposition so Alford will probably be looking to recruit a preferred walk-on or an immediately eligible transfer. 

3. Who will play the point?

Larry Drew II played a team-high 35.5 minutes per game last season mostly because he was the only true point guard the team had. He earned all-conference honors and now is gone, having exhausted his eligibility.

The success of last year’s team was in large part due to the phenomenal freshman class, but without Drew there is no way the Bruins win the Pac-12 title or even make the NCAA tournament. Now that he’s gone, the chances of repeating either of those accomplishments depend on finding a suitable replacement. 

Drew was fourth in the nation with 7.3 assists per game and also brought senior leadership from a position where experience matters most, so it won’t be easy. The leading candidates now are Anderson, a non-traditional, 6-9 point forward who played power forward most of last season, and Alford, the sharp-shooting coach’s son who has played some point guard in high school but will be a true freshman. 

Incoming freshman LaVine can also play some point in a pinch, but he’s more suited to shooting guard. The same goes for Noah Allen, another incoming freshman. Don’t be surprised if Alford starts out as the point guard with Anderson filling the same spot-duty role he played last season. 

The Bruins could also mix and match lineups based on matchups and use a big lineup with Anderson running the point or a small, four-guard lineup where Anderson plays the post. 

4. Who will play the post?

The obvious answer here is Tony Parker because he is the only true post player on the team. But Parker had a rough go of it last season and was considering transferring away from UCLA. All indications are that he will be back next season, though he has not yet made an official announcement. 

Even if he does come back, Parker didn’t exactly impress last season. He played his way out of the regular rotation with erratic performances and played his way out of favor of a coaching staff that had questions about his approach. 

The coaching change should rejuvenate Parker, who was a high school All American his senior year and was among the most coveted big men coming out of high school last year. He showed some flashes of his talent with his size and strength during his limited action with the Bruins, but most of the time looked lost and disinterested on the court. 

He racked up 54 fouls in 207 minutes (that’s one foul every 3.8 minutes) and played only 6.3 minutes per game. He will have to take a significant step forward in order to become the type of impact player the Bruins need at center. 

The other options are Travis and David Wear. The Travis Wear played the post position most of last season, but he’s more of a face-up forward and his true position is power forward. David Wear, Travis’ twin, has a similar game. 

The Bruins can get by without a true post player—they won the Pac-12 title last season doing so—but it’s a long shot to think they can make any kind of post-season run without some meaningful contributions from inside the paint. 

5. Can Steve Alford recruit California?

Although the immediate concern in an instant-gratification world is next season, Alford’s long-term success will hinge on his ability to recruit. Specifically, he needs to re-establish UCLA as a coveted destination for local talent -- something that tailed off in Ben Howland’s past few seasons. 

Howland built his successful teams around Southern California recruits such as Arron Afflalo, Josh Shipp, Jordan Farmar, Darren Collison and Russell Westbrook. His last class, while outstanding, had no Southern California players and local kids seemed to be picking Arizona, Cal, Colorado, Stanford, UNLA and San Diego State over the Bruins. 

The class of 2014 is pivotal for Alford. Six of the players in the ESPN 60 for that class are from Southern California, including highly-regarded forward Stanley Johnson of Mater Dei and coveted point guard Jordan McLaughlin of Etiwanda High in Rancho Cucamonga. 

Clearly recruiting these top-tier players comes with the risk that they will be one-and-done, so Alford needs to balance the scales with some three-start type of players who are willing to grow with the program. 

There are plenty of those in California as well, so Alford will need to hit the recruiting trail hard and build quality relationships with high school and AAU coaches in the area to make sure he gets some of them to stay home.