Pac 12 Preview: UCLA

Pac 12 Preview: UCLA

Last Season: UCLA was 26-9 last season and 14-4 in conference play. The Bruins lost in the Pac 12 Tournament final after winning their first two games. Then they won their first two NCAA games before losing in the Sweet 16 to Texas.


The Coaches: Cori Close is in her 6th season as the Head Coach. Close has 98 wins in her 5 seasons. She went to HS in the San Jose area.
Jenny Huth joined the Bruins with Close, so now in her 6th year also.
Shannon Perry is in her 6th year like Close and Huth and coached at Duke for 5 seasons.
Tony Newnan like the others is in his 6th season. Thus the entire staff together from the first season Close coached at UCLA.


Losses:
Nirra Fields averaged 15 points per game # 2 on the team.
Kacy Swain was the # 5 scorer at almost 7 points per game and the # 2 rebounder at 7 per game.


Additions:
Nicole Kornet is a 6-1, 5th year guard who transferred a year ago from Oklahoma and can now play. At Oklahoma she had 22 starts over her 3 years and averaged about 5 points per game. Nicole is a good three point shooter and was ranked as high as 19 out of HS.
Lindsey Corsaro is a 6-1 Frosh Wing ranked # 15 out of HS. Lindsey originally committed to Kentucky, then de committed when players transferred from Kentucky.
Ali Rosenblum is a 6-4 Frosh Post ranked # 47 out of HS. Ali is from the great Mater Dei program in Southern California.


The Schedule: The Bruins play only at Stanford and Cal and play Colorado and Utah only at home. Their non-conference schedule includes games at Baylor and at South Carolina. Two very tough games for sure. However the rest of schedule is easier with Iowa and Michigan at home being the toughest.


The Team: Jordan Canada is a 5-6 Jr Point Guard who led the team in scoring at 16 points per game. Canada averaged 5.7 assists per game with a 1.8:1 assist to turnover ratio. Canada is one of the top players in the country.

Monique Billings is a 6-4 Jr Post. Last season Billings averaged 13 points and 8 rebounds per game. She also led the team in blocks and here’s a great stat for a post, she was 3rd on the team in steals. Billings was rated as high as # 17 out of HS.

Kari Korver is a 5-9 Sr Guard who started every game last season and averaged 8 points per game. Kori not only led the team in threes with 67 but that was almost half the team total. Kori made 36% of her three attempts. Her brother has played 11 years in the NBA.

Lajahna Drummer is a 6-1 JR Forward who averaged 6 points and 5 rebounds last season. Drummer didn’t start many games but tied for 5th in minutes per game.

Kennedy Burke is a 6-1 Soph Wing. Last season Burke averaged 6 points and 4 rebounds. Burke was ranked as high as # 16 out of HS.

The five above should be the starters, however UCLA is loaded with depth.

Kelli Hayes is a 6-0 Jr Guard who averaged 4 points in 20 minutes per game. Kelli is from Mitty HS and was ranked as high as 26.

Ashley Hearn is 6-4 Soph 4/5. She was limited by injured and didn’t play much as a Frosh. However Ashley was ranked as high as # 12 out of HS.

Paulina Hersler is a 6-3 Jr Forward. Last season Paulina averaged 2 points and almost 2 rebounds in 10 minutes per game.

The three additions will see a lot of playing time. UCLA is playing several games in Australia right now and Kornet had an excellent first game. Drummer and Corsaro are out injured, but Frosh Rosenblum also had a fine game.


Predictions: The Bruins are a talented and deep team and will contend for the Pac 12 title and expect to go deep in the NCAA tournament.



2017 Recruiting:
Alexis Morris a 5-6 PG from Texas ranked # 5 overall
Lauryn Miller a 6-2 Forward from Missouri ranked # 15 overall
Kayla Owens a 6-2 Forward from Texas ranked # 53 overall
A great class thus far, certainly tops in the Pac 12 and possibly second only to UConn at this point.