In a few hours, UCLA and Michigan will face off in the first semifinal of 2K Sports Classic benefiting Coaches vs. Cancer at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
The Bruins are ranked fourth in the nation in both the ESPN/Coaches and Associated Press polls, while Michigan is unranked.
UCLA is being touted for having the best recruiting class in the nation, lead by McDonald’s All-American Jrue Holiday.
But don’t let the youth fool you. The Bruins are also a solid veteran team led by Preseason All-American Darren Collison, Josh Shipp, James Keefe and Alfred Aboya.
UCLA reached the semis by defeating Prairie …read more

Josh Shipp will return to UCLA, which means at least two starters will return from last year’s Final Four team.
Collison and Shipp should keep this team in the top 15 all year. Roll, Keefe and Aboya will be heavily relied upon as well.
Bruins Nation could not be happier!
Now all the focus is on forward Luc Richard Mbah a Moute. Will he stay in the draft? Decision time is creeping up on him and dozens of other college underclassmen. The deadline to withdraw from the draft is June 16, 5pm.
Moute will be back. Borderline …read more

Well, the underclassman floodgates have officially opened to the NBA draft. Here is a list of underclassmen that declared for the NBA draft over the past few days:
- BYU guard Lee Cummard
- BYU center Trent Plaisted
- Texas A&M guard/forward Josh Carter
- UCLA guard/forward Josh Shipp
- North Carolina guard Ty Lawson
- North Carolina forward Wayne Ellington
- Missouri forward DeMarre Carroll
- Missouri forward Leo Lyons
Since underclassmen can declare for the draft without hiring an agent, it really muddles up the draft picture. Many of these kids are simply testing the waters to see where they would potentially fall in the draft, but …read more

After two consecutive trips to the Final Four, UCLA signed head basketball coach Ben Howland to a 7-year contract that will pay him $1.5 million a season.