Forward Brendan Lane Verbally Commits To UCLA
By Bruin Basketball Report
Junior Brendan Lane from Rocklin High School near Sacramento has verbally committed to play at UCLA in 2009.
The talented 6'10 205lb forward averaged 20 points and 11 rebounds last season at Rocklin. Along with earlier commit, Reeves Nelson, it gives the Bruins two of the best forwards in the West from the 2009 class.
"I thought UCLA was the right place, so I committed today," Lane said on Saturday. "I definitely like the place, the academics, the location, everything about it."
Lane wanted to play his college ball in California and also had both Stanford and California on his short list, however, with his interest to learn how to play better defense, UCLA was the obvious choice to him. In addition, the recent coaching upheavals at Cal and Stanford played into Lane's final decision.
“UCLA’s style is definitely where I want to be,” Lane said. “I want to have the defensive mentality they have at UCLA. The mentality that Ben Howland coaches.”
Lane is a versatile forward who can score from inside and has a good midrange jumper. His size and mobility will allow him to play either the 3 and 4 spot on the floor.
"I definitely like to play up-tempo," Lane said. "I am a forward who can play inside, but step outside and make a shot."
Lane will likely sign a national letter of intent with UCLA during the November signing period.
(photo credit: SacBee)
Labels: Recruiting Misc News
BBR :: Article Link :: 5:10 PM ::
32 comments
32 Comments:
Cool... does this move likely affect anybody else's decision?
I like how the commit list on the right side looks. We are stacked!!!
JonW, couldn't have said it better. That list is entirely made up of 4 star-rated talent or better (and many of those 4 stars have been one-time 5 star talents!).
Coach Howland is really pulling in the cream of the crop--all of his commits reportedly play hard and seem to buy into the team defense concept. I love it!
Future looking bright for the Bruin Nation...
Good times.
This guy has "Stanford" all over him. Would have preferred Alex Stephenson.
Give coach credit. He knows what he's doing.
He seems like a guy that will stick around a few years like Mata or Keefe, which is a good thing. It's always good to have guys that will stay 3-4 years. Scout has him ranked after the Wear twins. I'm interested to see if we can land a top wing in '09
Gr8 news but....
I just need Mbah to come back!! Luc, you are smart and will be back!!
James, why on earth would we need a good wing recruit in 2009? Are you not paying attention to our 2008 recruits? Wake up man.
Because anderson and holiday are guard spots while lee can play all three to a certain point. However, you need backups and more versatility as well as size. It would be very helpful for Bruins to pickup lance stephenson since his size will make him a solid sf as well as the guards position.
Also ucla is quite thin on the guards/sf position. Sure this coming year is np, but after this, the Bruins have virtually 3 guys for 3 position so wheres the backup?
It is why it would be nice for ucla to pickup lance and nolan dennis. Both of these guys can go sg/sf. The SF spot is the most thin after this year.
DB, that is exactly what I meant. Shipp, Luc and Roll(I think,or did he get a redshirt year?) will definitely be gone after 08. Holiday might be a one and done. I know we think Lee can play the 3 he's better as a PG/SG. Regardless, we want a big wing to match up with the other elite programs. Lance Stephenson or Nolan Dennis would be huge!
DB, that is exactly what I meant. Shipp, Luc and Roll(I think,or did he get a redshirt year?) will definitely be gone after 08. Holiday might be a one and done. I know we think Lee can play the 3 he's better as a PG/SG. Regardless, we want a big wing to match up with the other elite programs. Lance Stephenson or Nolan Dennis would be huge!
James/DB,
I think that is exactly right. Our next order of business is to get a premium small forward scorer (stephenson or dennis) as you mentioned. "Perhaps" Lee could fill into that spot ... but just want to make sure we fill that potential weak spot once Shipp leaves.
I think I read that Lane is versatile enough to play the 3, is this true?
it would be funny if at some point we had 6'7 (but beefy) Nelson starting at PF with 6'10 Lane at SF
with at least 4 scholarships probably available next year (Collison, Shipp, Aboya, a Moute, all gone), Howland's got room to bring in 2 more though, and I agree a long, athletic 3 would be ideal
but then again, another 6'10 to 7'0 true center to follow J'Mison would be great too
actually yeah, Lance Stephenson WOULD be huge, since he fills that SF spot well, AND he would allow us to continue our streak of having a top 10 recruit for the third year (Love, Holiday, and ?)
Looks like the "D" word is spreading! Word is getting around that if you come to UCLA, the Bruins will bring your "D" game up to match the level of your 4 to 5 star offensive skills!
Just Brendan Lane's reason's alone why he chose UCLA makes me a fan of his! Sounds like another kid that will bust his butt to make his game better and he'll listen to everything Coach H and staff has to say!
Sounds like more "team" ball to me brothers!
Life is good in Westwood!
Hate to say I told you so, but its been obvious - to some - for weeks that Luc would is gone. Lo and behold... He had told many people he had simply made up his mind and didn't want to come back, regardless of his need to work on his skills. He'd rather play in Europe than at UCLA, which is fine, because an explosive, highly-skilled, pro-style era is starting. If only Ben would hire Tex Winters to develop a simplified triangle for kids.
For what it is worth, here is some info dated April 18, 2008 on Lance Stephenson and his buddy Renardo Sidney:
[BRO has learned that Lance Stephenson, the 6-5 small forward from Brooklyn (NY) Lincoln, the #3-ranked player in the nation for the class of 2009, wants to go as a package to college with his buddy, Renardo Sidney, the 6-9 post from Los Angeles (Calif.) Fairfax, the #2-ranked player in the nation.
Stephenson visited UCLA's campus on Sunday.
He was in Los Angeles playing in an AAU event on Sidney's team, the L.A. Dream Team.
The most recent information we have from Sidney is that he wants to stay on the west coast, in Los Angeles preferably. The schools at the top of his list are UCLA and USC, and we've heard ASU is the other he's considering.
We've also heard that if Stephenson does do the "package deal" with Sidney, and comes to the west coast for college, both Sidney and Stephenson prefer that college to be UCLA.
Sources have indicated that if Sidney can get past UCLA's academic admissions, the Bruins will more than likely offer him a scholarship.
Of course, there has always been talk of package deals, and they very rarely work out, but the word is that Sidney and Stephenson intend to go to college for a short time, perhaps just one year, before going to the NBA, and want to play together.]
So with all that said there are still probably more questions than answers. But if true, expect that if we do overcome the odds and land them, both of these guys may be telling us up front that they might be 1&Dones!
I agree, Lance Stephenson should be our next target. A 6'10-7'0 true center would be nice but I think it will be hard to land an elite Center in '09 because Morgan looks like he'll be here at least 2 yrs. Howland looks like he's in good position to land Josh Smith or Jeremy Tyler in 2010.
Yes, Lance would be great. Last year ucla defense is a bit misleading as imo it wasnt that great because of matchup problems. Offensively we were either shooting threes or pounding it in with our midrange game virtually gone.
Lance will bridge the gap between the perimeter game and the downlow game which will open up overall shots for everybody.
Defensively it would make the Bruins more physical as well as another rebounder at the 3 position.
We might have 4-5 scholarships left for 09 so with two filled, it be nice to pickup 2 decent scorers and size players.
Coach Ben,
Lance or Xavier Henry, and Daniel Orton.
PUH-lease!
Avery Bradley and another frontcourt stud would just about make this perfect...
Now they need to shore up Anthony Stover of Renaissance Academy to solidify their front-line in 2009. Stover is 6'10" and averaged 6 blocks a game last year as a junior.
Coach Bee,
Puh-lease let Coach Ben do the coaching and the recruiting.
Respectfully,
George.
Coach Grorge,
Puh-lease stop being a loser. Let the Bruin faithful talk about whatever they want. Let Coach Ben do the Recruitng? Pretty sure coach Ben doesn't check this site for advice so don't worry about Bee's comments.
Respectfully,
James
Coach Grorge,
Puh-lease stop being a loser. Let the Bruin faithful talk about whatever they want. Let Coach Ben do the Recruitng? Pretty sure coach Ben doesn't check this site for advice so don't worry about Bee's comments.
Respectfully,
James
@George
Still sore from the previous entries? LOL :)
Need to let go, buddy!
Coach James,
Of course I don't "worry" about anything you or Bee or anyone else for that matter posts. Despite your ad hominem attack, I have no worries regarding your failures in life.
Coach Bee,
Why should I be sore over your previous imbecilic ramblings? I don't quite understand. LTF :))//:';
Lackey George,
er...you need to get a life.
Oh Bee, I forgot:
:''()_*''"
Sycophant Bee (I actually like the sound of that, kind of rolls off the tongue doesn't it?):
Just checked my pulse, going strong as is my life. Thanks so much for your concern.
Affectionately, George.
Dear Armchair coaches,
I really don't mind you posting your feelings here. Please feel free to do so. In the end, I'll be the one making the decisions anyways!
But, it's always fun to see what you fans have in mind for the upcoming season.
Just remember one thing...
I'm the man...not you!
Signed,
Coach BH
Does anyone think that was really Ben Howland??
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