UCLA lands future QB

Los Osos High School junior quarterback Richard Brehaut has committed to the Bruins.

Brehaut is ranked four out of five stars by Scout and Rivals, and his stock has risen over the last few months.

UCLA is up to seven commits in the class of 2009, but Brehaut is the first one on the offensive side of the ball. Keep in mind that once a solid player commits at quarterback, it can make life easier for Bruin coaches to recruit other top talent because it assures them of playing with a good signal caller.

Happy Memorial Day

I hope everybody's having a great holiday weekend. I had limited battery life while camping at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, but I'm back inside a real building now and am putting some posts together (Hot Links will be postponed until Tuesday).

Remember that noon (Pacific; 3 p.m. Eastern) is the official national moment of remembrance. It's a great time to kick off the summer, but sometimes it feels like we might forget why this is "a day off."

I got to spend the weekend with a close friend who is serving in the Navy, and he said one of the best things you can do to support our troops is to give blood. Bases frequently hold blood drives and the Air Force has a base near LAX (UCLA also has a great donation program). That will help ensure that more of our young men and women get to be honored on Veterans Day instead of Memorial Day.

Thanks, peace and respect to those we have lost at war and to those who continue to serve (including UCLA ROTC programs).

Photo (via Flickr) by Jim Hinnant, 401st Army Field Support Brigade Public Affairs, taken this morning in Kuwait.

Morgan announces: It's UCLA

Giant news on the recruiting front as 6-foot-11 J'Mison Morgan today announced that he will play for the Bruins next season.

The big guy caused a big sigh (of relief) around Westwood, assuring the Bruins of a quality center to replace all-everything Kevin Love. Morgan was originally committed to Louisiana State, but requested a release from his letter of intent after the Tigers had a coaching change. Since players can only sign one letter per year, Morgan isn't technically a Bruin until he enrolls in school (expected to happen sometime this summer).

Click here for the full story from The Times' Diane Pucin.

Photo by Erich Schlegel / Dallas Morning News

Stan Love airs it out

Kevin Love's father, Stan, was on a local Oregon radio show called "The Bald-Faced Truth" on Wednesday and played the role of doting father to perfection. Besides sharing a list of teams that have shown interest in his son (Grizzlies, Knicks, Nets, Bulls, Sonics, Clippers, Bucks, Blazers), he talked up Kevin and did his best to lobby for a high draft pick. But something he said ruffled a few feathers on Internet message boards ...

Host: We talked during the Oregon-UCLA game about Ben Howland's recruiting pitch to you. When you look back on Kevin's year at UCLA, he get everything he was promised there?

Stan Love: [Laughs] Promised? That's kinda' ... uh ... No, is the honest answer to that.

Host: What would you have liked to have seen differently?

Stan Love: I like to see him used in the offense a lot different: face the basket more, touch the ball more. When you're a high percentage shooter I think those guys should shoot the most. It's a great fit for him as far as coming to UCLA and his teammates and all that, but I think he coulda' expanded his game a little more. You guys really didn't get to see what he can do.

It's easy to misinterpret that and nobody should take it personally. Remember that Stan Love isn't taking a swipe at UCLA or Howland — he's merely trying to convince NBA GMs that his son is even better than we saw last year.

To hear the full clip, click here and go just beyond 1/3 of the way in.

John Wooden makes another appearance

John Wooden joined the Loose Cannons on KLAC-AM (570) on Thursday. The lengthy interview covered things like Wooden's upcoming charity event with Vin Scully (I'll post more on that later), whether college basketball is tougher today than it was in his day, one-and-dones, Kevin Love, and much more.

It's a can't miss. To hear the whole segment, click here.

Note that the interview brought up women's gymnastics and how Wooden used to have chalk all over his court. I wonder if somebody at KLAC took the 'Where Wooden Walked' tour.

Friday hot links

Hoops:

• Scout.com has re-ranked its top recruiting classes. No surprise, UCLA is No. 1. [Scout Hoops]
  
• Andy Katz says UCLA, Duke and Michigan are in for the Coaches vs. Cancer tournament in New York, with five schools in the mix for that last spot. [ESPN Insider, subscription required]
  

Football:

• Norm Chow is looking at future QBs in the Inland Empire. [L.A. Times]
  
• Rick Neuheisel (along with other Bruin coaches) and James Washington will hold a free youth clinic at the end of the month. [CSTV]
  

Elsewhere:

• Women's golf is tied headed into the final round of the national championship — with USC. [Daily Bruin]
  
• UCLA is a brand name in Asia  — in more ways than one. [Daily Bruin]
   

More on John Wooden at the Coliseum

As mentioned before, John Wooden was inducted into the Court of Honor at the Coliseum Peristyle on Tuesday. A plaque was unveiled and you can see the close-up here.

The ceremony lasted more than half an hour, but this video breaks it down to 10 minutes of highlights, including Vin Scully, Ben Howland, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Keith Erickson (about three minutes) and the Wizard of Westwood himself (about seven minutes).

More pictures and an audio clip of the entire ceremony are available after the jump.

Tennis for (one hundred and) two

The UCLA women's tennis team Tuesday captured the school's 102nd NCAA title over Pac-10 rival Cal.

The clinching match was played by No. 1 Riza Zalameda (pictured), a senior who got to walk off center court as a champion after making it to the finals last year. This was UCLA's sixth trip to the finals in the sport and its first championship.

For the AP story and a video report from ESPN, click here.

For the full breakdown from UCLA's Sports Information Department (including a photo gallery), click here.

Zoo Tennis has been tracking the tournament and also has a good recap:

Cal coach Amanda Augustus commented that the Pac 10 clash between her team, seeded eighth, and No. 7 seed UCLA may have been the longest 4-0 match in history, and there's no doubt the final score was deceiving. It took nearly an hour and a half for UCLA to take the doubles point with a win at No. 3, after Cal had won at No. 2 and UCLA at No. 1. Fortunately, weather conditions were ideal, with temperatures in the upper 70s and little humidity or wind, so the four-hour competition was more emotionally than physically draining.

You can read more from Zoo Tennis here.

Photo by Sue Ogrocki / Associated Press

Wednesday hot links

Hoops:

• If Kevin Love was built like Frankenstein, this is how he was made. [AOL FanHouse]
• Chad Ford has Westbrook going at No. 7 to the Clippers and Love going at No. 9 to Charlotte. [ESPN]
• Former Bruin player/coach Brad Holland will be an assistant coach at UC Santa Barbara. [Bruin Basketball Report]
   

Elsewhere:

• UCLA has a Punahou pipeline. [Bruins Nation]
• Women's tennis claimed title No. 102 for UCLA. More coming ... [L.A. Times]
   

Blast from the past

Former Bruin stars Baron Davis and Earl Watson were hanging out in L.A. this week. Davis wrote on his Yardbarker blog, "It's always nice to reminisce about college ball and all the fun we had. I know y'all remember the off-the-backboard lob he threw me, one of the craziest plays ever! HUH!!"

Davis added, "It's nice to be in L.A,, 90-degree weather visiting my family and friends."

If you want to see the play, check out the 55-second mark of this Boom Dizzle highlight video.