Advertisement
Sports Now

UCLA basketball: Joshua Smith Sr. refutes report about son testing NBA draft waters

Los Angeles Times staff writer Ben Bolch
By Ben Bolch
Staff WriterFollow
Share

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

The father of UCLA freshman center Joshua Smith refuted a report on a draft website that his son was sending out feelers to NBA teams to see where he might be selected if he were to declare for the June draft.

“It’s not true,” Joshua Smith Sr. said by telephone Wednesday evening. “He’s coming back. He’s not going anywhere. He’s got to be a good student and a good college basketball player first” before considering the NBA.

Advertisement

Smith, the 6-foot-10, 324-pound standout who averaged 10.9 points and 6.3 rebounds last season, visited his parents in Kent, Wash., over the weekend. Smith Sr. said he talked to his son about improvements he needed to make during his sophomore season.

Smith Sr. said his son would stay in Westwood this summer to work on getting in better shape. UCLA Coach Ben Howland has said he wanted Smith to drop his body fat to 12%.

ALSO:

UCLA students being moved behind basket at Pauley Pavilion

Brendan Lane’s high school coach says forward is not looking to transfer

--Ben Bolch

Sports Now
Ben Bolch

Ben Bolch has been a Los Angeles Times staff writer since 1999. He is serving his second stint as the UCLA beat writer, which seems fitting since he has covered almost every sports beat except hockey and horse racing. Bolch is also the author of the recently released book “100 Things UCLA Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die.” He previously covered UCLA basketball from 2010-11 before going on to cover the NBA and the Clippers for five years. He happily traded in gobs of hotel points and airline miles to return to cover UCLA basketball and football in the summer of 2016. Bolch was once selected by NBA TV’s “The Starters” as the “Worst of the Week” after questioning their celebrity journalism-style questions at an NBA All-Star game and considers it one of his finer moments.

Advertisement