Lonzo Ball, winner of the Morgan Wootten Player of the Year, headlines a block-buster freshmen class heading to Westwood. ESPNU ranks the UCLA Bruins incoming class fourth nationally.
Ball joined the ranks of Jahlil Okafor (2014), Jabari Parker (2013), LeBron James (2003) as winners of the Wootten Award. The 6-5 point guard from Chino Hills, CA has the perfect running mate going to UCLA along with him in Power Forward T.J. Leaf.
The two McDonald’s All-Americans could make for the perfect potent inside-outside combination who could finally get the Bruins program turned around.
UCLA hasn’t come close to living up to their famous tradition and stellar history in recent years, but maybe next season will be different. During our exclusive conversation with Leaf, the versatile big man articulated the potential for them to form a strong interior-exterior duo.
“His court vision is phenomenal,” Leaf of Ball.
“He can throw passes so far and so accurately, so if you run the floor, you’re going to get rewarded. If you’re a big man who can run you can get an easy bucket out of it.”
Lonzo Ball is ranked the #8 recruit nationally by Rivals, and Leaf comes in #14. ESPNU has Ball fifth and Leaf ninth. 24/7 Sports has Lonzo 7th and Leaf 16th. NBA Draft.net projects Ball, who tied a McDonald’s All-American Game record with 13 assists, the 8th overall pick in their NBA mock draft.
So we’ve got the dossier on what kind of player Lonzo Ball could be, but what about T.J. Leaf?
During our chat he said that he looks up to Chandler Parsons, Lebron and Bradley Beal, but he didn’t say he models his game after them; or any one specific player in particular.
“Modeling my game after not really, any good move I see I’m going to try and implement in my game if that works. It’s not so much any one player, but any player that’s good, I’m going to model my game on,” he said.
So where do Lonzo Ball and T.J. Leaf fit on next year’s UCLA depth chart? Here’s what we predict, via our early 2016-17 top rankings. Below is the Bruins excerpt, as we have UCLA ranked 14th nationally.
14. UCLA BRUINS
Coming off an incredibly disappointing season, the Bruins return everyone but Tony Parker. They also add the incredibly versatile Lonzo Ball who should be one of the biggest impact freshmen in the country next year. UCLA should be LOADED at guard next year.
Projected Depth Chart
C: Thomas Welsh (So)/Ikenna Okwarabizie (Jr)/Jonah Bolden (So)/Ike Anigbogu (Fr)
PF: T.J. Leaf (Fr)/Gyorgy Goloman (Jr)/Alex Olesinski (So)
G/F: Isaac Hamilton (Jr)/Noah Allen (Sr)/Kobe Paras (Fr)
G: Bryce Alford (Jr)/Prince Ali (So)
PG: Lonzo Ball (Fr)/Aaron Holiday (So)
Gone: F/C-Tony Parker
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, partnered with FOX Sports Engage Network. and News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, currently contributes regularly to the Chicago Tribune’s RedEye publication and Bold Global.
He also consistently appears on numerous talk shows all across the country. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram