by John Roberts

Created on: November 04, 2009

The UCLA Bruins are in rebuilding mode for 2009-10 and are not ranked in the pre-season top 25 and expected to finish no higher than third in the Pac-10 behind Cal and Washington. Head coach Ben Howland cautions this is a rebuilding year and advises patience is required. Patience has never been a virtue among Bruin fans who expect championships and have become accustomed to Howland's winning program. During his six-year tenure, Howland has gone 152-54 including three consecutive years of 30 plus wins, Pac-10 championships and trips to the Final Four. Last season, the Bruins slipped to Pac-10 runner-up with a 26-9 record and an early NCAA tournament exit.

Four of five starters from last season are gone with Josh Shipp, Alfred Aboya and Darren Collison graduating and freshman J'Rue Holliday jumping to the NBA. This season's Bruins are very young and inexperienced with nine freshmen and sophomore scholarship players. That fact combined with a pre-season epidemic of serious injuries does not bode well for a successful season. However, the future holds bright promise. The 2009 recruiting class was rated ninth best in the country. UCLA already has a commitment from highly touted Tyler Lamb for 2010-11. Freshman shooting guard Malcoln Lee is predicted to possess breakout star potential but cannot be counted beyond this season since he will jump to the NBA if he impresses. Lee is projected to start although he suffered a concussion during training camp.

If he recovers from a groin injury, sophomore Jerime Anderson will be starting point guard despite averaging only eight minutes a game last season. Junior Mustafa Abdul-Hamid will be pressed into starting duties if Anderson cannot go. Senior guard Michael Roll is among the nation's best three-point shooters and led the Pac-10 in three-point shooting percentage last season. The Bruin backcourt is short on depth. The center position is a wide open competition among senior James Keefe, sophomores Drew Gordon and J'Mison Morgan and freshman Anthony Stover.

The only returning starter is forward Nikola Dargovic who is another excellent three-point shooter. The strong recruiting class is forward heavy with Mike Moser (back problems), Reeves Nelson, Brendan Lane (ankle sprain) and Tyler Honeycutt. The shining star looks to be Nelson who is a big burly rebounding beast filling the lane and adding a physical dimension. Who knows at this point what the Bruins will look like at the beginning and it is certain it will take most of the season to determine who will be the crucial components to 2010-11. Howland ranks as one of the country's best coaches and will be challenged this season much as he was in his first season at UCLA.

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