Williams and UCLA parting ways
Los Osos High of Rancho Cucamonga point guard Kendall Williams is opening his recruitment after committing to UCLA in November 2007.
It comes as little surprise as Williams didn't develop as much as UCLA hoped he would. It means the Bruins are in the hunt for a point guard for the 2010 class.
I saw Williams play during UCLA's camp last month, and his level of play came into question, Also, his on-court antics were wearing thin with folks at the camp.
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About Inside UCLA
This is Brian Dohn's sixth season covering UCLA after spending 4 1/2 years covering the Dodgers for the Daily News and other Los Angeles Newspaper Group papers. He graduated from Rutgers, where the first college football game was played in 1869. Sure, the Scarlet Knights suffered for a long time, but now RU is doing what Jerseyans always thought was possible. Winning at Rutgers also proves winning is possible everywhere else in the nation, so underachieving coaches better be careful. Now, if only men's hoops can turn it around.
a class of Josh Smith, Lamb, Trey Zeigler, and Ray McCallum would be outstanding, probably #1 nationally. I think that BH might be leery of offering players so early, case in point with Williams. I hope the parting of ways means that we are sitting pretty with an elite PG, whether it be Pressley, McCallum, or Releford.
Brian - Who is UCLA looking to replace Williams with at PG? ESPN has Ray McCallum as a prospect considering UCLA.
I think the decision to cut him loose is independant of who we can now get. Unfortunately he was just not someone to risk a precious scholie on (we have too few over the next two years). CBH does need to get someone pretty good. Zeigler sounds more likely to come to UCLA than McCallum, but McCallum is the PG and they are longtime friends. Releford is being looked at. Keala King is not showing much interest for some reason. 2011 has some good prospects, but can we wait that long?
It's about time. Hopefully this kid will learn and turn it around for himself while he still has time. I had seen this coming for a long time. Ben Howland being in Las Vegas and heating up on Ray McCallum and giving him the fool court press, might have been the final nail for Williams.
I see a UCLA offer coming McCallums way very soon, with him possibly accepting.
I don't think that a class of Smith, Lamb, Zeigler, and McCallum would be rated number 1. Definitely top 5, which is good enough for me. North Carolina is putting together another GREAT class and you can never count Calipari out.
GO BRUINS!!!!
Brian,
What antics was UCLA getting tired of with regards to Williams?
bruin faithful, he has had attitude problems on the court, and has been said to be very hot headed. He got two technicals and was tossed out of a game in Vegas, with Howland sitting court side. Also, his game just wasn't progressing enough to have him be a UCLA level recruit.
i wasnt aware colleges can pull scholies at will before signing. doesnt this present a negative image to future potential recruits?
bruins103... he didnt have a scholie to be pulled. he had a verbal commitment. a scholie isnt official until the kids sign the papers. thats why kids decide they want to open up there recruitment or a school can decide they want to go a different way instead.
Ring ring... Hello Kendall this is Coach ONeill....
Anon:
Thanks. Yeah I had heard about the techs and ejections and yelling at his coach. Obviously, he hadn't developed enough, that's why I said it was about time. I was just wondering if there was anything else I hadn't heard of.
Besides the stuff BH saw in Vegas, I think he was still on the chopping block. I think it probably had more to do with his play on the court than his attitude on it.
Afterall, we let Reeves Nelson come on board, even though he broke his leg playing FB, which BH approved but was not completely in agreement about. Even though he got a DUI and had his own on court discipline issues.
Reeves never broke his leg playing football. Never got a DUI. People are spreading lies and it's sad they aren't banned from this site.
I am not trying to spread lies. I just remember reading about these events online when they occurred and I wrote about them.
In doing some further research it appears that Reeves tore the meniscus in his knee. This still had to be upsetting to Howland, who had asked him not to play FB, while not going as far as to forbid it.
http://thehive.modbee.com/node/10391
It also appears, even though I had read otherwise, that Reeves did not get a DUI but was a drunk passenger in a vehicle that was in an accident. It very well could have been Reeves drinking.
http://thehive.modbee.com/?q=node/12630
In any event, my point was that Williams on court T's and ejections and yelling at his coaches would still pale in comparison to this. Therefore, my conclusion was that it was more about Williams lack of development on the court rather than how he conducted himself on it. However, I'm sure acting up in front of Howland certainly didn't help his cause.
this is good news....frees up a scholarship for someone who is UCLA level! Kendall just never developed!