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"I'm
going to be a Bruin!"
That is all that really needs to be said about Love's decision.
It made the life of Bruin Land and broke the heart of Tar Heel
Nation. Kevin Love the 6-10 260 lbs. power forward from
Lake Oswego High School in Oregon committed to play for Ben
Howland and the UCLA Bruins. This is one of the biggest
commits in recent memory for UCLA.
Love is
our #2 rated player in the Class of 2007 and the top big man in
the land. He might be the best passing big man to come out
of the high school ranks in the last 10 years. His outlet
passing is what makes him special. He gets the board,
looks up floor, and then makes a pass that leaves you shaking
your head. On the block he is skilled and rugged much in
the way of Tyler Hansbrough, but Love's offensive game extends
all the way out to beyond the 3-point arc. Simply put he
is going to be a special college basketball player.
Kevin Love is
the son of former Oregon and NBA player Stan Love and the nephew
of Beach Boy Mike Love.
Love's decision came down to UCLA and North Carolina. UCLA
had always seemed to have a slight lead, but it was neck and
neck until the past couple of days. It seemed more and
more likely that Love would pick UCLA. The Bruins started
to get nervous when Love said it was going to "be a surprise."
Yea Right!
He talked about how Ben Howland was the right coach for him and
that he had recruited him the longest. Love also mentioned
that staying close to his friends and family to go along with
UCLA's tradition played a major role in his decision. One
of the other big factors in his decision was the system that Howland runs. All in all Love said it best,
"UCLA just feels right."
As soon as Love said he was going to be a Bruin, the next
question out of everyone from LA was how long are you going to
stay. He said it is to early to tell at this point.
In my opinion he will have the same type of impact that Tyler
Hansbrough had on UNC. Like Hansbrough, Love does not have
that WOW factor athleticism that makes NBA GM's jump. My
call would be that Love will be at UCLA for 2 year and then be a
lottery pick in the 2009 NBA Draft.
Love's good
friend Kyle Singler, #6 in the Class of 2007, is UCLA's next
target. If they can land him it could be the inside track
to a possible Recruiting National Championship and a Final Four
appearance in 2008. Most likely Love will put on the full
court press to try and get Singler away from Duke and to
California. This could be his favor to the UNC fans that
he disappointed today.
North
Carolina was disappointed, but however prepared for this.
They have showed very strong recent interest in power forward
Patrick Patterson who is our #18 player in the Class of 2007.
With that one scholarship left I expect them to go after Julian
Vaughn (#27) who has all along been waiting for a UNC offer,
Derrick Rose (#5) who they backed off of to focus on Love, or Tyrel Reed who is just outside of our top 70. They are
probably to late on Rose who is down to most likely Illinois and
Memphis. Patterson who appears to be the target is a real
possibility considering that UNC is the only school he is still
thinking about that has not offered. Vaughn would take the
scholarship as soon as it was offered, but they can't wait to
long or Vaughn will move on. I would say in the end it
will be Vaughn because they need a big to replace Hansbrough
and/or Brandan Wright inside if the leave for the 2007 NBA Draft
and they will be scared if they wait out Patterson, like they
did Love, UNC will lose out on the sure bet in Vaughn.
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