Basketball recruiting just keeps on rolling...

Everybody wants to be a Bruin. I love it.

http://www.latimes.com/sports/college/ucla/la-sp-hscommit28nov28,1,5063889.column?coll=la-headlines-sports-coll-ucla

The acceleration of the college recruiting game was on full display today in Rancho Cucamonga, where Kendall Williams, a 6-foot-3 sophomore point guard from Los Osos High, announced he has committed to UCLA, three years before he'll be able to wear a Bruins uniform.

The Mooch?

Mooch or Karl? I'll take Mooch.

Steve Mariucci, former coach of the NFL's Detroit Lions and San Francisco 49ers, is the hot name to replace Karl Dorrell at UCLA. Mariucci briefly coached in the Pac-10 at Cal before heading to the NFL, and he's currently a broadcaster at NFL Network.

Source: Fox Sports Radio

A Howland practice

ESPN takes us inside a Ben Howland practice.

Fire Karl Dorrell

Below follows a letter I emailed to UCLA Athletic Director Dan Guerrero and UCLA Chancellor Gene Block on Sept. 17, 2007 calling for the firing of Coach Dorrell.

Mr. Guerrero and Chancellor Block,

It is with a heavy heart that I write to you today. As a proud UCLA alumni (Class of ’01), I am appalled that the university has let its football program undermine the UCLA Athletic Department’s commitment to excellence. For the NCAA’s most successful athletic program to suffer such mediocrity in one of its marquee sports denigrates the contributions to UCLA’s rich sports heritage made by the likes Gary Beban, Troy Aikman, Tommy Prothro, Jerry Robinson, Cade McNown, and Terry Donahue.

Simply put, Coach Karl Dorrell must go. You have both no doubt heard the innumerable reasons why he should be fired. (1-3 record in bowl games, 1-3 record versus usc, numerous losses to unranked teams, numerous blowouts, few notable wins, 3-11 record versus ranked teams, no Pac-10 titles, etc.) Setting all that irrefutable evidence aside, I want to ask you both two questions. First, four and a half years later, is UCLA football better off today than it was when Coach Dorrell took control of the program? Second, has Coach Dorrell lived up to the expectations placed on him by Mr. Guerrero when Coach Dorrell was hired? I think the obvious answer to those questions is a resounding “NO”, and few clear thinking observers of UCLA football could possibly argue otherwise.

Mr. Guerrero, upon firing Coach Bob Toledo, you said: “I felt a change in leadership was necessary. We want to have a national caliber program here, certainly top 25 every year. We need to raise the bar, we need to start winning Pac-10 championships again.” We clearly do not have a national caliber program nor have we been in the top-25 in even half of the seasons during Coach Dorrell’s tenure. Further, after hiring Coach Dorrell, you said: “Our goal is to win Pac-10 championships and compete in BCS bowl games.” We have done neither.

The UCLA football program has shown no growth or improvement since Coach Dorrell took over. His record is worse than his predecessor’s who was fired. Nor has Coach Dorrell shown any personal growth or improvement that could portend better things in the future. UCLA fans and alumni have lost faith in him, and justifiably so.

We deserve better. The university, the students, the alumni, the athletic department, the players themselves…we all deserve better. For as much pride as I feel for Coach Ben Howland’s success in basketball, I feel as much shame and disappointment for Coach Dorrell’s consistent and virulent mediocrity.

In addition to pleading with you both to fire Coach Dorrell, I write today to inform you that I will not spend another dollar on UCLA until Coach Dorrell has been replaced. Not one dollar to attend a UCLA sporting event. Not one dollar for UCLA merchandise. Not one dollar for donations to UCLA. Further, I will actively encourage every UCLA alumni I know and meet to do the same. To idly stand by and accept failure is to undermine everything great and good for which UCLA stands.

Lastly, I implore you both to pursue a new football coach who is of the same caliber and pedigree as Coach Howland has in basketball, and that you do so with financial resources similar to that committed to UC Berkeley’s Coach Jeff Tedford.

Thank you for your time and consideration. Go Bruins!

With the disappointments that have followed since I sent this letter, the need to replace Coach Dorrell has only grown.

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