That's just false. They do not all come from overseas. This year's class has three American 4-star recruits. Last year's class had two American 5-stars an an American 4-star.
False or not, these local players are not hyped, heralded the same way as the two international recruits. It seems like they are already being counted on to carry the team while local players are merely supporting casts. That was my impression. But it remains to be seen if that would indeed be Cronin's game plan. August is here and football comes first. Time starts ticking for the guy given a two year reprieve.
My opinion of Chip has changed over the past season. I think he's moving the program in the right direction. He faces a lot of the same recruiting issues as Mick. NIL money and do parents want to send their kids to LA?
I'm not sure why you're asking this question. I never mentioned anything about local players not being hyped.
But since you went there, It's absolutely accurate to say that the rise and ever-growing spot light on the International players has drawn the attention away from the domestic players and as a byproduct, the local kids since Southern California is the mecca of American high school basketball.
But that's not to say that the American kids, especially the local kids, are not being hyped because they are, more than ever. We are living in a day and age where high schools have turned into basketball academies, they travel cross country to play other basketball academies in games that are broadcast on national TV, AAU tournaments are played in NBA basketball arenas with NBA players in attendance, there are YouTubers producing highlight reels for players ranging in age from grade school up to high school, and there are high school and college scouts sitting in the stands of 10-14 year old youth leagues looking for talent. There's probably a half dozen websites that have player rankings for every high school class from 2024 to 2030.
These are kids whose names are known and their skills are well-documented and talked about in social media. But they face competition in their recruitment by the international kids whose names and faces aren't known. There's not a lot of YouTubers putting together film on 14 year olds in Slovenia or Turkey or Tokyo, at least not yet. Once they realize they could monetize their work, I'm sure someone will fill that space.
But the rise of the international players is a far more compelling story. The last 5 NBA MVP's are international players. That, in itself, suggests the landscape of basketball has changed and that college recruiting should be performed on a world-wide basis; it cannot and should not be limited to looking in your backyard for talent.
So to answer your question, the hype for local talent is still there, but the demand has diminished because the talent pool is now much much bigger in terms of the number of recruiting candidates and the recruiting map.
Henry asked a very general question and it could be answered differently depending on one's interpretation of the question. Henry is a UCLA basketball historian and I'm sure his question refers to the current ability of UCLA to attract 5-star American high school players , the best of the best, the cream of the crop.
4 star players are not the best of the best. Their tool bags are typically incomplete; they're usually missing a skill that needs to be cleaned up before moving onto the next level. Historically, 14.6% of 4 star players make it to the NBA. 63% of 5 star players play in the NBA. While UCLA has attracted it's share of of American born 5 star players, they rarely land the recruit that all the basketball blue blood schools are chasing.
Henry also said "local players." There was a time when UCLA was in the running for every elite player in the Southern California area. Sierra Canyon has been a factory for 5 star players, the only players we've been able to farm from Sierra Canyon was Cody Riley and Amari Bailey, 2 guys who did not move the needle
There are 4 reasons why players don't come to UCLA.
1. The academics are hard. That's fine IMO. If you're too dumb to handle the academics, you don't belong here.
2. The basketball program sucks. Cronin certainly has the program moving forward in leaps and bounds, but the stench of Alford still remains. We need more Fabreze.
4. The stupidity of the Pac-12 network made coast to coast viewing UCLA sports difficult. We need to thank Cronin for pushing the program back into spotlight and getting the Bruins onto the national broadcasts.
5. NIL money - UCLA can't compete with the other programs across the country, including USC.
6. Parents are cautious of sending their kids into the cesspool of a city called Los Angeles unless their kids get paid a tidy sum of money.
Case in point. Cronin extended an offer for Cooper Flagg. The chances of Flagg coming to UCLA is slim and none and slim already left town.
Thanks for your supportive comments on my behalf. Your cited reasons for players' increasing reluctance to enroll at UCLA should be forwarded to the administration and the athletic department for their purview, if they are still operating in the afterglow of the Wooden years. Nobody have said it better than you. Nobody have pinpointed the myriad problems confronting UCLA basketball recruiting more precise, succinct than you. To the sports columnists of LA Times, are you paying attention ? If you plan to write something about Bruin hoops, here is someone you can consult first.
I hope the incoming UCLA chancellor, whoever he or she will be, pays heed also. The outgoing chancellor did plenty of goods for UCLA during his time. However, maintaining basketball or athletic dominance along with academic excellence seemed too heavy a burden on him. Hence, the era of malaise and ineptitude under AD Dan Guerrero persisted so long until he retired.
Our imminent entry into Big Ten territory is a big test for the football program. I call the two year extension granted Kelly a reprieve. Absent any dramatic change, I still believe he is on his way out. I perceived the move as Jarmond's bid to buy time while scouting behind the scene for a winning replacement.
My neighbor told me USC landed Lincoln Riley from Oklahoma the minute Carol Holt arrived from North Carolina as Trojans' new president Influential alums and the deep pocket sets began their intense lobby to replace the floundering Clay Helton, also given a reprieve then because of the big win over UCLA in a mediocre career.
?? the local talents fill out most of the rest of the rosters.
Sure, there are always local players of any caliber available but where are the top ones we used to get ? Now they all seem to come from overseas.
That's just false. They do not all come from overseas. This year's class has three American 4-star recruits. Last year's class had two American 5-stars an an American 4-star.
False or not, these local players are not hyped, heralded the same way as the two international recruits. It seems like they are already being counted on to carry the team while local players are merely supporting casts. That was my impression. But it remains to be seen if that would indeed be Cronin's game plan. August is here and football comes first. Time starts ticking for the guy given a two year reprieve.
My opinion of Chip has changed over the past season. I think he's moving the program in the right direction. He faces a lot of the same recruiting issues as Mick. NIL money and do parents want to send their kids to LA?
We shall see.
what evidence do you have that local players are not hyped? That's just not true.
I'm not sure why you're asking this question. I never mentioned anything about local players not being hyped.
But since you went there, It's absolutely accurate to say that the rise and ever-growing spot light on the International players has drawn the attention away from the domestic players and as a byproduct, the local kids since Southern California is the mecca of American high school basketball.
But that's not to say that the American kids, especially the local kids, are not being hyped because they are, more than ever. We are living in a day and age where high schools have turned into basketball academies, they travel cross country to play other basketball academies in games that are broadcast on national TV, AAU tournaments are played in NBA basketball arenas with NBA players in attendance, there are YouTubers producing highlight reels for players ranging in age from grade school up to high school, and there are high school and college scouts sitting in the stands of 10-14 year old youth leagues looking for talent. There's probably a half dozen websites that have player rankings for every high school class from 2024 to 2030.
These are kids whose names are known and their skills are well-documented and talked about in social media. But they face competition in their recruitment by the international kids whose names and faces aren't known. There's not a lot of YouTubers putting together film on 14 year olds in Slovenia or Turkey or Tokyo, at least not yet. Once they realize they could monetize their work, I'm sure someone will fill that space.
But the rise of the international players is a far more compelling story. The last 5 NBA MVP's are international players. That, in itself, suggests the landscape of basketball has changed and that college recruiting should be performed on a world-wide basis; it cannot and should not be limited to looking in your backyard for talent.
So to answer your question, the hype for local talent is still there, but the demand has diminished because the talent pool is now much much bigger in terms of the number of recruiting candidates and the recruiting map.
Henry asked a very general question and it could be answered differently depending on one's interpretation of the question. Henry is a UCLA basketball historian and I'm sure his question refers to the current ability of UCLA to attract 5-star American high school players , the best of the best, the cream of the crop.
4 star players are not the best of the best. Their tool bags are typically incomplete; they're usually missing a skill that needs to be cleaned up before moving onto the next level. Historically, 14.6% of 4 star players make it to the NBA. 63% of 5 star players play in the NBA. While UCLA has attracted it's share of of American born 5 star players, they rarely land the recruit that all the basketball blue blood schools are chasing.
Henry also said "local players." There was a time when UCLA was in the running for every elite player in the Southern California area. Sierra Canyon has been a factory for 5 star players, the only players we've been able to farm from Sierra Canyon was Cody Riley and Amari Bailey, 2 guys who did not move the needle
There are 4 reasons why players don't come to UCLA.
1. The academics are hard. That's fine IMO. If you're too dumb to handle the academics, you don't belong here.
2. The basketball program sucks. Cronin certainly has the program moving forward in leaps and bounds, but the stench of Alford still remains. We need more Fabreze.
4. The stupidity of the Pac-12 network made coast to coast viewing UCLA sports difficult. We need to thank Cronin for pushing the program back into spotlight and getting the Bruins onto the national broadcasts.
5. NIL money - UCLA can't compete with the other programs across the country, including USC.
6. Parents are cautious of sending their kids into the cesspool of a city called Los Angeles unless their kids get paid a tidy sum of money.
Case in point. Cronin extended an offer for Cooper Flagg. The chances of Flagg coming to UCLA is slim and none and slim already left town.
yes and what i'm saying is he's just wrong.
Thanks for your supportive comments on my behalf. Your cited reasons for players' increasing reluctance to enroll at UCLA should be forwarded to the administration and the athletic department for their purview, if they are still operating in the afterglow of the Wooden years. Nobody have said it better than you. Nobody have pinpointed the myriad problems confronting UCLA basketball recruiting more precise, succinct than you. To the sports columnists of LA Times, are you paying attention ? If you plan to write something about Bruin hoops, here is someone you can consult first.
I hope the incoming UCLA chancellor, whoever he or she will be, pays heed also. The outgoing chancellor did plenty of goods for UCLA during his time. However, maintaining basketball or athletic dominance along with academic excellence seemed too heavy a burden on him. Hence, the era of malaise and ineptitude under AD Dan Guerrero persisted so long until he retired.
Our imminent entry into Big Ten territory is a big test for the football program. I call the two year extension granted Kelly a reprieve. Absent any dramatic change, I still believe he is on his way out. I perceived the move as Jarmond's bid to buy time while scouting behind the scene for a winning replacement.
My neighbor told me USC landed Lincoln Riley from Oklahoma the minute Carol Holt arrived from North Carolina as Trojans' new president Influential alums and the deep pocket sets began their intense lobby to replace the floundering Clay Helton, also given a reprieve then because of the big win over UCLA in a mediocre career.