In Reply to: I wonder if UCLA ever talked to Avery? Coach CC made a great call posted by atrojanedbruin on March 06, 2026 at 05:46:09
I don't know how Close is going to re-stock the team next season.
Returning we have Sienna, Lina, Karamouzi, Muse. Hopefully Gardiner. We have one import Freshman coming in. Imo, in the NIL age, it's best to try to go 9 deep. To get there, we'd have to spend to bring in three outstanding players in the portal and hope that the players we already have pan out. To get to 10 or 11 players, I'd bring in some freshmen that are projects. Or, go to players that are leaders at lower division schools - players that are competent, have competed, are leaders on their team, have played pressure games at lower levels, would be stoked to get a UCLA degree, and aren't being chased by schools looking to make big upgrades. Basically, players that aren't going to be locker room cancers, aren't going to freak out if we need them to play, but are affordable. As a point of comparison last year, Dudley is super talented, but the ball died when it got in her hands. She wasn't confident, and she didn't know what her skills were. Bring in a couple of end of the bench players that know what their skills are, to fill out the roster. And, focus on bringing in the three best players you can afford. One has to be a lead guard, one has to be a bucketfilling two.