The Next Two Years/Dedicated to Dr. J

By David

Posted on July 20, 1999

--Lavin continues his laissez-faire attitude towards recruiting over the next eleven days and attends a couple of events here and there just so it looks like he is working hard.

--Lavin steadfastly believes he leads for Duhon, Bryant, and his JC forward. He also believes Stevenson won't go pro and will sign with UCLA in the spring.

--Lavin makes his in-home visits still believing UCLA is in good shape with all his recruits and continues to tell people that UCLA will sign a Top 5 class.

--Suddenly, and out of the blue just to Lavin, Duhon commits to Duke, Bryant to Kansas, and his JC forward doesn't meet admission requirements so UCLA is left with no recruits in the fall.

--UCLA goes through a typical Lavin led up and down season finishing at 20-10 (11-7 in the PAC 10). With the typical losses to North Carolina, Syracuse, DePaul, an upset in Hawaii, the usual Stanford sweep, and a disatrous 55 point loss at McKale--as Lavin now holds all to himself the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd worst losses in UCLA history. The team bows out of the tournament after the second round.

--There is major unrest among the Bruin faithful as Lavin refuses to install a half court offense and inserts a different lineup every single game.

-10 days after the season Jerome, Dan, and JaRon all declare their intentions to enter the 2000 NBA Draft.

--DeShawn Stevenson declares for the NBA Draft as Lavin is left stunned when the rest of the basketball world knew it was just a formality.

-30 days after the season Matt Barnes announces he is transferring because he is fed up -- as is the rest of the team -- with Lavin and his ridiculous merry-go lineup/ substitution policy.

--As it gets closer to May 15th, Lavin signs some unknown No. Cal JC player and a Top 250 post player from So Cal.

--Pete Dalis retires as UCLA AD as school ends and the Morgan Center completion is finished on June 20th, 2000. UCLA goes outside and hires an AD with no UCLA connections (which is bad for Lavin).

--Lavin hits the recruiting trail in July of 2000 thinking he is going to sign a monster class.

--Three months later the monster class is not developing, but Lavin does get a commitment from a couple of Top 40 local players.

--The season starts with a roster of Earl Watson, Ryan Bailey, Billy Knight, Ray Young, Jason Kapono, Todd Ramasar, Spencer Gloger, Lavin's JC player, and his Top 250 post player. It's already being talked among UCLA fans and media as quite possibly the worst team in UCLA history as the team has no size or depth.

--IT HAPPENS: THE FIRST LOSING SEASON IN 52 YEARS AS UCLA FINISHES 11-19 (5-13 IN THE PAC 10).

--The program is in absolute shambles, the media and fans are going crazy trying to figure out how this happened.

-Finally on March 25, 2001 Steve Lavin is mercifully terminated as the head coach of UCLA...Lavin fights to save Saia and Spencer but they're toast as well.

--Then on April 10, 2001 Dr. J and others on Bruinzone finally come to their senses after years of defending Lavin and say/post very quietly that it was time for a change and that one poster from a couple of years ago just might of known what he was talking about.

--April 15, 2001 UCLA hires what is seen as the best available candidate: this new coach is nothing but 100% honest, works at his job and on recruiting, is respected by the players and their familles, and in five years leads UCLA back to the national championship after successfully cleaning up the mess his predecessor left him.

--UCLA with this new coach/AD is seen and respected by all.