It’s true that the UCLA Bruins didn’t have the flashiest offseason ever in terms of roster additions, but the Bruins didn’t lose much either. With Skyy Clark turning to professional basketball, UCLA didn’t lose any players with scholarships to the transfer portal.
It won’t be easy for Mick Cronin and the Bruins to replace the experience of Clark, Tyler Bilodeau and Donovan Dent, but UCLA will have plenty of other returning pieces. Trent Perry, Eric Freeny, Xavier Booker, Brandon Williams and Eric Dailey Jr. are all set to return for the Bruins.
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That continuity could help UCLA’s new transfers get up to speed and put the Bruins in a position to potentially compete in the Big Ten Conference next season. College basketball reporter Jon Rothstein said Monday that he views UCLA as one impact player away from being an elite team next season.
“UCLA, with the roster it’s projected with right now, in my opinion can be a back-end top-25 team. Probably comparable to what we’ve seen the last two years under Mick Cronin. Good enough to make the NCAA tournament, probably good enough to win a game,” Rothstein said. “Beyond that, UCLA is going to need to add a potential All-Conference caliber player.”
It’ll be interesting to see if UCLA can pull off a big swing deep into the offseason but this UCLA team as currently constructed appears to have a clear ceiling short of being a national title contender. If the Bruins can’t add a game-changing talent, it’s hard to envision this team making a deep run next March.
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This article originally appeared on UCLA Wire: Are the UCLA Bruins an All-Conference player away from contention?
