First, the Orange County Register named incoming UCLA recruit Mike Roll as its player of the year. Roll, as you might know, is a wing player with an excellent outside shot. Some believe he will challenge Josh Shipp for a starting spot next year.


Mike Roll (photo credit: OC Register)

The OC Register also announced its All-Orange County teams. Roll obviously is on the first team, but so are two other players who have verbally committed to UCLA: junior James Keefe and sophomore Taylor King. While both would be tremendous additions for UCLA, keep in mind that verbal commitments are non-binding. King in particular is being courted by other schools and has his eye on the NBA. Of the two remaining first team all-county players, one, senior Kelvin Kim, is considering walking on at UCLA. The page at the Register has a short write-up on each of these players.

Next, Frank Burlison, in a column that begins talking about the McDonald's All-Americans, gives out his Southern California high school basketball "awards". His junior player of the year is James Keefe, and his sophomore player of the year is Taylor King. On his all-senior team is Roll and UCLA's other incoming recruit for 2005-2006, Darren Collison. He also notes, as mentioned here before, that Roll and Collison will be playing in an All-Star game this Saturday, March 26, at El Camino College in Torrance.

Finally, check out this feature on Ryan Wright, another Bruin incoming recruit in the fall. You can also see a short writeup on him and other players in the All Canadian game at this page.


Ryan Wright (photo credit: HoopLife)