ucla 725

SoCalHoops Tournament Update

adidas Double Pump Best Of Summer
UCLA Is Not Alone In Pursuing Boozer--(July 25, 1998)

EBO played two games Friday, the first at 4:00 p.m. against the Texas 17's and the second against KC ACT at 8:40 p.m. Not only were the UCLA coaches out in force at the first game, but so were the Cal coaches (Ben Braun, Glenn Ramsey), USC, Wisconsin, Kansas, Kansas State, Oregon State, Denver, Syracuse, Pepperdine, and lots of others.

And if UCLA was making its presence felt at every one of EBO's games, with the coaches showing up in the stands at all of the Vegas Big Time games, and most of the Best of Summer games, it seems that Roy Williams and his staff got a slight edge this evening as the Kansas Coach made EBO's 8:40 p.m. game, visibly present in the stands, while coach Lavin was nowhere to be seen.

Whether Lavin's absence and Williams' presence mattered or was even noticed by Boozer is anyone's guess. We'll probably never know until he actually signs a letter of intent, because Carlos never says anything except "uh-huh" or "yeah." But then, when you're 6'-9" and weigh more than 230 lbs., you don't have to say much either.

As one assistant coach and head recruiter at a major Pac-10 University here in SoCal (and no it wasn't UCLA, so you only get one other guess), said to us, "We [the colleges] all have our 'targeted' players. The player know who they are, and we try to keep visible so they know we're involved and interested. But who knows what a 16 or 17 year old realy is thinking. Maybe showing up at games matters to them, but that's not really why we come; it's to observe and see just how good a player really is."