Shabazz Muhammad is headed to Westwood.
The 6-foot-6 scoring sensation out of Las Vegas Bishop Gorman High announced for UCLA over Kentucky and Duke during an ESPNU program Wednesday night that followed a report by CBSSports.com indicating he would pick the Bruins.
SNY.tv has consistenly projected Muhammad to UCLA throughout the process.
Muhammad’s parents are both from Los Angeles. His father, Ron Holmes, played for USC. Muhammad’s sister, Asia, is ranked No. 386 on the WTA Tour and has a deal with adidas. Of the three schools on his final list, only UCLA is an adidas school.
“It was down to Kentucky, Duke and UCLA and I chose to be a Bruin so I will be at UCLA next year,” he said.
“I just think it’s a challenge knowing how bad they were these last two years and it’s a challenge to really get them back up to the top. And knowing that they’re the leaders in championships with 11 and with Kyle Anderson is a great addition to that program and Jordan Adams. And hopefully if Tony Parker will come, then there’s a lot of bits and pieces to that team will make it a really great team in the future.”
Muhammad, who dropped a record 35 points in Saturday night’s Nike Hoop Summit, will join Anderson, the St. Anthony point guard who has been called the “modern-day Magic Johnson” by Bob Hurley, and Adams, the Oak Hill wing, in UCLA’s 2012 class.
“I’m just so happy to have him for next season and I think we can do some big things at UCLA,” Anderson, who won 65 straight games over two years at St. Anthony, said on ESPNU.
Anderson added: “I knew we could be able to turn UCLA’s program around here. We had a tough year the last year but we’re ready to get back to work and turn it around.”
Asked for a message to UCLA fans, Muhammad said: “Everyone in Westwood, L.A., California, get reay for a really good season, a really exciting season, and hopefully we can sell out Pauley.”
UCLA could complete an even more spectacular recruiting class if the 6-9 Parker announces for UCLA. He is also considering Ohio State, Duke, Kansas and Georgia.
He, too, has ties to Anderson, having won the IS8 fall league with Anderson and the Playaz Basketball Club last fall.
fearthephog25 / April 11, 2012
UCLA Pac 12 Champions.
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UofA BJ / April 11, 2012
UCLA > any big 12 team
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BostonCat / April 11, 2012
i have never seen a kid make an announcement on tv about attending school look so miserable. the first thing out of his mouth was about how terrible ucla has been. very odd.
good luck to shabazz. good kid, great player.
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RcKchalk12 / April 11, 2012
UofA, KU is a top 5 team next year…… so no. Howland is no Calipari with freshman. Its tough to make 2 top recruits like Anderson and Muhhamad play together and the only one to prove its possible is Calipari
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RcKchalk12 / April 11, 2012
Oh and congratulations, the Pac 12 has 1 legitimate team next year.
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trapjohn / April 12, 2012
“i have never seen a kid make an announcement on tv about attending school look so miserable”
What about Terrance Jones – when he got “the call” from Cal after committing to Oregon?
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BostonCat / April 12, 2012
it was washington and jones called him. but dont let facts get in your way. clearly they are not important to you.
jones made a mistake getting caught up in the moment….he knew in his heart where he wanted to go. which is why he called cal. my guess is shabazz feels the same way.
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fearthephog25 / April 12, 2012
Good one Trapjohn…good one. LOL
I know people that were in the gym at the time of announcement, and they said TJ was hugging and talking with family and faculty. Then his phone rings and they heard a man screaming on the other end of the phone.
Its old news though, but people who were present; know what really took place. They also said TJ teared up after he hung up.
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trapjohn / April 12, 2012
“There is a UW letter of intent here and it’s unsigned at the moment.
And there’s more.
Kentucky coach John Calipari called Jones after his announcement and Jones was on the phone for a very long time. About 15 minutes. Reading body language, Jones seemed pained.” – from Oregonlive.com
(and yeah, I messed up the school in my first post. My bad.)
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GasCan / April 13, 2012
You are such a liar fear!
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fearthephog25 / April 13, 2012
No need to lie gascan, what’s true is true. Im only up I-5 from Portland and it spread like Wildfire. PayPal cal is slime, and I bet cal used the line…”your family has already received the money” bit.
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