UCLA Starting Early On This One

Ever since Ben Howland (pictured left) took over at UCLA three seasons ago, respect for the program has risen steadily to the point that the Bruins are once again major players in the national scene every season. As I said in the previous post, I attended the UCLA-USC game Wednesday night at Pauley. Afterward, I hung around the arena with my brother, son and niece and one of my son's friends and his father. The kids were off taking pictures with players, getting autographs, etc. Matt even got Howland to sign the back of his UCLA jersey after Howland wrapped up a radio interview. Even though he needed to get home to pack for a road trip to West Virginia this weekend, Howland hung around to sign autographs, talk to fans, and never seemed in a hurry to get out of there. But then I noticed Howland talking to a group of people who were surrounding a rather tall young man. My brother and I were steps away from this conversation, desperately trying to overhear what was being said. Howland worked the circle of people effectively and the young kid, who obviously was an invited guest, seemed impressed. I strained to read his name tag and finally made out that it said "Jeremy Tyler" although I couldn't tell what school he was from. Turns out that Jeremy Tyler is a freshman (a freshman!!!) at San Diego High School and he is considered by some to be the best freshman in the country. Tyler is a 6-10 center. Here is one link that mentions him. And this one from a New York-based recruiting website, no less. Can't wait to follow the progress on this one. Should be interesting.