J’Mison Morgan looks likely to go with Bruins

UCLA should “be optimistic” that J’Mison Morgan will soon make it official he will play for the Bruins next season, a family member said today.

Morgan, a 6-foot-11 center from Dallas who will be a freshman in the fall, was released from his scholarship by Louisiana State earlier this week.

A woman who identified herself as Morgan’s grandmother said she had grown fond of UCLA assistant coach Donny Daniels and was hoping that J’Mison would head to Westwood.

Calls to Morgan’s club team coach, Jazzy Hartwell, his high school coach, James Mays, brother Ronnie Morgan and mother Bianca Morgan have gone unanswered since Tuesday evening when Bianca said it was “99 percent certain” Morgan would pick UCLA.

Morgan is rated fourth among the nation’s high school centers by Rivals.com and had strongly considered UCLA, as well as Kansas and Alabama, before signing with LSU in November.

UCLA coaches are prohibited by NCAA rules from speaking about a potential recruit until a letter of intent or grant in aid is signed. Usually, a college athlete signs a letter of intent binding the athlete to the school and the school to an athlete. But a player can only sign one letter of intent, and Morgan did so with LSU. What UCLA can offer now is a grant in aid for scholarship money. A grant in aid only binds the school to an athlete. Until Morgan officially enrolls in a UCLA class, he would be free to consider other schools.

Drew Gordon, a power forward who UCLA recruited out of San Jose Archbishop Mitty High, said the addition of Morgan to a class that also includes top-ranked guards Jrue Holiday of North Hollywood Campbell Hall, Malcolm Lee of Riverside North and Jerime Anderson of Anaheim Canyon, was exciting.

“If we were supposed to be the No. 1 recruiting class in the nation before he signed, we will really do some damage now,” Gordon said in an e-mail message. “I am happy to have him.”

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Michael Roll, a junior who was sidelined Dec. 31 with a left foot injury, is back working out with teammates, according to his mother, Joyce.

Joyce Roll said, “He is coming along well. He still experiences some soreness after a vigorous workout. It will take some time for the soreness to diminish.”

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A commemorative plaque honoring former UCLA coach John Wooden at the Los Angeles Coliseum Court of Honor in the Coliseum Peristyle will be unveiled in a 2:45 p.m. ceremony Tuesday. Wooden is expected to attend, and speakers include UCLA basketball coach Ben Howland, athletic director Dan Guerrero, UCLA chancellor Gene Block and former star center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Those interested in attending should enter the Coliseum at Gate 31. Wooden’s UCLA team played at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena from 1959-1965.

 diane.pucin@latimes.com