UCLA guard Prince Ali has knee surgery

UCLA forward Prince Ali celebrates a dunk against Kentucky at Pauley Pavilion.

By Ben Bolch

July 15, 2016 10:15 PM PT

UCLA sophomore guard Prince Ali underwent successful surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee after suffering the injury July 8 while playing in an open gym.

Ali, who averaged 3.9 points in 11.8 minutes per game last season, will be reevaluated in four months and could miss only a few games next season.

Ali got off to a promising start as a freshman, highlighted by a monster dunk in the Bruins’ upset of then-No. 1 Kentucky, before fading toward the end of the season.

Barring a setback or a redshirt season, he presumably would come off the bench again next season.

UCLA Sports

Ben Bolch

Ben Bolch has been a Los Angeles Times staff writer since 1999. He is serving his second stint as the UCLA beat writer, which seems fitting since he has covered almost every sports beat except hockey and horse racing. Bolch is also the author of the recently released book “100 Things UCLA Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die.” He previously covered UCLA basketball from 2010-11 before going on to cover the NBA and the Clippers for five years. He happily traded in gobs of hotel points and airline miles to return to cover UCLA basketball and football in the summer of 2016. Bolch was once selected by NBA TV’s “The Starters” as the “Worst of the Week” after questioning their celebrity journalism-style questions at an NBA All-Star game and considers it one of his finer moments.

UCLA guard Prince Ali has knee surgery

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