Duke’s McCaffrey Looks at Transferring to UCLA

Billy McCaffrey, who announced this month that he would transfer from Duke after helping the Blue Devils win the NCAA basketball championship, could wind up at UCLA, his mother said Friday.

Betty McCaffrey said that her son would consider “three or four” schools, UCLA among them, and probably would visit Westwood after the spring semester at Duke, which ends next week.

She said that he also would consider Stanford, where his older brother, Ed, was an All-American wide receiver last fall. She declined to name the other schools in the running.

UCLA Coach Jim Harrick was unavailable for comment, and Bruin assistant Mark Gottfried would not confirm that the Bruins were interested in McCaffrey, but a source close to the Duke basketball program said that UCLA had inquired about the 6-foot-3 guard.

McCaffrey was Duke’s No. 2 scorer last season, averaging 11.6 points while making 48% of his shots and a team-high 83% of his free throws. He scored 16 points against Kansas in the final game of the NCAA tournament, making six of eight shots in the Blue Devils’ 72-65 victory at Indianapolis.

Two weeks later, he announced he would transfer, saying he wanted more playing time and increased ballhandling opportunities.

A starter in all but six of Duke’s first 27 games, McCaffrey was used as a reserve in the last 12 but still averaged 24.8 minutes. Only the team’s stars, Christian Laettner and Bobby Hurley, played more.

McCaffrey was an All-American and two-time all-state selection at Central Catholic High in Allentown, Pa.

After transferring, he will have to sit out next season, then will have two seasons of eligibility.

UCLA’s returning starting guards, Darrick Martin and Gerald Madkins, both will be seniors.

Bruin Notes

UCLA is awaiting word on two players it is recruiting in Czechoslovakia, 7-foot center Jiri Zidek and 6-7 forward Julius Michalik. . . . Freshman forward Ed O’Bannon had a screw and several staples removed from his surgically repaired left knee this month and is expected to resume playing this summer.