Davis a Breakthrough for Bruins

Before Baron Davis, a highly rated point guard beginning his senior year at Santa Monica Crossroads High, orally committed to UCLA last month, these were the hard numbers facing Coach Jim Harrick and his staff since the Bruins’ run to the national title in the spring of 1995:

Two heralded assistant coaches lost, no impact recruits landed, two big men transferred, one first-round tournament loss to Princeton.

Into that nervous situation--at least for a program as tradition-rich and pressurized as UCLA’s--the 6-foot-1 Davis, hotly pursued by both Duke and Kansas, was considered a breakthrough recruit for the Bruins.

Davis was seen as someone who could not only reaffirm the Bruins’ ability to attract major players--in doubt after the departure last spring of assistant Lorenzo Romar, a noted recruiter, to take over the Pepperdine program, and the transfer of former high school All-American center omm’A Givens to Pepperdine--but whose presence could influence other top prep players.

Before the departure of Romar and Givens, the Bruins had lost assistant Mark Gottfried when he took over Murray State’s program after UCLA’s national championship season, and backup center Ike Nwankwo, who transferred to Long Beach State during the 1995-96 season.

Ultimate Hoops, a Los Angeles recruiting service, called Davis’ potential impact “the ripple effect” for UCLA.

“Davis’ decision, especially the timing of the announcement, was significant for several reasons,” the service reported in its “Fullcourt Report” newsletter after Davis’ commitment. “One: the player. Davis fills UCLA’s most critical need, that of a quality point guard capable of dominating the game. . . . Assuming normal progress in college, Davis looks like a future NBA lottery pick.

“Two: the ripple effect. With two full months remaining until the Nov. 13-20 signing period, Davis will have a great opportunity to attract other quality recruits to UCLA, especially much-needed big men. He has a charismatic personality and is a natural leader on his teams.”

According to Ultimate Hoops and other recruiting experts, Davis’ early announcement that he would attend UCLA could affect the decisions of, among other highly recruited prep seniors, forward Chris Burgess of Irvine Woodbridge, forward Lamar Odom of Christ the King in Middle Village, N.Y., and the Collins twins, 6-9 Jarron and 6-11 Jason of Harvard Westlake in North Hollywood.

Both Burgess and the Collins twins, according to “Fullcourt Report,” said at different times last summer that they wanted to play with Davis on the college level.

“I think his stock has risen as much as anybody’s in the last few months,” said Doug Huff, a West Virginia recruiting expert. “It’s sort of hard to put a finger on whether he’s gotten into the upper echelon of kids nationally, but he’s definitely one that’s attracted a lot of attention.”