UCLA Gets Help Inside With Kapono

Artesia High basketball standout Jason Kapono signed a letter of intent with UCLA on Thursday, and that may be only the start of a late rally after a series of recruiting losses and other personnel setbacks for the Bruins.

Kapono, a 6-foot-8, 210-pounder, will add immediate depth to the front line in the wake of Travis Reed’s decision to transfer. And as someone who handled the ball a lot while leading Artesia to a 32-2 record and the Southern Section I-AA championship as a senior, those skills can help offset the loss of Baron Davis to the NBA.

The signing is not only significant for the Bruins because they had been shut out in recruiting battles for Carlos Boozer and Kareem Rush, but also because Kapono at one time had eliminated UCLA from consideration. But when Jim Harrick left as coach at Rhode Island and Norm Stewart resigned at Missouri and the specter of an NCAA investigation arose at Nevada Las Vegas, Kapono drew up a new list.

By this week, he was down to holdovers Missouri--new Coach Quin Snyder made a positive impression--and Utah, and newcomers UCLA and Arizona. Kapono made his announcement late Thursday afternoon, only hours before Ryan Humphrey, who is leaving Oklahoma, was scheduled to arrive in Los Angeles for a weekend recruiting visit.

Humphrey, a starting forward for the Sooners, will have to sit out a season, wherever he goes, before being eligible in 2000-01 as a junior.

Meanwhile, Chris Burgess, the Irvine Woodbridge product who left Duke after his sophomore campaign, has made unofficial campus visits.