Flowers Doesn’t Miss UC Irvine

If Jason Flowers and Pat Douglass exchange greetings Saturday, those will be the first words spoken between the two since Flowers transferred from UC Irvine to UCLA more than a year ago.

The Anteaters, coached by Douglass, play UCLA on Saturday at Pauley Pavilion. Flowers, a onetime starter for Douglass, insists he is happier as a walk-on and third-string point guard at UCLA.

“I’m cherishing my experience here. There’s nothing like UCLA basketball,” he said. “But, if everything would have been all right there, there would have been no reason for me to leave.”

Flowers walked on at Irvine as a freshman in 1997-98, starting 15 games, and Douglass awarded him a scholarship. As a sophomore, he started six games.