Surgery on Knee to Sideline Bozeman

UCLA point guard Cedric Bozeman will undergo surgery for torn cartilage in his right knee Monday and be sidelined four to six weeks.

An MRI taken Thursday night revealed the tear. Bozeman, a freshman from Mater Dei High, complained of soreness last week after the Maui Invitational opener against Houston. However, he played in the three games since, including 22 minutes in the home opener Wednesday, an 85-78 loss to Pepperdine.

The 6-foot-6 McDonald’s All-American was off to a rocky start, especially against the small, quick point guards on the teams that defeated UCLA, Patrick Jackson of Ball State and Devon Montgomery of Pepperdine.

Surrounded by four returning starters, Bozeman has appeared tentative on offense and slow on defense, averaging 5.3 points with 15 assists and 15 turnovers in 100 minutes. The injury might have been part of the reason.

“I noticed in Hawaii that he didn’t have the usual speed on offense and the ability to change direction on defense,” Coach Steve Lavin said. “I asked him, ‘Are you winded?’ He said his knee was sore.”

Trainers believed it was tendinitis, but the pain increased after the Pepperdine game and Bozeman saw a doctor the next day.

“It was kind of slowing me down,” he said. “I kept playing through it and it kept getting worse. It’s pretty painful, in the morning it’s been really sore.”

Bozeman, who said he has no history of knee problems, missed several practices after falling and bruising his tailbone during an exhibition Nov. 8. Now he will be out at least another month, a setback for a freshman desperately trying to lift his game to Division I speed.

“He has to watch film with coaches and learn through observing like a backup quarterback does,” Lavin said. “He has to do everything possible to close that gap.”

Freshman Dijon Thompson or Rico Hines will replace Bozeman in the starting lineup and transfer point guard Ryan Walcott will get more minutes off the bench for UCLA (2-2).

Thompson, 6-7, can play point guard, although he is more suited for the wing. He has been impressive in limited playing time, averaging 7.3 points on 56.3% shooting with eight assists and seven turnovers.

Hines is a fifth-year senior and defensive specialist who redshirted last season. However, he is not a point guard and has not scored in 60 minutes this season. When he is in the game, small forward Jason Kapono will move to the point.

“Collectively we need leadership,” Lavin said. “There is a lot of experience on this team and more than one leader can emerge.”

There are no plans for Bozeman to redshirt. It appears he will miss at least three nonleague games and UCLA’s first two Pacific 10 Conference games against Washington and Washington State before Christmas.

“I’m pretty hurt about it, I was devastated,” Bozeman said. “I’ll be back as soon as possible. I’ll do everything they tell me to.”