Lavin Feels for Ousted Toledo

Steve Lavin is normally as quick with an answer as a gunslinger with a six-shooter.

But the question stopped the Bruin basketball coach in his tracks: What is your reaction to football coach Bob Toledo’s getting fired?

“I was aware of the speculation,” he said, “but when it actually happens, it makes you pause.”

So he did. Lavin stared into space for five, 10, 15 seconds before continuing.

“When you have a coaching colleague who no longer is employed, your heart goes out to him and his family,” he said. “It sets you back for a moment and makes you reflect on challenges coaches at the highest level face on a daily basis.”

Lavin is acutely aware that the same rationale Athletic Director Dan Guerrero used to fire Toledo applies to him. Guerrero acknowledged that the football team met expectations on and off the field this season, but said the “attitude and perception” of the program had been irreparably harmed by years of missteps.

So Lavin understands that it might not matter how much his young team improves after its 1-2 start. Even another Sweet 16 appearance could be his last with UCLA.

“He’s made it clear what the criteria are [for a coach to succeed],” Lavin said. “He wants a nationally competitive program, to recruit well nationally, to graduate kids and to compete favorably against USC.”

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Either Michael Fey or Ryan Hollins will start at center for the time being, allowing T.J. Cummings to remain at power forward, his natural position.... Forward Andre Patterson might have spoken prematurely Sunday when he said that he had received two A grades and one C in classes at Santa Monica College. He still has one final to take. Patterson is academically ineligible, pending an appeal Monday before the UCLA College of Letters and Sciences. He hopes to rejoin the team in time to play Tuesday against Northern Arizona.