Recruiting Shifts as Minds Change

Signing four blue-chip high school players last fall before ever coaching a game at UCLA has not made the spring signing period any less hectic for Coach Ben Howland.

He and his staff are scrambling to beef up a frontcourt that became seriously weakened with the surprise announcement that starting forward Trevor Ariza had left UCLA to become a professional.

Now, 7-foot forward Robert Rothbart from Sacramento Natomas High has gone from being a recruit the Bruins weren’t certain they wanted to someone they need. Rothbart, who emigrated from Bosnia, is expected to decide between the Bruins and Indiana in the next few days.

Meanwhile, the chase for McDonald’s All-American forward Malik Hairston has become a marathon. Hairston, a close friend of incoming Bruin point guard Jordan Farmar, recently expanded the list of schools he is considering and said he might take trips to Oklahoma and Oregon before making a decision. Besides UCLA, Hairston also is considering Kansas, Ohio State and Michigan.

“This recruiting stuff is crazy,” Howland said. “The work is nonstop.”

Then there are transfers, several of whom could fit into UCLA’s plans. The most intriguing are centers C.J. Giles and David Padgett.

Giles, a high school senior at Rainier Beach, Wash., was released from his letter of intent by Miami because of a coaching change, and UCLA is one of several schools that has contacted him. He might remain at Miami if the coach hired to replace Perry Clark retains assistant Kurtis Townsend, who has a strong relationship with Giles. Giles was close to signing with Kansas out of high school, and the Jayhawks are expected to go after him again because they lost Padgett.

Padgett started 19 games last season as a freshman but is leaving Lawrence because he wants to play forward. UCLA has asked Kansas for permission to speak to Padgett.

A fallback option for the Bruins is Marcus Arnold, 6-9 sophomore center who is leaving Illinois State, where he was the second-leading scorer last season. UCLA has made no effort to contact Arnold yet. Giles has more appeal as a quick fix than Padgett because he probably would not have to sit out a year. However, Padgett is a proven Division I player, albeit one who -- like Ariza -- perplexed his coach by his decision to leave.

“I’ve never experienced a guy who started on an Elite Eight team that thought the grass was greener elsewhere, but everybody’s entitled to their own opinions -- what they think is best for them,” Kansas Coach Bill Self told reporters.

Under current NCAA rules, UCLA can give out only one more scholarship for next fall unless Howland takes a scholarship from a current player. However, many coaches are expecting the NCAA on April 28 to rescind a rule that restricts teams from signing more than five players in a year and more than eight in two years.

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The Bruin frontcourt received a boost when Ryan Hollins made it official that he would not return to the UCLA track and field team. Instead, he is spending the spring in the weight room.

Hollins, who will be a junior, was one of the top high jumpers in the Pacific 10 Conference last year and also competed in the triple jump and long jump. He came to UCLA with the understanding that he could participate in track as well as basketball. Howland, however, made it clear that for Hollins to reach his potential in basketball, he needed to becomes stronger.

Hollins started at center last season but could be moved to power forward. Michael Fey and incoming freshman Lorenzo Mata would play center.