He Was One Hot Prospect

Ben Howland thought he was walking into a gym. What he found was a sweatbox.

It was, Howland estimated, 120 degrees with high humidity inside the gym at the Montverde Academy outside of Orlando, Fla., on the summer day the UCLA coach went out to watch a potential recruit.

“I thought I was going to die,” Howland said. “It was brutal, very uncomfortable.”

All Howland, dressed in shorts and T-shirt, had to do was watch.

Imagine how Luc Richard Mbah a Moute felt. He had to undergo a two-hour workout under the direction of his coach, Kevin Sutton.

It was Mbah a Moute’s reputation that had brought Howland to Montverde. He had heard about the tall, sharp, athletic student from Cameroon who, in only his third year of organized basketball, had shown an impressive affinity for the game.

Mbah a Moute’s father, Camille Moute a Bidias, is a tribal chieftain back home. Although it’s an elected post, Mbah a Moute is often referred to as a prince.

“You may be a prince,” Sutton had told the Cameroonian upon his arrival at Montverde, “but on the court, I’m the king.”

And a tough ruler, as Mbah a Moute soon discovered.

“It was terrible, unbelievable,” Howland said of the basketball workout he watched Mbah a Moute endure, “and Luc went 100% for two hours. He must have lost 10 pounds of sweat.”

Howland certainly didn’t lose any of his enthusiasm for recruiting Mbah a Moute. He walked out of the gym that day telling himself, “I’ve got to have this kid.”

Howland, of course, got Mbah a Moute, and his enthusiasm for the 6-foot-7 forward has only increased as Mbah a Moute’s freshman season has unfolded.

He scored game- and career-high 15 points Thursday night against Oregon and also had a game-high 10 rebounds in UCLA’s 56-49 victory. It was his sixth double-double of the season. Mbah a Moute’s average of nine rebounds a game is the second-highest in the Pacific 10 Conference.

“I knew he was a good player,” Howland said. “But did I anticipate he would be second in the Pac-10 in rebounding as a freshman? No.”

Said teammate Jordan Farmar, “What’s scary is that he doesn’t even know yet how good he is.”

*

Senior Cedric Bozeman, who played 18 minutes Thursday night after sitting out eight games because of torn cartilage in the back of his left shoulder, will be moved back into the starting lineup at the small forward position, replacing Michael Roll.

Howland said he might extend Bozeman to 25 minutes in today’s game against Oregon State.

*

TODAY

at Oregon State, 1 p.m., FSN West 2

Site -- Gill Coliseum, Corvallis, Ore.

Radio -- 570

Records -- UCLA 16-4, 6-2 in Pacific 10 Conference; Oregon State 10-9, 3-5.

Update -- The Beavers have lost three of their last four games, including overtime defeats at home by Arizona State and USC. Nevertheless, Oregon State is 5-2 at home.