UCLA gets shooting guard from Indiana

Matt Carlino a 6-foot-2 shooting guard from Bloomington (Ind.) South High, has committed to accept a basketball scholarship from UCLA.

Carlino, who is a junior at South, plans to graduate a year early and enroll at UCLA in June. He visited the campus last week and said, “It’s probably the best campus around. I love the coaches and the guys on the team.”

Carlino had committed to Indiana, but changed his mind in March. He already has the necessary credits to graduate from high school and Howland convinced him he could make the transition.

“Coach Howland brought it up and I thought about it,” Carlino said. “UCLA has a lot of good players coming back and some good players coming in. This was an opportunity I had to take.”

NCAA rules prohibit Howland from talking about Carlino because the player has not signed a letter of intent.

Carlino, averaged 13 points and five assists a game last season. He was also recruited by Butler, California, Nevada Las Vegas and Florida.

The Bruins have two scholarships remaining.

chris.foster@latimes.com