Checking in with ... UCLA

UCLA freshman guard Jrue Holiday should prove to be one of the most versatile players in the Pac-10. John McDonough/SI Checking In With ...   Davis: Stephen Curry's carrying Davidson Winn: It will be a rebuilding year at IU Davis: Memphis going to the Final Four Winn: Notre Dame may be a darkhorse Davis: Major changes going on at Duke Winn: Defense will give Purdue a title Davis: Why USC's not missing Mayo Davis: Can anyone stop Carolina?

LOS ANGELES, Calif. -- Just two schools have won back-to-back NCAA titles since UCLA captured 10 of them (including seven in a row) between 1964 and 1975. Hence, one could argue that a coach who takes his team to three straight Final Fours has accomplished something that is, by modern standards, Woodenesque.

Yet, as I watched UCLA coach Ben Howland conduct a practice last week in Pauley Pavilion, I could find no tangible evidence that he had accomplished anything noteworthy. At UCLA, you see, they do not hang banners to mark Final Four appearances, like every other school in America does. They only hang them to commemorate NCAA championships. The standards are simply that high -- and besides, they don't have enough room in the rafters.

The specter of Wooden confronted Howland from every direction, from the 10 banners dangling from the ceiling to the words "Nell & John Wooden Court" painted on the floor below to the presence of Tyler Trapani, Wooden's great grandson, right in front of him. Trapani has joined the team as a walk-on, which would have never happened based on his skills alone. "He's been great-grandfathered in," Howland told me with a smile as we ate lunch in a student cafeteria. Wooden turned 98 on Oct. 14, but honoring him in Westwood never gets old.

Sure, you might hear a few gripes around town that Howland has zero championships to show for those Final Fours, but Howland, who is entering his sixth season as UCLA's coach, has re-established this program as the unquestioned king of the west. His method is not complicated: He recruits great players. So while last year's Pac-10 champs lost three starters -- including two (Kevin Love and Russell Westbrook) who were selected in the top five of the NBA draft -- Howland has brought in an outstanding quintet of freshmen to carry the program forward: guards Jerime Anderson, Jrue Holiday and Malcolm Lee, power forward Drew Gordon and center J'mison Morgan.

Howland could have recruited Holiday alone, and he would have still had one of the top 10 freshman classes in the nation. Based on what I saw of him both in high school and during practice last week, I can say with high confidence that Holiday is this team's best player. Right now. That doesn't mean that he's as prepared to help the team win as, say, Darren Collison, the 6-foot senior point guard who is a preseason All-America, but in terms of pure talent and pro potential, Holiday is the best UCLA has to offer.

Holiday is not especially big (he's listed at 6-3, 180) and he is not a freak athlete, but just about everything he threw up during practice went in. He is that rare player who is both a shooter and a scorer. He drills long threes and converts all kinds of pull-ups and floaters. He is more of a two guard than a point, but he can still create buckets for his teammates. Howland told me Holiday is as good with his left (off) hand as any guard he's ever seen. His timing and toughness are so good that Howland wants Holiday to crash the offensive glass instead of shuffling back on defense. Holiday will start from Day 1, he'll have various sets and plays that are designed to get him to score, and I predict if he stays healthy he will have the option of being a first-round draft pick next year.

If Holiday doesn't produce gaudy statistics to match my praise, it will probably because UCLA has an embarrassment of riches on the perimeter. Collison is as tough, quick and savvy as any point guard in the country. (Yes, he was outplayed by Derrick Rose in the Final Four. Who wasn't?) Josh Shipp, a 6-5 swingman, has solid size, experience and skills -- he's not great at anything, but he's good at a lot of things. Michael Roll, a 6-5 junior who is a deadly spot-up shooter, is finally healthy after suffering two major foot injuries last season. Toss in the freshmen, and that's six high-caliber players whom Howland can rotate through his perimeter during the season. There is not a better group of guards, top to bottom, anywhere in America.

The interior is a different story. Between Love, Westbrook, Luc Richard Mbah a Moute and Lorenzo Mata-Real, UCLA lost its top four rebounders from last season. The player they'll most need to pick up that slack is Alfred Aboya, a 6-9 senior and native of Cameroon who pulled down just 2.2 boards in 15.2 per game minutes last year. James Keefe, a 6-8 junior forward, averaged 2.7 rebounds in 11.7 minutes during an injury-plagued season. Beyond those two, the first two bigs off the bench are the freshmen, Gordon and Morgan. Obviously, none of those guys are as good as Kevin Love. The question is whether the four of them added together can equal what Love produced.

So yes, UCLA has a few questions entering the season, but these days teams always have questions because they always lose players. The standards are as high as can be out here, and while I don't foresee this team raising another banner in Pauley Pavilion, for UCLA fans this season will have a pleasantly familiar ring to it. These may not be your father's UCLA Bruins, but they are Ben Howland's. The names on the back of the jerseys may have changed, but the winning won't.