[joemontes]

Gardiner to ucla

Disappointing but unsurprising. At one point way back when Betts had committed to Stanford and Rice and Gardiner were undecided. In my mind, there was a real real possibility we might also land Rice and Gardiner and would have the #1, #2, and #6 recruits in that class. Oregon State, UCLA, and Stanford were Gardiner's original finalist. Now, they ALL end up at UCLA. 

With that much talent in one place, you could still argue USC, South Carolina, Uconn, and Texas all have equal or more talent for next year. Close has had 13 seasons and only been to 1 Elite 8 and 0 Final Fours. She doesn't have any excuses anymore.

ANSTLEY (retired), BESSOIR (announced departure), IWUALA (transfer to Ole Miss)  
and SONTAG (retired) are all gone, so getting GARDINER is sort of a "must".

At this point, UCLA only has 12 players including transfers GARDINER and LEDGER-WALKER:

SF - DUDLEY      6'1     (Fr)
SF - JACQUEZ     6'0     (Jr)

PF - DUGALIC     6'4     (RS Sr)
PF - GARDINER   6'2     (Jr)
PF/CC - 
       SOCKA-NGUEMEN   6'3   (Fr)
CC - BETTS         6'7     (Jr)
CC - MUSE          6'4     (So)

PG - RICE           5'11   (Jr) 
PG/SG - JONES    5'4    (Jr)
PG/SG - 
       LEDGER-WALKER   5'10  (Gr)
SG - AARNISALO  5'10   (Fr)
SG - CAIN            6'1    (Fr)

[joemontes]

Gardiner to ucla

Disappointing but unsurprising. At one point way back when Betts had committed to Stanford and Rice and Gardiner were undecided. In my mind, there was a real real possibility we might also land Rice and Gardiner and would have the #1, #2, and #6 recruits in that class. Oregon State, UCLA, and Stanford were Gardiner's original finalist. Now, they ALL end up at UCLA. 

With that much talent in one place, you could still argue USC, South Carolina, Uconn, and Texas all have equal or more talent for next year. Close has had 13 seasons and only been to 1 Elite 8 and 0 Final Fours. She doesn't have any excuses anymore.

ANSTLEY (retired), BESSOIR (announced departure), IWUALA (transfer to Ole Miss)  
and SONTAG (retired) are all gone, so getting GARDINER is sort of a "must".

At this point, UCLA only has 12 players including transfers GARDINER and LEDGER-WALKER:

SF - DUDLEY      6'1     (Fr)
SF - JACQUEZ     6'0     (Jr)

PF - DUGALIC     6'4     (RS Sr)
PF - GARDINER   6'2     (Jr)
PF/CC - 
       SOCKA-NGUEMEN   6'3   (Fr)
CC - BETTS         6'7     (Jr)
CC - MUSE          6'4     (So)

PG - RICE           5'11   (Jr) 
PG/SG - JONES    5'4    (Jr)
PG/SG - 
       LEDGER-WALKER   5'10  (Gr)
SG - AARNISALO  5'10   (Fr)
SG - CAIN            6'1    (Fr)