Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
The UCLA Bruins did not meet expectations this season and as a result head coach Ben Howland was fired. Whether if this was the right decision by the school or not, losing recruit Allerik Freeman may be a concern.
First off, anytime a school loses a recruit it is not one of those “it’s not you it is me” type of situations. In UCLA’s case and other school’s cases, when a recruit leaves your school, it is because that recruit is most likely not interested anymore.
Considering that Allerik was a 4-star recruit, this should be very concerning for the Bruins. Allerik would likely have been a good player at UCLA. Howland did recruit him and all and Howland was one heck of a recruiter.
From a fan standpoint, Allerik probably knew were he stood when Howland was the coach. My guess is that he was not exactly sure how new head coach Steve Alford would use him. That or he was just not interested at all in Alford’s coaching methods. However, this is clearly all speculation.
After firing your coach, it is not a good thing that one of your best recruits for the next season decommits from the team and that is the bottom line. Who knows how good Allerik would have been for the Bruins, but he will find another team and I am sure he will succeed.
Losing a top 100 recruit is not exactly the best way to start off the offseason, but hopefully UCLA can rebound from this point on and hopefully Allerik will be successful at whatever team he plays for.
If you’re a tweeter, feel free to follow me @TheTrevorLowry.
