WASHINGTON, D.C. — Kyle Anderson Jr.

“Kyle does not have plans to declare on April 10 as an underclassmen and at this time is returning to UCLA,” Kyle Anderson Sr. told SNY.tv in a text message sent to several outlets.

The former St. Anthony star is not on any NBA Draft boards, and at least one veteran NBA scout believes he is making the right move.

“He did the right thing 100 percent,” the scout told SNY.tv.

Asked how good Anderson Jr. could be a year from now, the scout said, “Very good if he works hard.”

Playing a mix of point guard, wing and power forward, Anderson Jr. averaged 9.7 points, 8.6 rebounds and 3.5 assists and was named second-team All-Pac 12 under former coach Ben Howland.

His teammate and friend, UCLA wing Shabazz Muhammad, is expected to be one of the top few picks in the upcoming NBA Draft.

If Anderson Jr., Tony Parker and Jordan Adams all return to campus with David and Travis Wear and Norman Powell and the incoming recruits, UCLA should have a solid nucleus under the new coach.

Shaka Smart and Brad Stevens are now off the board as candidates at UCLA.

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The two freshmen were seen wearing designer Gucci backpacks following UCLA’s 84-73 upset of No. 6 Arizona Thursday night.

The Gucci Website shows backpacks that go from $990-$1350.

That triggered a report from Pat Forde of Yahoo! Sports, which, in turn, triggered an investigation by UCLA Compliance.

“The UCLA Athletics Compliance Office has confirmed that men’s basketball players Shabazz Muhammad and Kyle Anderson received items in question as gifts from their respective families and the matter is closed,” the statement read.

Asia Muhammad, Shabazz’s sister and a pro tennis player, took to Twitter to tell Forde that she and her mother bought the backpack as a birthday present.

“I have the original receipt if you need to verify that,” she wrote to Forde. “[Shabazz] doesn’t need anything from anyone except his family. … You’re barking up the wrong tree on this one.”

Anderson and Muhammad were both cleared last fall of amateurism violations, with Anderson’s news coming in October.

The 6-9 Anderson simply Tweeted at Forde, “Everything designer.”

Muhammad was cleared in November after missing the first three games of the season, but had to to repay $1,600 in imperissible benefits.

The 6-foot-6 wing is projected as a lottery pick in the 2013 NBA Draft.

After a 5-3 start imperiled coach Ben Howland, UCLA is 11-1 since and 6-1 in the Pac-12, with that marquee win at Arizona.

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BROOKLYN

Just rookies, they have both already suffered through injuries,  been investigated by the NCAA and subsequently cleared.

They have an obvious chemistry off the court dating to their high school days, and their chemistry on the court could go a long way in determining how far the No. 11 Bruins go this year.

So one play early in UCLA’s 60-56 victory over Georgia Tuesday night in the Legends Classic consolation game could offer a window into what the duo — one a supremely skilled passer with great vision, the other a born scorer who can put the ball in the basket a number of different ways — can accomplish down the road.

Early in the second half, Anderson fired a bounce pass from the top of the arc right to a cutting Muhammad under the basket.

Muhammad scored an easy layup for two of his game-high 21 points on the play, was fouled but failed to make the ensuing foul shot.

“I would say the good thing about Kyle is, I’ve been playing with him for a while in these all-star games and high school, I just know when he’s going to pass the ball and when he’s looking for a guy to cut,” said Muhammad, who was playing in just his second game since being cleared last Friday by the NCAA for amateurism violations.

“So I think I’m like always there when he’s there and I know when he’s going to pass the ball and it’s going to be a really good chemistry for us to build.”

Anderson was making his return home to the area where he won 65 straight games at Jersey City St. Anthony, winning back-to-back New Jersey Tournament of Champions titles under Hall of Fame coach Bob Hurley. The Fairview, N.J. native, had about 20 family and friends in the building.

After going scoreless in Monday’s disappointing loss to Georgetown, he finished with 9 points, 9 rebounds and 3 assists, including the bounce pass to Muhammad.

“Shabazz cuts very hard so when I’m bringing the ball up, I see his defender struggling with him cutting to the basket so I’m just able to find Shabazz, make eye contact with him and just put it in a spot where only he can get it and he’s going to score when he gets it,” Anderson said. “So it’s a pretty good connection between us.”

After a disappointing loss to Georgetown Monday night, the Bruins will leave New York 1-1 instead of 0-2 thanks largely to Muhammad and Anderson. The freshmen duo combined for 30 points and 13 rebounds in the win.

Had they left New York 0-2, it would’ve been a tough flight home and there may well have been a lot of angry Bruins fans questioning coach Ben Howland’s coaching style.

“It would’ve been a long plane ride home coming out of this trip to New York 0-2 so that was critical for us,” Howland said.

“It was real important and it felt real good to get the ‘W’ again after the sting of last night.”

Still, plenty of questions remain going forward.

Is this team — which at times looks like the French Army circa World War II — committed to defense?

Can the out-of-shape players — of which there appear to be several — get into shape in during the season?

Can Howland blend his talented, yet raw freshmen with his upperclassmen?

Both Muhammad and Anderson — to say nothing of Josh Smith — need to get in better condition for this team to have any chance of an NCAA Tournament berth, to say nothing of a postseason run.

“Shabazz got winded a couple times tonight because he missed over two weeks with the shoulder where he couldn’t really get up and down,” Howland said.

“He’s going to get in better and better shape. We all need to but I know he will in particular.”

Both players admit they’re still adjusting to the college game and its pace.

They have, after all, played only a combined seven college games — five by Anderson and two by Muhammad.

“The adjustment is really a big difference, getting through screens, trailing screens, getting over screens, so I mean it’s a lot of stuff,” Muhammad said. “You have to be really smart and learn the game a lot.

“It’s really been a really good change for me because coming here I really learned how to stay down in a defensive stance and really learn how to play defense to really get my game complete.”

One Western Conference NBA scout was impressed with Muhammad’s ability to score, but stressed his defense is lacking.

“He is going to be a tremendous scorer right away,” the scout said. “He has the ability to make the 3-pointer and attack the basket in transition. He will finish above the rim. Very aggressive and powerful when attacking the basket in the half court. He shows an ability to post up when he is being defended by a smaller man. He can pass.

“My biggest issue with him was that he needs to be a much more committed defender. He struggled to defend quickness out on the floor. He is going to have a heck of a year as long as he stays healthy.”

While Muhammad figures to shake off the rust as the season progresses, the 6-9 Anderson is dealing with playing a new position.

A point guard whom Hurley once called “the modern-day Magic Johnson,” he is now playing the point sometimes, but also on the wing and at the four at times, too.

Anderson is accustomed to playing with the ball in his hands. And who, again, he has done nothing but win during his high school career.

Anderson hasn’t complained at all about playing on the wing or at the four, but he admits it’s an adjustment defending big guys in the post.

“I feel it’s so much difference especially when you have to go inside and guard bigger, stronger players who are two or three years older than you,” he said. “It’s just such a huge difference but it all comes from going hard in practice and working on it there.”

The NBA scout called Anderson a strong passer, but a “soft” player who needs to get stronger.

“Tremendous feel for the game,” the scout said. “Excellent passer with great vision. Not a shooter. Not a defender. Needs to get stronger. He has to have more of an impact on the game when the ball is not in his hands. Needs strength because is a SOFT player. A talent.”

Howland has played Larry Drew II (5 points, 2 assists) at the point, but has also used Anderson there. Despite his lack of foot speed, Anderson can actually trigger the fast break because of his ability to see the floor and pass over the defense.

“I’m real pleased with both of them, how they’re handling the point guard duties,” Howland said. “I’m very comfortable with both of them offensively at the point.”

Wherever Anderson plays, he’s able to pass and one thing is clear, he and Muhammad have a chemistry that enables the latter to score the ball.

And that budding on-court chemistry, more than anything else, could end up deciding just how far this Bruins team goes this year.

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Kyle Anderson Sr

He also questions how UCLA head coach Ben Howland is using his son, Kyle Anderson Jr., a natural point guard who has played on the wing in the Bruins’ first three games.

“Watching [Muhammad] play, there are times when he looks like the best player in the country,” Anderson Sr., a former Division 1 assistant coach and current AAU coach with the Playaz Basketball Club, told SNY.tv on Sunday.

“I don’t think there’s anyone — at his best — that’s bettter than him now.”

That will certainly be an interesting theory to test over the next couple of days, considering UCLA could face No. 1 Indiana and Cody Zeller in Tuesday’s Legends Classic final. Zeller is considered by some the best college player in America.

The 6-foot-6 Muhammad was cleared Friday of amateurism violations and will debut tonight against the Hoyas after sitting out the team’s first three games.

The projected No. 1 pick in the 2013 NBA Draft by DraftExpress.com, Muhammad has been practicing with the team the whole time, however, and Anderson Sr. has been impressed with what he’s seen.

“He’s been practicing so everyone’s familiar with him, as far as what he can do,” Anderson Sr. said. “I don’t think there will be a major adjustment.”

It remains unclear if Howland will start Muhammad in his first game or bring him off the bench.

Either way, the coach is happy to have him back.

“He’s a great talent,” Howland said last week. “He’s a great kid. He works extremely hard. He’s got a great motor so I think he’s gonna be a heck of a player.”

Georgetown coach John Thompson III found it hard to disagree.

“If he plays it’s his energy and how hard he plays is what is special,” he said of Muhammad.

Meantime, Anderson Sr. expressed concerns over how Howland has so far used his son, who was groomed to be a point guard, but has been playing on the wing with redshirt senior guard Larry Drew II at the point.

“It takes a special coach to be able to to coach Kyle,” Anderson Sr. told SNY.tv. “Coach [Bob] Hurley did a fabulous job of coaching him. You gotta know when to put the ball in his hands and when to post him up.

“I’m not sure Coach Howland has found a way to use him to maximize his potential yet. I don’t think he has.”

Anderson Sr. stressed that his son hasn’t objected to how he’s being used.

“He has always been a ‘Whatever the coach asks me to do’ player,” his father said.

Through three games, the 6-9 Anderson is averaging 7.3 points, 9.7 rebounds and just 2.7 assists.

In UCLA’s second game, an 80-79 OT win over UC-Irvine in which Anderson injured his wrist, he finished with 10 points, 7 rebounds and 0 assists.

“Kyle had zero assists the other day,” his father said. “He’s never done that in his life. Kyle’s playing the wing, he’s not playing a lot of point guard so the’s ball not in his hands.”

He added: “I think they need Larry Drew to win, he’s very important. With that said, I think you need to have the ball in Kyle’s hands a lot. Kyle’s a proven winner. You put the ball in his hands and good things happen.

“That’s for Coach Howland to figure out. Every coach wants to win, so I’m sure Coach Howland is doing everything he can to win. But if Kyle goes with 0 assists in a game, something’s wrong.”

Anderson injured his wrist in that UC-Irvine game but returned to action after the injury. X-rays and an MRI were negative and he then had 2 points on 1-for-10 shooting to go with 12 rebounds and 4 assists in Thursday’s win over 100-70 win over James Madison.

Howland will not be made available again to the media until after the Georgetown game and was not immediately available to comment on Anderson Sr.’s comments.

Last week on a conference call, he praised Anderson for his rebounding, passing and leadership skills.

“I think the thing that Kyle’s doing best right now is rebounding the basketball,” Howland said. “[Thursday] night he had nine rebounds in the first half and did a great job getting on the defensive end.

“He’s such a good passer, he made some really nice passes, very unselfish and his leadership for a kid that’s just a freshman. He shows a lot of ability to lead the other players and he’s vocal.”

Seth Greenberg, the ESPN college basketball analyst and former Virginia Tech coach, said it will take time for Howland to integrate Muhammad and Anderson, who was also recently cleared by the NCAA after an investigation, into the offense.

“Kyle Sr. needs to understand that we’re three games into the season and developing an offensive identity takes time,” Greenberg told SNY.tv.

“The UCLA team has been a team in transition and uncertainty due to the ineligibility issues of Shabazz and Kyle. Kyle’s a very unique talent but for Coach Howland it takes time, especially offensively, to find a system to best utilize his players. And a team with as many different parts as UCLA possesses that’s going to be a process.

“Big Kyle had great confidence in Coach Howland. That’s why Kyle decided to attend there. He needs to let coach do his job and understand we’re three games into the season and these things take time.”

Yet there have always been questions over what position he would play and what position he would defend at the college level because of his unique skill-set combined with his relative lack of quickness compared to other point guards.

Ironically, in Georgetown, Anderson will be facing one of the schools he cut from his list when he selected UCLA.

“Kyle is special,” Georgetown’s Thompson III said last week. “I mean, everyone who’s seen him play knows that.

“He makes eveyrone around him so much better just in terms of getting everyone else the ball where they need it, when they need it, and so his passing is unique.

“He’s doing a very good job of rebounding the ball. He’s really going after the ball and rebounding well.”

“And so he’s very unique.”

Anderson Sr. also said his son is looking forward to playing two games back home on the East Coast, where he led St. Anthony to back-to-back New Jersey Tournament of Champions titles.

“He sees New York as his second home,” his father said. “He’s very excited to be home.”

Beginning Monday, UCLA begins the Shabazz Muhammad Era and Howland will have to make all the issues work out for his own self-preservation.

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“Kyle injured his right wrist last night while diving out of bounds in the first half [in No. 13 UCLA's 80-79 OT win over UC-Irvine],” Kyle Anderson Sr. said. “He came back in the first half after leaving in obvious pain.

“He will have X-rays and/or an MRI today.”

Anderson finished with 10 points, 7 rebound and 0 assists.

As first reported by SNY.tv, Anderson underwent left thumb surgery last spring, but was able to join the team for its trip to China in August.

He was recently cleared by the NCAA for alleged recruiting improprieties, but his teammate, Shabazz Muhammad, remains uncleared by the NCAA.

Muhammad’s family on Tuesday issued a pointed statement aimed at the NCAA.

UCLA will play in Brooklyn at the Legends Classic Nov. 19-20, along with No. 1 Indiana, Georgetown and Georgia.

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As previously reported by SNY.tv, UCLA freshman guard Kyle Anderson was cleared on Wednesday afternoon by the NCAA and can begin play with the Bruins, who open Nov. 9 with Indiana State in Westwood.

Late Wednesday afternoon, UCLA Athletic Director Dan Guerrero released the following statement.

“UCLA was informed by the NCAA earlier today that freshman guard Kyle Anderson is eligible to play this season, and that the NCAA has found no evidence to substantiate claims of violations in his case. I am grateful to all those who were involved in the process. We are looking forward to opening our season on November 9 against Indiana State at New Pauley Pavilion.”

Before Guerrero’s statement, Kyle Anderson Sr. confirmed his son’s status to SNY.tv with a text message that read, ’He has been cleared!’

With Anderson now ready to go, UCLA now awaits final word on the eligibility of fellow-freshman sensation Shabazz Muhammad. Anderson, Muhammad and the No. 13 Bruins are scheduled to play in the Legends Classic at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center Nov. 19-20.

UCLA will open play on Nov. 19 against Georgetown and will play either Indiana or Georgia on Nov. 20. Led by Preseason All-America forward Cody Zeller, the Hoosiers are ranked No. 1 in the Associated Press and USA Today Coaches Polls.

Anderson, a 6-foot-9 point guard out of Jersey City’s St. Anthony High School, arrived at UCLA after a decorated high school career. He went 93-1 over his final three seasons, including 65-0 with back-to-back NJSIAA Tournament of Champions crowns in his final two seasons with the Friars. He began his career at now-closed New Jersey heavyweight Paterson Catholic.

The McDonald’s All-American will go down as one of the best players to ever pass through one of New Jersey’s and the nation’s perennial powerhouse high school programs

“He’s the most complete player to ever play at the school,” longtime St. Anthony head coach and Naismith Hall of Famer Bob Hurley said the night of the 2012 TOC final. “In a time when we’ve had some really good ones, his overall game and just what he’s done over these last two years is remarkable.”

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The 6-foot-9 Anderson led St. Anthony to back-to-back New Jersey Tournament of Champions titles and a 65-0 record in his two seasons at the school. Among other things, the NCAA is looking into Anderson’s relationship with NBA agent Thad Foucher, who has a preexisting relationship with Kyle Anderson Sr. from their AAU days.

“I read about it, kind of read as much as I could about it and hope that it all gets resolved quickly because we’re going to try to see him over the Barclays Center in a few weeks [when UCLA plays in the Legends Classic Nov. 19-20],” Hurley told SNY.tv Thursday.

“I just don’t know anyone around him that would put him in this situation,” Hurley added. “He’s got a terrific family.

“I wasn’t involved in the recruiting process. “They kept me abreast of what was happening from one week to the next. But I don’s see that as the people that I know, so I’m hoping this thing all gets resolved and that he’s able to go out there and have a good year because I really expect him to have a terrific season.”

Hurley has previously told SNY.tv that Anderson, who was tabbed by CBSSports.com as the No. 6 best point guard in college basketball, is a “modern-day Magic Johnson.”

Anderson’s UCLA teammate, Shabazz Muhammad, is also being investigated by the NCAA. Both players are able to practice with the team, although Muhammad injured his right shoulder Wednesday at practice.

FOUR DIVISION I COMMITS

Without Anderson this season, St. Anthony has no true superstar, but they now have four Division 1 commits.

Josh Brown (Temple), Hallice Cooke (Oregon State), Kentrell Brooks (Marist) and Tim Coleman (NJIT) are all committed.

“Four done now and there’s two more seniors so I hope something works out for both of them,” Hurley said.

The other two seniors are 6-8 Canadian forward Aaron Ariri and 6-3 wing Cody Jenkins.

“[Ariri] is a four,” Hurley said. “We’ll try to build up his versatility. He’s a quick learner and a hard worker and we’re working with him on weight training. His body’s gotta get quicker, but he’s a very good prospect. The longer he’s here, once people are aware of him, I think he’ll definitely draw recruiting interest.”

Hurley compared Ariri to former St. Anthony power forward Jerome Frink, now at FIU.

“We’d like to think that because we had Jerome for four years, that by the time he’s a senior he learned certain things and that made him a very dangerous player,” Hurley said. “This kid has played a lot of good basketball and is pretty versatile and now we’re trying to figure out what he can be good at.”

He added: “There was some talk that he might reclassify if he doesn’t have enough recruiting interest, but the way he looks in the gym I think there will be enough schools interested in him and he can graduate and go on to a Division I school at the end of this year.”

As for the 6-5 Coleman, who committed to NJIT this past week, Hurley said.

“He might’ve been the strongest kid on our team last year,” he said. “If only for the knee injury he had two-thirds through the season people just kind of forgot about him.

“But he’s a tough, small 6-4 wing player. He can score. He rebounds. He plays very hard. He’s a really good kid to add to a college team. He’s personable, he does well in school school. He’s athletic, he’s a lefty, he can make a shot. So there’s a lot of good components there.”

Photo: North Pole Hoops

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Kyle Anderson

Anderson Sr. has known Foucher since the early 2000s through the AAU circuit, and Foucher met the son, known as “Lil Kyle,” when he was a youngster through his father. Before becoming an agent with the Wasserman Media Group, Foucher served as head coach of the New Orleans Jazz AAU Team from 1990-1998, according to his Wasserman bio.

The L.A. Times reported Saturday that the NCAA’s investigation into the 6-foot-9 Anderson and 6-5 wing Shabazz Muhammad is ongoing. In Anderson’s case, the NCAA is looking into the connection between him and Foucher, who now reps Anthony Davis, among others, and works with Arn Tellem. Casey Wasserman is a UCLA graduate and well-known Bruins booster.

The Wasserman Group has represented several players who competed for the New Jersey-based Playaz Basketball Club, for which Kyle Anderson Sr. coached, including J.R. Smith, Wayne Ellington, Gerald Henderson and Kenneth Faried.

Anderson Sr. and Foucher have remained in touch over the years about these players, but no public record exists detailing any improprieties.

NCAA rules prohibit student-athletes from receiving “extra benefits” but do allow exceptions in the case of preexisting relationships under NCAA Bylaw 12.1.1.1.6.

That Bylaw “prohibits preferential treatment, benefits or services because of the individual’s athletics reputation or skill or pay-back potential as a professional athlete, unless such treatment, benefits or services are specifically permitted under NCAA legislation.

“The only exception to this rule is if there is a clear preexisting relationship between the booster and the student-athlete.”

In Muhammad’s case, the NCAA is looking into “questions about money his family received from Benjamin Lincoln, the brother of an assistant at his high school, that helped pay for unofficial recruiting visits,” the Times reported.

Clayton Williams, Muhammad’s coach with the adidas-sponsored Dream Vision AAU program, told the paper he would be “shocked if the NCAA found an impropriety,” the paper reported.

“I was there every game,” he told The Times in an exclusive interview. “I was around. No agents, no this, no that.”

UCLA practice began Friday and neither Muhammad nor Anderson has yet been cleared by the NCAA.

The team open its season Nov. 9 against Indiana State at Pauley Pavilion.

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“The UCLA compliance office is confident that he will be cleared before practice starts Oct. 12,” the source said.

The NCAA looked into the recruitment of the 6-foot-9 point guard in early August, the source said.

Anderson, a McDonald’s All-American out of St. Anthony, was cleared for UCLA’s China trip late last month, and he posted two double-doubles in three games there.

Anderson’s roommate and teammate, Shabazz Muhammad, is also being investigated by the NCAA and has not been cleared. He did not make the trip to China as a result.

Muhammad was injured over the summer and, as Andy Katz of ESPN.com pointed out, he could conceivably play in the team’s opener if the school waits to start his 45-day window when practice begins Oct. 12.

“Currently, there are two men’s basketball student-athletes who have not yet received final amateurism certification from the NCAA,” UCLA AD Dan Guerrero said earlier this month.

“UCLA will not, and cannot, endanger the privacy of our student-athletes or the confidentiality of the process by providing a more specific response at this time to these reports.”

A third UCLA freshman, Tony Parker, was also investigated by the NCAA, but he has since been cleared. He did not play in China due to an injured hamstring.

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“NCAA member schools place great importance on fair and consistent eligibility standards. As a member of the NCAA, UCLA works closely with the national office to establish the facts and circumstances for a fair and thorough review for each of our incoming student-athlete’s academic and amateurism records.

Recently, there have been misleading and inaccurate public reports regarding the initial-eligibility certification of our men’s basketball team’s incoming class. Currently, there are two men’s basketball student-athletes who have not yet received final amateurism certification from the NCAA.

UCLA will not, and cannot, endanger the privacy of our student-athletes or the confidentiality of the process by providing a more specific response at this time to these reports.”

Guerrero’s statement merely mentions ‘two men’s basketball student-athletes,’ but a story by Peter Yoon of ESPNLosAngeles on Monday, citing a source, says it is in fact Anderson and Shabazz Muhammad still awaiting clearance by the NCAA. Muhammad did not go on UCLA’s recent trip to China, but Anderson and Parker did.

Anderson, a former St. Anthony of Jersey City star who compiled a 65-0 record in two years with the Friars, helped the Bruins to a 3-0 record in China. Parker was cleared for China, but did not play due to a hamstring injury suffered during the practice time leading up to the trip.

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