ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Two of UCLA’s brightest young stars are banged up but are expected to be ready for the team’s exhibition tour of China in August, head coach Ben Howland told SNY.tv.
“[Shabazz Muhammad] has a high ankle sprain and I assume he’ll be back in about another week,” Howland said of the 6-foot-6 Muhammad, the No. 1 shooting guard in the 2012 class.
Point guard Kyle Anderson had thumb surgery but is also on the mend.
“Kyle has been working out, lifting, conditioning, doing some individual stuff but he’s not cleared for contact until probably the end of the month,” Howland said.
Howland said he expects both players to be able to practice prior to the team’s trip to China Aug. 22. The Bruins will play one games in Beijing against a University team, and two in Shanghai, including one against the Shanghai Sharks, Yao Ming’s team.
The 6-foot-9 Anderson won 65 straight games and back-to-back New Jersey Tournament of Champions titles under Bob Hurley at St. Anthony. He hasn’t lost a high school game since 2010.
Yet college basketball observers are fascinated about how Anderson projects at the college level.
What position will he play? What position will he defend? How will his game translate?
“Offensively, he’s going to play at the point but he can play four positions offensively,” Howland said, adding that Anderson might defend a bigger player on the other end.
As for Muhammad, a potent scoring threat off the wing, Howland has high hopes.
“I think he can be a really outstanding player,” Howland said. “The one thing I noticed our first practice is he’s a great offensive rebounder. I mean, he’s going to be a load and we’ve got to utilize him in a lot of different ways because he can post, he can shoot it, he can put it on the floor, he goes and gets it.”
Howland also likes incoming frosh Tony Parker, a 6-9 forward, and 6-5 wing Jordan Adams.
“I like Tony’s attitude and desire to be great,” Howland said. “I think his big thing is just getting himself in great physical condition.
“Jordan Adams’ been really impressive. He’s a wing, can play two or three offensively, and defensively, he’s probably better matched up with a three.”
UCLA also must “mesh” the new players with returnees Larry Drew, Tyler Lamb, Josh Smith, Norman Powell and the Wear Twins.
“We’re going to be really young when you look at it,” he said.
Howland knows that big things are expected of him after he was under pressure last season and had to receive a vote of confidence after the season from AD Dan Guerrero.
“Well,” he said, “we want to have a big year.”
