Eligibility issues will sideline one of UCLA's freshmen for the season
The highly touted freshman class UCLA expects to mitigate the loss of three first-round draft picks this season will be one member smaller than expected.
The NCAA has declared Australian forward Jonah Bolden a partial qualifier and ruled him ineligible to play during the 2014-15 season, ESPN.com first reported Friday. Bolden, a consensus four-star recruit can remain on athletic scholarship this school year and would be able to compete for the Bruins beginning the following season.
Eligibility issues for Bolden aren't a huge surprise because some schools were cautious recruiting him out of fear he might not qualify. UCLA took that chance and could still benefit from it, assuming Bolden remains long enough to play for the Bruins in future years.
In the short term, however, not having Bolden is a blow for a UCLA team that must replace the perimeter scoring of Kyle Anderson, Jordan Adams and Zach LaVine from last year's Pac-12 tournament champion and Sweet 16 team. The 6-foot-8 Bolden could have helped in that regard because he is versatile enough to score from the post and the perimeter.
Nonetheless, UCLA has plenty of depth and talent in the frontcourt next season even without Bolden coming off the bench.
Six-foot-10 junior Tony Parker is a former top 50 recruit who has bided his time for two seasons and now could be ready to emerge as an interior focal point. Incoming freshmen Kevon Looney and Thomas Welsh also should be ready to contribute right away. Looney is talented power forward who spurned Duke and Florida to join the Bruins, while the 7-foot Welsh is a late-blooming Los Angeles product who eventually blossomed into a McDonald's All-American center as a high school senior.
So between those three and sophomore reserve Wanaah Bail, UCLA still has sufficient depth in the frontcourt. It just will have to wait a year to benefit from Bolden's versatility and inside-outside prowess.
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Jeff Eisenberg is the editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at daggerblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
