UCLA's Starting Center Leaves Program

Things are going from bad to worse for UCLA basketball.

Just days after getting swept in three games at the 76 Classic Tournament in Anaheim — including a blowout loss to Long Beach State — the team’s starting center has left the program. Drew Gordon has quit the team and will transfer out of UCLA.

Gordon, a sophomore, is the steadiest of the team’s big men, having averaged 11.2 points (third best on the team) and 5.3 rebounds (second best) per game. He also has been the team’s best offensive rebounder, having grabbed 16 in the Bruins six games.

But he has also clashed with the structured system and tight ship that coach Ben Howland runs, something teammates said continued this year. Gordon launched a series of three pointers well outside the flow of the offense recently, has had temper issues during games and has seemed to chafe at times in the current system. Howland said after practice Tuesday, in announcing that Gordon was leaving, that this is something that had been building for some time and was not spur of the moment.

Gordon’s only comment came via Twitter: “to all my supporters and fans i apreciate all you done and im sorry but i set back is a set up for a great come back!!”

In the short term, it makes a tough season for UCLA even tougher — freshman Reeves Nelson is going to get the bulk of the minutes. And up to now the Bruins interior play — from Gordon and the recently returned Nikola Dragovic — has been better than the backcourt play. Worse yet, UCLA’s defense has been terrible, the quick athletes of Cal State Long Beach got to the rim at will against the Bruins. The loss of Gordon will not help, and Howland has already talked about abandoning his trademark tough man-to-man defense to play some zone.

All that with top ranked Kansas looming on Saturday.

This has been by far the toughest year for Howland — the departure of players like Jrue Holliday, Darren Collisson and Russell Westbrook to the NBA has left the ranks thin. UCLA had the top-rated recruiting class in the nation two years ago, but with Holiday in the NBA and Gordon gone, it really only leaves Lee left to carry that banner. And there are questions if he can carry that banner.

The Bruins are off to a 2-4 start — the worst start since Steve Lavin’s last year — and have lost to two Big West teams. Now their starting center has walked out the door. Things could get better — with a down year in the Pac-10 a trip to the NCAA Tournament is not out of the question — but it looks more and more like things will get worse before they get better.