By Jeff Agase
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
[email protected]
 Daily Bruin File Photo
Cedric Bozeman (above) and UCLA teammate Dijon Thompson are
competing together on Hank’s California Select of the NBA
Summer Pro League.
Some of the biggest names in UCLA basketball are spending their
summer in a tiny gym 15 minutes from campus.
The Nike Say No Classic at the intimate gym of West Los Angeles
College features eight Bruins, including incoming freshmen Evan
Burns, Michael Fey and Ryan Hollins. Entering its 26th year, the
summer league boasts players from Hawai’i to Yale and is an
ideal showcase for UCLA fans starved for basketball, who will be
pleased to hear that both the incoming freshmen and returning
players are being lauded by the league’s staff and fans.
Games are played by NBA rules and consist of four eight-minute
quarters. The prevalence of man-to-man defense insures a furious,
raw and entertaining game, says Say No Classic President and League
Commissioner Rod Smith.
“Because we play the games by NBA rules, they are very
similar to the new movement in the NBA itself, where there’s
a very active and lively game,” Smith said.
“Obviously, the key part of the league is the UCLAs, the
USCs and the Division I schools. But you also have other kids
playing to show that they can play at a UCLA or USC
level.”
While some players use the league to stay fresh and competitive,
Fey is reinforcing the basics. He took a year off from organized
basketball to focus on academics at a junior college in
Washington.
“I haven’t played in real games with referees in a
while, so I’m still adjusting to the fouls and
everything,” Fey said. “It’s good to just get
used to playing ““ moving off of screens, setting screens
““ the basics of the game.”
NCAA rules dictate a maximum of two current players per school
can play on the same team, and coaches cannot be affiliated with
the players’ college teams. The regulations guarantee at
least some degree of parity as talent is dispersed throughout the
league’s 20 teams.
“About 90 percent are four or six-point games,”
Smith said.
The basketball is entertaining and much of it takes place above
the rim. Team names are as inventive as moves frequently flashed by
the league’s more dazzling players.
Redshirt senior Ray Young will be back in the fall at UCLA and
plays for Trauma, while sophomores Dijon Thompson and Cedric
Bozeman are together on Hank’s California Select, a team
named for league supporter Hank Salvatori.
Hollins plays for Hanks’ Lil’ Hoopers. Fey plays on
Hank’s Big Time, junior T.J. Cummings for West Coast and
sophomore Andre Patterson and Burns play for the Say No team.
Every Pac-10 team but Stanford is represented, with USC’s
Craven twins and Washington State’s Marcus Moore among the
notables.
Loyola Marymount and Pepperdine both have entire squads made up
of mostly incoming freshmen who were permitted by the NCAA to play
on the same squad. Pepperdine head coach Paul Westphal was in
attendance July 13.
“Westphal and other coaches came this weekend during the
official visitation period,” Smith said. “They get two
weeks out of the summer to come and see their players.”
The Say No Classic began as the Olympic Development League. When
professionals crashed the Olympic party, the league changed its
name but not its focus.
“Most of the top teams practice, and coaches give simple
offenses,” Smith said. “We stress defense. Sometimes we
don’t get defense, but we stress it.
“We have a peaceful operation and talk to our players
about the dos and don’ts of drugs.”
Michael Wolf, director of communications and Fey’s coach
for the summer, invited Bruin fans to come see new faces Fey, Burns
and Hollins.
“Evan Burns is as complete a high school player you can
find at 6-foot-8, and they’re all really unselfish players
that will work very well with an experienced team,” Wolf
said.
Admission to the Say No Classic is free. Teams play two times
per weekend, Friday through Sunday.