ucla walkons

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SoCalHoops Recruiting News

UCLA Rumored To Be
Getting Several Walk-Ons--(Apr. 23, 2001)

The UCLA message boards (Bruin Report Online and Bruinzone) have been buzzing the past two days with news of several possible walk-on roster additions, specifically at least one "confirmed" walk on and several other possible non-scholarship players coming to Westwood. The "confirmed" walk on is Gene Barnes, who attended Division V Branson from NorCal. Yesterday's Marin Independent Journal carried the following story, about which we'll have a few things to say below:

Barnes invited to walk-on at UCLA

By Andy Ward

Gene Barnes III stands on the brink of fulfilling his hoops fantasy.

Barnes, the Branson School's lightning-quick senior point guard, decided recently to attend UCLA and play basketball for the Bruins as a recruited walk-on.

"I've wanted to play at UCLA since I was in the third grade because I always looked up to their program and it's tradition," Barnes, 18, said. "I've always gone to the Lavin basketball camps and I know Coach (Steve) Lavin will give me a fair shot."

The 5-foot-10, 170-pound Barnes is quite familiar with Lavin, a Drake High graduate. Barnes has attended the summer basketball camps run by Steve, and his father Cap, since grade school.

Barnes' hard work really paid off this season. He averaged 16.5 points per Marin County Athletic League game and his three-point accuracy and stutter-step drives drove Branson to a 29-5 record, the MCAL playoff pennant and a North Coast Section Division V title.

This four-year Bulls star knows that his prolific prep resume carries little weight at a storied program like UCLA, which finished 23-9 in 2000-2001 and reached the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament. UCLA has advanced to the Sweet 16 in four of Lavin's five years as the head Bruin.

"I know making this team will be a challenge because UCLA only brings in blue-chip athletes - it's hard for me to grasp the concept that I might get called a scrub," Barnes said. "I'm willing to play great defense, be all over the floor, and do all the grunt work because I don't want to be on the bench my whole career."

Barnes' Bruin days will officially tip off when he mails in his letter of intent papers by May 1. UCLA will fly Barnes and his father, Gene Barnes II, to the Westwood campus the second weekend in May to help him line up classes and potential financial support.

Joining Barnes in UCLA's incoming freshman class are highly-touted guards Cedric Bozeman (6-7) and 6-6 Dijon Thompson. Barnes, who played with Thompson on a traveling Nike team, will enter the summer as the lone Bruin under 6-feet.

"Gene penetrates very well, but now he will have to penetrate and dish off to the big guys or kick it out to open shooters at UCLA," Branson coach Jerry Piro said. "He's the right guy for the challenge ahead of him because he will stay in the gym until midnight if you ask."

The head Bruin shares Piro's sentiments.

"We obviously want Gene in the program," Lavin said in a message left on Gene Barnes II's cell phone.

The younger Barnes, who also considered attending Cal, Pepperdine and Vasser College - a Division III school in New York - is seriously considering redshirting this coming season.

"Tyus Edney gives me hope that you can make it at UCLA being a little guy," Barnes said about the 5-10 point guard on UCLA's 1995 national champions. "I'm excited about proving to myself and everyone that I am able to play at UCLA's level."

First, while it may very well be true that Barnes has been given a "guaranteed" walk-on spot, we doubt the suggestion that he will "mail in his letter of intent papers" is accurate. Simply stated, walk-ons do not sign NLI's. Indeed, there is no need nor reason for a walk-on player to sign an NLI, because by definition, they are not going to receive an athletic grant-in-aid, but instead will be non-scholarship players. A National Letter of Intent obligates the player signing to attend the institution designated in the NLI. Basically, the document is a contract which specifies that if the student enrolls at the institution, the school is then contractually obligated to furnish a scholarship for the year. Hence, we doubt that the reporter got this part of the story correct.

Second, the article notes that "UCLA will fly Barnes and his father, Gene Barnes II, to the Westwood campus the second weekend in May to help him line up classes and potential financial support." This is certainly not something that any D-I school would do. While a school can provide an official visit to an athlete, it cannot pay for air travel for his or her parents. Remember the flak that occurred at Missouri last year over this same issue? Frankly, the reporter just got this one wrong, or if Barnes' father led the reporter to believe that UCLA would fly him and his son to the campus, that's just something not permitted.

Finally, we've also heard speculation that it might be considered a recruiting violation for coach Lavin to have made any public statement concerning Barnes' walking on, but we believe that's a bit of an overstatement. In fact, what the article states is that Lavin left a telephone message on Barnes' cell phone, and there's absolutely no prohibition nor restriction which precludes a coach from leaving a voice-mail message. And the fact that the recipient of the message chooses to play it for a reporter does not turn the statement into a public comment by the coach.

We've never seen Barnes play, and thus can't comment on his ability. But we do know another player who is rumored to be considering walking on at UCLA, and it's more than rumor. We spoke tonight with Quinn Hawking (6'-4" Sr. SG) from Anaheim HS, and he confirmed that he's considering walking onto the Bruin squad next year. "I'll be speaking with the coaches this week, and it's definitely something that I'm interested in doing," said Hawking, a 4.0 student who has been largely under-recruited during his senior year. He's a very good shooter, one of the CIF Southern Section's best in any division, and he'd be a nice addition to the Bruin squad.