SoCalHoops Recruiting News

And Then There Was One. . .
Dijon Thompson Commits To UCLA--(Oct. 10, 2000)

One more scholarship that is. . . .

Just last night we reported on the commitment of Andre Patterson to the Bruins, who along with Cedric Bozeman and Michael Fey, made up three-fifths of the available scholarships which UCLA intends to offer to recruits from the class of 2001.  We speculated that several others were being seriously considered by the Bruins (and vice versa) among them Dijon Thompson (6'-7" Sr. G/F) from Redondo Union.

Well, less than 24 hours later,  we received a call from Redondo Union Coach Jim Nielsen at 4:26 p.m.,  and Coach Nielsen informed us that at approximately 4:00 p.m. PDT,  Dijon had reached a final decision, and had   decided to make it "official" (at least as "official" as verbals can be) by announcing his commitment to the UCLA Bruins. In reaching the decision, Dijon decided to turn down an offer from Arizona.

Coach Nielsen gave us the following quote from Dijon concerning his commitment:

"It was the hardest decision I've ever made.   Coach Olson and the Arizona staff were super, and I felt honored to be recruited by both schools. I feel very excited to have an opportunity to stay close to home and to play for the "Blue & Gold" of UCLA.     I am grateful to my family and support group for all their help in reaching this decision. "

We want to congratulate Dijon on his decision, and he, along with the rest of the Bruin 2001 recruits are now well on their way to being considered one of the top rated recruiting classes this year, which should also go a long way toward placating the Lavin-bashers, particularly those who claimed that UCLA couldn't recruit well in it's own backyard.  This commitment truly is a huge one for the Bruins, and with Bozeman and Dijon either on the wings or in the backcourt (and really both of them are players who really defy "positioning" since either can also play the point, shoot the ball, or play out on the wing, driving, dishing, or simply going to the rack),   Fey at the post, and Andre Patterson playing either the 3 or 4 spots, this will just about be a complete team with the addition of either another big (either a true center or a power forward) and/or a point.   In short, it looks like UCLA's last scholarship spot will go to either someone like a Jamal Sampson, Isaiah Fox, David Harrison, or to a pure point guard like Aaron Miles is the primary target right now.   We remain convinced that Josh Childress is a longshot with this mix, but then you just never know. . . at least until you know, that is. 

 
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