If you saw it in the latest practice thread, then you’ll already know that Justyn Martin was among the quarterbacks in a scout team jersey Sunday.

starts on Saturday. Can't wait to see Carson Steele and whoever starts at QB. Can't wait to see the 2023 version of defense with Lynn at the helm

A look across the conference here:

UCLA announced Thursday it is giving away two free tickets to both the Sept. 2 opener against Coastal Carolina and the Sept. 16 home game against North Carolina Central to anyone who donates at least $10 to:

The Salvation Army Hawaiian and Pacific Islands Division, American Red Cross in support of Hawaii wildfires relief, Hawaii Community Foundation’s Maui Strong Fund or Chef Hui.

Links to those organizations can be found in its official release here:

Since USC’s games in Greece are airing on NBA TV, I asked someone I know who did the call remotely for those games.

The plan is to possibly do the same for UCLA’s international trip. So it could be available to watch, most likely on NBA TV and/or the NBA app.

Still not entirely sure of the exact schedule/times at this point.

Less than an hour until practice begins. No Chip today, he will speak before tomorrow’s session.

the conference $72M more to their media contract. Sounds like a good thing.

We’ll be let in a little after 10 a.m.

UCLA’s handful of highlights also are embedded:

Final week of camp starts this morning. Chip speaks at 9:30 a.m.

Point guard Dylan Andrews has gone from freshman sponge to a crash course in a new leadership role entering Year 2:

It looks like there will be a series of episodes UCLA will put out with clips from fall camp practices.

In the first 10-minute episode, it covers days 1-5 (including the one off day and not including the two most recent practices) and it also features an interview with team dietician Ross Shumay along with testimonials from Dante Moore, Kyle Ford, Devin Kirkwood and Ale Kaho about the nutritional program.

Episode 1:

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Here are Mick Cronin’s comments from UCLA’s release:

"For us, we're just playing these games like a practice. We're trying to play everybody, and we even had three point guards on the floor at times. We had four guards out there a lot. Three of our guys who'll be with us this season aren't playing for us yet, and we even had a couple guys out there cramping up. So right now, we are trying to get better and take advantage of practicing against another team.

“I know that people think that these are games and that they matter, but they don't. For me, it's a glorified scrimmage, and we came over here to get three of them and get that experience of playing against somebody other than us in practice. That's a key. That way, you have to think and make adjustments."

On Devin Williams:

"It's going to be fun. We have a lot of talent. We are young. But I look forward to having everyone together. But right now, because we don't, it's great to have a guy like Devin Williams a lot of playing time. I was really happy with Devin, and I thought that he played really well."

On Lazar Stefanovic:

“Yeah, you can see how important Lazar Stefanovic is for us. He had 13 rebounds. He has such high efficiency and finished the game with 10 deflections. He never gets tired. That's why coaches love experience."

On Sebastian Mack:

“He got a couple of teeth knocked out at practice the day before we left. He accidentally lost a couple teeth there, they were rolling around on the floor. He ran into the wrong elbow. Tonight, I thought that he played really well. He's going to be a scorer for us. And we had recruited him because we thought he was an aggressive kid who could score the ball. We need that on this team. We lost almost all of our scoring, from last season. But he's not quite 100 percent, I mean if you teeth knocked out a couple of days ago, you might be a bit gun shy. He's got a couple temporaries in there and a mouthpiece, but he's got a lot to learn. He is super quick and he can score."

Hard to predict how we will perform in Spain without our bigs — Bona, Mara and Buyuktuncel — but anxious to find out.
Some things I hope to learn:
How effective will Andrews run the point.
How much will he be pushed by Vide who is taller and reportedly a better scorer.
Where will our outside shooting come from besides Stefanovic.
How good is Sebastian Mack?
Can Devin Williams be effective in the post?
Hope I can find a streaming service.
First game is tomorrow.

As UCLA plays its first of three games in Spain in a couple of hours, a look at the Utah transfer that head coach Mick Cronin called “a godsend.”

To avoid being potentially stuck at UCLA or driving through any crazy wind from the storm on my drive back home, I’m going to do things remotely.

UCLA wasn’t even sure as of today if they would make players available afterward for tomorrow’s practice if the rain and wind are rough.

If they do, I’ll grab them from the UCLA Athletics YouTube account and share them.

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This morning, three-star 2024 QB Trever Jackson of Winter Garden (Fla.) West Orange was extended a scholarship offer from UCLA.

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What if...there will be an expansion to Stanford, Cal, Oregon State and Washington State. Here's my wishlist:

San Diego State
Hawaii
Fresno State
Gonzaga
SMU
TCU

What schools would you add??

Things get started at roughly 10 a.m.

Chip Kelly will speak at 9:30 a.m. before practice gets underway.

Also, today marks my return back to doing double duty HS freelance coverage for the South Bay and Long Beach areas. I should still be able to get things up like usual, but if things do look a bit slower on my end then that’s why.

Mick Cronin will speak at 9:30 a.m. followed by select players and a viewing period for roughly the first 20 minutes of practice.

Reminder: Most of my attention today will be here, but I will be heading over at the end of football practice to get those player interviews.

We will be talking to cornerbacks John Humphrey and Devin Kirkwood around a little past noon

Very interesting story about how the collapse happened. Very sad, they had an opportunity to stay together but it all fell apart like a cheap suit.