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Recruiting update: 3-star WR with UCLA offer

Tracy McDannald
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Tonight I was out in Gardena on assignment for the Daily Breeze to cover Serra and Oaks Christian.

Three-star 2024 WR Zacharyus Williams did not play as he was held out for precaution reasons with soreness, but I did catch up with him and Serra head coach Scott Altenberg (a UCLA alum).

Altenberg told me he contacted Chip Kelly and let him know Williams was someone worth keeping an eye on. After attending an on-campus camp, Williams received the offer from UCLA WRs coach Jerry Neuheisel in mid-June.

He has plans to take an official to Westwood but has not locked in a date yet.

“I have a really good relationship with coach Neuheisel,” Williams said. “It was a long process, but as soon as I got down there for camp they pulled the trigger.

“Chip Kelly just really wanted to come out and see me (at the camp). I just showed up and performed and I got the offer.”

UCLA’s move to the Big Ten next season “is a big factor,” he said.

Along with UCLA, Williams is hearing from Georgia, Notre Dame, Utah, Washington State, Colorado State and San Diego State. He already has official visits lined up for Utah (Sept. 23) and Washington State (Nov. 17).

He has hopes of making a decision before the December signing period.

I’ll have more in a formal story by Sunday.
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Maui Invitational to be played on island of Oahu

Tracy McDannald
The full release:

MAUI, Hawai‘i (Sept. 15, 2023) – This year’s Maui Invitational will shift to the island of Oʻahu while its traditional home court – the Lahaina Civic Center – continues to serve as a critical hub for Maui wildfire recovery efforts. The 2023 Tournament will take place at the Stan Sheriff Center on the campus of the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa from Nov. 20 to 22.
All eight teams from the original field are participating, including five that are in the top 10 of ESPN’s early preseason poll: Kansas (#1), Purdue (#3), Gonzaga (#7), Tennessee (#8) and Marquette (#10).

“While we have to move this year’s Tournament off of Maui, we are determined to celebrate and honor the culture and traditions that make this event so special,” says Tom Valdiserri, executive vice president of KemperSports LIVE, the operator of the Maui Invitational. “Throughout this process, we’ve seen the spirit of ‘ohana in action. Thank you to Governor Josh Green, Hawai‘i Tourism Authority, and Mayor Richard Bissen as well as the staff at Chaminade University of Honolulu and University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa for working tirelessly with us to keep this year’s Tournament in Hawai‘i.”
All previously purchased tickets will be honored and located in similar seats in the Stan Sheriff Center.

Additional tickets will go on sale in early October atmauiinvitational.com. Fans who have previously purchased Tournament travel packages will be offered comparable travel packages with beach hotels in Honolulu. More details about the on-site experience, including event parking, will be provided in the coming weeks.

“We are disappointed that we could not make the Lahaina Civic Center available for the Maui Invitational this year, but we are thankful the Tournament is staying in Hawai‘i,” says Richard Bissen, Mayor of Maui. “We appreciate everything the Maui Invitational is doing to help Maui and its residents.”

The Tournament returns to the city where it all began. In 1982, Chaminade, then an NAIA school, beat No. 1 Virginia in Honolulu – a game that remains arguably the biggest upset in college basketball history.

“The Maui Invitational is a great event that celebrates all of Hawai‘i,” says Josh Green, Governor of Hawai‘i. “We look forward to welcoming players, staff and fans to Oʻahu and using the Tournament and its international TV audience as a way to bring attention to and raise funds for Maui recovery efforts.”
The Maui Invitational has long been considered the preeminent early season college basketball tournament. Combined, the eight teams in this year’s field – Tennessee, Syracuse, Purdue, Gonzaga, Kansas, Chaminade, UCLA and Marquette – boast 263 NCAA Tournament appearances; 17 NCAA Tournament Championship Titles; and three AP Coach of the Year award winners – Mark Few (2017); Bill Self (2009, 2016); and Shaka Smart (2023).
The Maui Invitational launched the Hoops for ‘Ohana online auction last week in partnership with Hawai‘i Community Foundation’s Maui Strong Fund. All the proceeds will go directly to wildfire relief and recovery efforts. Fans can bid on unique items donated by past Maui Invitational basketball programs and Tournament partners. To learn more, visit mauiinvitational.com/hoopsforohana.

For more information on this year’s Tournament, visitmauiinvitational.com.
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Men’s basketball Pac-12 schedule released

Tracy McDannald
UCLA will open its 11-week men’s basketball Pac-12 schedule on the road against Oregon and Oregon State, per release of the Pac-12’s weekly match-ups.

Correction: Specific dates have not been set, just the weeks the games will be played.

The full release:

ucla.in

Pac-12 Announces Weekly Men's Basketball Matchups - UCLA

Bruins to open Pac-12 play on the road during the final full week of December.
ucla.in ucla.in
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Former longtime UCLA broadcaster Chris Roberts passed away

Tracy McDannald
The full release from UCLA:

LOS ANGELES – Former longtime UCLA broadcaster Chris Roberts passed away peacefully in his Glendora home on the morning of May 12, 2023. Roberts, who was 74 years old, died from complications of Parkinson’s disease.

Roberts served as UCLA’s football and men’s basketball play-by-play broadcaster for 23 seasons, starting in the fall of 1992 through the spring of 2015. He broadcast more NCAA Division I games on Los Angeles radio from 1982 through 2015 than anybody else. With his final season with the Bruins in 2014-15, Roberts equaled Fred Hessler’s mark for the longest tenured play-by-play broadcaster in UCLA history.

A native of the San Gabriel Valley in Southern California, Roberts first signed on for the Bruins in the fall of 1992. He served as the voice of UCLA football for 23 seasons and called 16 bowl games, including the Bruins’ Rose Bowl appearances on January 1, 1994 and January 1, 1999.

Roberts also broadcast the men’s basketball team through 19 trips to the NCAA Tournament during his tenure. Most notably, he called the Bruins’ memorable run to the 1995 NCAA Tournament Championship that culminated in an 89-78 title-game victory over Arkansas at the Kingdome in Seattle.

The author of two books, Stadium Stories: UCLA Bruins and UCLA Football Vault, which he co-wrote with Bill Bennett, Roberts was an eight-time nominee for the SCSBA's Play-by-Play Broadcaster of the Year Award and a voter for both the Heisman Trophy and the John R. Wooden Award. He was a four-time Golden Mike Award winner and a Hall of Fame member in the Southern California Sports Broadcasters Association (SCSBA).

Prior to his retirement as a broadcaster in 2015, Roberts had been honored by the SCSBA in 2013 with the Chick Hearn Award for best play-by-play. During his final season in 2014-15, Roberts had the opportunity to call UCLA’s football team in the Alamo Bowl (as the Bruins defeated Kansas State, 40-35) before the men’s basketball team advanced to the NCAA Tournament’s Sweet 16 in Houston.

Born as Bob LaPeer in Alhambra, Calif., Roberts grew up in Baldwin Park, Calif., and was a three-sport athlete at Baldwin Park High School (football, basketball and baseball). He played baseball at Cal Poly Pomona and began his career in broadcasting at KCIN in Victorville. He spent time on the air at KREO in Indio and KWOW in Pomona, where he announced high school and junior college sports.

Roberts was working at KFXM in San Bernardino in 1970 when the program director at the station asked him to change his name, seeing as another individual named Bob worked at KXFM. He later moved to Los Angeles and worked at KUTE-FM, KFI and sister station KOST, and later at KMPC. He served as the play-by-play voice at Long Beach State for 10 years before securing his longtime role as UCLA’s play-by-play broadcaster.

During his 23-year tenure as UCLA’s play-by-play broadcaster, Roberts was joined in the broadcast booth or along the scorer’s table by several former UCLA athletes who served as radio analysts. Calling UCLA’s football games, Roberts worked alongside former quarterbacks David Norrie, Matt Stevens and Wayne Cook. With the men’s basketball team, Roberts’ radio analysts over the years had included Marques Johnson, Mike Warren, Bob Myers, Don MacLean and Tracy Murray.

In addition to his broadcasting career at UCLA, Roberts also worked in real estate and enjoyed coaching baseball as the junior varsity coach at Glendora High School. He coached Glendora’s JV squad to a significant string of Baseline League titles as the head coach.

Roberts is survived by his wife Ann LaPeer, son David LaPeer and daughter-in-law Yvette LaPeer, daughter Nichole Hijon-LaPeer, son-in-law Octavio Hijon and grandchildren Andrés, Santiago and Carmen.

Roberts’ family requests that in lieu of flowers, in Chris’ memory, to please remember to provide love, guidance, and mentorship to those around you and in need. He was always proud and fond of the young broadcasters that he had the privilege to coach and mentor.
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Pac 12 Great 8, who will falter?

J
With so many teams ranked there will be at least 2 to 3 that will get knocked down once conference play begins. Even if every one of the 8 teams beats every one of the bottom 4 teams somebody is going to have to fall down.

Here are my picks:
Utah - I know this is a surprise but they have not been great so far. Florida and Baylor look like good wins on paper but both those teams are down. Florida may struggle to make a bowl game and Baylor lost to Texas State by 11 in the season opener. Utah was lucky to win the Baylor game. Cam Rising has been out and should return for league play but I think it will be hard for him to be fully recovered until later in the year and a knee injury is going hurt his running ability. They also have to play 6 of the other 7 ranked teams.

Colorado - The most interesting story in college football this year. Coach Sanders has backed up the talk and it has been fun to watch. But with 5 Pac 12 road games and a schedule that includes 6 of the other 7 ranked teams, it is going to be tough to keep the high level of emotion going for an entire season. At some point, there could be a let down. Regardless, if they finish 7-5 with a bowl game, it will be a job well done considering how bad Colorado was just one season ago.

OSU - They are only on this list due to schedule. They play 5 Pac 12 road games, 6 of the other 7 ranked teams, have had a very soft schedule so far, and they do not have the depth of some of the other teams in the conference so any level of injury will significantly hamper their ability to win games.

Of course I would love to see SC fall but the league schedule is favorable with 5 home games and they only have to play 5 of the other 8 ranked teams. If it does happen then it could occur at the end of the year when they play UW, OU, and UCLA three straight weeks.
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