Culver City Observer -

In recent months it was proper to wonder if Ben Howland would continue to be the UCLA basketball coach.

Howland had guided three Bruin teams into the Final Four, but what had he done lately? UCLA hadn’t even qualified for the NCAA Tournament two of the last three years.

Howland had to survive a meeting with Athletic Director Dan Guerrero before an announcement was made that he would return.

I now have a pretty good idea of what took place in that meeting. Howland assured Guerrero that help was on the way. He was in good shape with several highly-regarded high school stars who were being pursued by major powers such as Kentucky, Duke and Ohio State but liked Westwood.

Now Howland has delivered.

When 6-foot-9, 260-pound center Tony Parker from Georgia revealed Monday that he would be coming to UCLA, Howland’s recruiting class of four elite players was complete.

Next season UCLA will have Parker, Shabazz Muhammad from Las Vegas, Kyle Anderson from New Jersey and Jordan Adams, another Georgia star.

They all might be starters, but Howland also has serviceable returnees David and Travis Wear, Josh Smith, Tyler Lamb and Norman Powell In addition, Larry Drew Jr. becomes eligible after transferring from North Carolina..

That’s the positive news.

Now, the negatives.

Howland must overcome his reputation of being so focused on defense that his offense suffers. He must erase the ugliness of the past season that led to a national magazine story saying he had lost control of his players.

And he must deal with the reality that several of the newcomers, most likely Muhammad, will play for UCLA only one year before entering the NBA draft.

There’s a trend in college basketball that bothers a lot of people, including me. Elite players stay only one year before going into the NBA. Currently, all five starters from Kentucky’s national championship team have said they are leaving.

There’s another disturbing trend in college basketball. Coaches who run summer programs and become close to star players are being hired as college assistants with the understanding they’ll influence kids in a certain direction.

Howland doesn’t dispute the fact that Korey McCray, an assistant he hired from Georgia two years ago, has been important in Bruin recruiting.

“Were he not on staff we wouldn’t have gotten Parker or Adams,” Howland said.

Muhammad is the highest rated of the new Bruins, but I’m also intrigued by Anderson, who led his New Jersey team to a 65-0 record in his last two seasons.

As for Parker, Howland says:

“He has an unbelievable work ethic.”

It sounds like UCLA might run away with the Pac-12 championship, but keep in mind Arizona has assembled a highly-regarded recruiting class too.

First we’ll have football season when UCLA must continue to chase USC and others. But Bruin fans can be expected to flock to the remodeled Pauley Pavilion when basketball season arrives.