UCLA's Love and Collison reportedly going pro

[bullets13]

UCLA lost in the Final Four and now it looks like they'll lose two players who got them there.

The Los Angeles Times reported on Tuesday that Kevin Love and Darren Collison have both decided to make themselves available for June's NBA draft. Citing sources close to the players, the newspaper said that Love and Collison told coach Ben Howland of their decisions in separate meetings.

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The newspaper reported that the two will hire agents, making them ineligible to return to the Bruins next season.

But Love's mother told The (Portland) Oregonian that Love has yet to make that decision. She told the newspaper that her son planned to travel home to Lake Oswego, Ore. on Wednesday to spend time with his family and discuss his options.

"The report is wrong because he hasn't made his decision yet," Karen Love said, according to The Oregonian. "He's coming home this week, and we'll sit down and talk about it as a family, just like we've said all along. Honestly, that's the truth."

Collison also denied the report through a UCLA spokesman, saying he hadn't yet talked with his parents about his future plans.

Howland has a news conference scheduled for Wednesday.

In his freshman season at UCLA, Love led the team in scoring at 17.5 points per game and rebounds at 10.6. The 6-foot-10, 271-pound Love was a first-team All-American, the Pac-10 player of the year and the outstanding player of the Anaheim regional.

Love, who has been projected to be drafted in the middle of the first round, was upset by the report, his mother told The Oregonian.

"Kevin called me in a panic [Tuesday] saying, 'Mom I have not made a decision yet and I'm coming home to do that,'" Karen Love said, according to the report. "He was really upset that someone had said he declared."

The 6-foot, 160-pound Collison scored 14.5 points and added 3.8 assists per game in his junior season.

Collison struggled in the 78-63 loss to Memphis on Saturday, scoring two points, adding four assists but committing five turnovers.

A Western Conference team official told the Times, however: "I thought he was a mid-first round pick [before Memphis]. I think he still is. That's what his talent says to me."

The Bruins will also likely lose sophomore guard Russell Westbrook to the draft, the Times reported. He led the Bruins in assists at 4.3 and added 12.7 points per game.

The deadline for underclassmen to declare for the draft is April 27.

[bullets13]

These two aren't stupid for going pro, but it amazes me the amount of kids out there who leave after their freshman or sophomore year that have absolutely no shot at getting drafted. 

[Guest DickVitale]

Two words......MISS----STAKE!...They should BOTH stay in Westwood for at least another year....Love will be a BUST, especially if he comes out now, and Collison just is not ready for the league.

[Mr. Buddy Garrity]

who didnt see this coming

[AJ25]

can you blame them?

[bullets13]

Two words......MISS----STAKE!...They should BOTH stay in Westwood for at least another year....Love will be a BUST, especially if he comes out now, and Collison just is not ready for the league.

A bust?  I doubt it.  Now, I don't see him coming into the league and averaging 20/10 or anything, but he'll find a spot on a team and be a decent contributor.  As for Collison, i have a feeling you're probably right.