Thursday, June 11, 1998
May Gad(zuric) save the Bruin team
BASKETBALL Sensational Dutch center chooses UCLA over NBA
riches
By Tim Yun
Daily Bruin Contributor
When the Bruins sought to fill the void in the middle of the
paint left by the sudden departure of star center Jelani McCoy,
little did they know that help would come from halfway around the
world.
On May 5, prep-star Dan Gadzuric decided to forgo the potential
riches of the NBA and officially signed his letter of intent to
attend UCLA, where he hopes to make an immediate impact on an
undersized Bruin squad.
"It was a very hard decision," Gadzuric said at the news
conference. "I had to decide which was the best situation for
me.
"UCLA reminded me of home."
"He was a tremendous recruit," Bob Gibbons of All Star Sports
Publications said. "He is the best pure center that UCLA has seen
for a long while."
The 6-foot-11-inch, 20-year-old center comes to the Bruin family
from Den Haag, Holland (where his parents still reside), via
Governor Dummer Academy in Byfield, Massachusetts.
Originally recruited by George Washington University (which
aided in the transfer process from Holland to Dummer), Gadzuric has
been playing the pivot at Dummer Academy for the past three years.
His finest season came in his senior campaign, in which he led
Dummer Academy to the State Class C Championship while averaging 21
points, 17 rebounds, five assists, and seven blocked shots per
game. He also showed tremendous accuracy from the field, shooting
54 percent from the floor and 60.0 percent from the free throw
line.
His stellar play during the past season earned him countless
national awards and honors. Among the more notable recognitions
came from Parade and Slam magazines, which named him to their
respective First-Team All-American Teams, and from Basketball
Weekly magazine, which placed him on its third-team
All-America.
He was also invited to play in the prestigious McDonald’s
All-America High School game where he scored 15 points in 20
minutes while leading the Eastern squad to a 128-112 victory over
the West He was also invited to participate in the exclusive Nike
Hoop Summit game held in San Antonio, and was a member of the
medal-winning International Junior team.
Not only did his play impress a plethora of college recruiters,
but his superior skill and size attracted quite a few NBA
scouts.
"I think that I would be picked somewhere between 10 and 15
(referring to the NBA draft)," Gadzuric said.
"He is being modest," Dummer Academy Coach Steve Mets said. "He
could probably be a lottery pick. He has that kind of skill."
Although there is a tremendous amount of pressure on Gadzuric to
fill the vacancy left by McCoy, he will have a tremendous
supporting cast to help him.
"I met the players there and they were very kind," Gadzuric said
at his press conference. "They have a young coaching staff and they
were all very kind to me."
Gadzuric is the third McDonald’s All-American to sign on with
the 1998-99 UCLA Bruins. Joining him in Bruin Gold and Blue will be
McDonald’s all-star game teammates 6′ 7" Jaron Rush from Kansas
City, Mo. and 6′ 5" guard Ray Young from Alameda, Calif. Rounding
out what has been called the No. 1 recruiting class in the nation
will be the highly touted 6′ 11" Jerome Moiso from Milford, Conn.,
and the 6′ 7" dual-sport star Matt Barnes from Fair Oaks,
Calif.