UCLA Sports Information Jason Kapono
By AJ Cadman
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
Having already taken a short dip in the NBA draft pool last
year, sophomore Jason Kapono decided the waters of professional
basketball are not the right temperature yet.
Kapono, UCLA’s leading scorer for the past two seasons,
announced at a press conference Tuesday outside the Morgan Center
that he will return to Westwood for his junior campaign, answering
the last Bruin question mark for next year.
“I always had a feeling that I was going to come
back,” Kapono said. “I want to go out winning a Pac-10
championship and get to the Final Four.”
Citing the urge to guide the Bruins deeper into the postseason,
Kapono follows junior center Dan Gadzuric in remaining with the
blue and gold for another season, spurning an opportunity to play
next year in the NBA.
“It was just that feeling after the Sweet Sixteen, knowing
that for two years we’ve reached the Sweet Sixteen but we
haven’t gotten past that point,” Kapono said.
“That just makes me want to come back and prove
something.”
Kapono added that being a four-year player at UCLA is a good
possibility, but he will re-evaluate his draft status at the end of
the 2001-02 season.
The Lakewood, Calif. native’s announcement allows the
Bruins to boast a possible four returning starters to next
year’s lineup, including Gadzuric, junior forward Matt Barnes
and junior guard Billy Knight.
“I’m really excited about (Kapono) coming
back,” Knight said. “We’ve been working out
together as a team for a while during the spring. He’s our
top scorer and that would be a lot to lose.”
UCLA will have only one entry in this year’s amateur draft
““ graduating senior Earl Watson, who will take his
credentials and iron will to the NBA. With a glaring vacancy at
point guard, nationally acclaimed recruit Cedric Bozeman of Mater
Dei High School in Santa Ana is likely to assume Watson’s
spot and continue running the 1-4 offense.
“One of the reasons I wanted to come back was to step in
and be a leader now that Earl is gone,” Kapono said.
“We’re going to miss him, and he’ll be tough to
replace.”
Kapono averaged 17.2 points and 5.7 rebounds per contest en
route to All-Pac-10 First Team and honorable mention AP
All-American accolades last season. In 2000, Kapono shared the
Pac-10 Conference Freshman of the Year award with Stanford guard
Casey Jacobsen and earned sole possession of CBS Sportsline’s
National Freshman of the Year award.
“I’ve always believed that Jason was going to stay
in school and return for his junior season,” said UCLA Head
Coach Steve Lavin in a statement. “By choosing to stay in
school, clearly Jason and Dan have made their UCLA academic and
athletic experience a priority in their lives.”
With Kapono staying put, UCLA features a deep and experienced
squad for next year’s team, which will attempt to add to
UCLA’s NCAA-record 11 national championship banners in Pauley
Pavilion.
“We should have a strong team next season,” Kapono
said. “There’s no reason why we should not be ranked in
the top five all year.”