Anze Kopitar, widely considered the greatest player in Kings franchise history and poised to become the team’s all-time leading scorer, announced Thursday he will retire at the end of the 2025-26 season.
Entering his 20th season with the Kings and the final year of his contract, the decision was somewhat expected from the 38-year-old team captain. He told KCAL News last month he was thinking about retirement and that it could be his last NHL season.
Kings general manager Ken Holland told NHL Network Radio in July that Kopitar indicated he wasn’t seeking a contract extension this summer and was intending to take things a “year at a time.”
Kopitar is second all-time in franchise scoring, with 1,278 points in a franchise-leading 1,454 games played. He is 30 points away from breaking Marcel Dionne’s team record for most points (1,307). He ranks third all-time in franchise goals (440) behind Luc Robitaille (557) and Dionne (550) and leads in assists (838). He is a two-time Selke trophy winner (best defensive forward) and three-time Lady Byng trophy winner (gentlemanly play).
Drafted 11th overall by the Kings in 2005, Kopitar made an immediate impact during his 2006-07 rookie season, finishing with 20 goals and 61 points for a downtrodden team that was in the middle of a six-year playoff drought.
Kings center Anze Kopitar celebrates with the Stanley Cup after the Kings defeated the New Jersey Devils to win the franchise’s first title in 2012.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
Eventually, with Doughty joining the team in 2008 coupled with steady growth from Brown, Quick and Kopitar, the Kings returned to the playoffs in 2010 before capturing the franchise’s first Stanley Cup in 2012.
Kopitar has stood out on a team that has had many greats, including NHL all-time leading scorer Wayne Gretzky.
“It’s really hard for me to sit here and say I’m the greatest King. That’s just not my personality. Far from it,” Kopitar told The Times’ Helene Elliott in 2023. “There’s been great Kings in this organization, with Marcel, Luc, Dave [Taylor], Wayne, Blakey [Rob Blake]. The list can go on for a little bit. Brownie. Individually, yes, but it’s about collective wins.”
With Kopitar’s decision, the biggest roster question facing the Kings remains whether they can re-sign Adrian Kempe to a long-term deal. Kempe, who has led the team in points the last two seasons, is in the final year of his contract.
The Kings open the preseason Sunday against the Ducks in the Empire Classic at Toyota Arena in Ontario. They begin the regular season against the Colorado Avalanche at Crypto.com Arena on Oct. 7.
This is a developing story. The Times will have more on Kopitar’s decision to retire at the end of the season soon.
From Ben Bolch: The DeShaun Foster era is over after 15 games and just five victories, the former UCLA star running back’s storybook rise to head coach at his alma mater coming to an abrupt, deflating end.
After an 0-3 start that included back-to-back losses to Mountain West Conference teams, Foster was dismissed on Sunday in a move that showed the Bruins will no longer accept their status as the laughingstock of the college football world.
Tim Skipper, the former Fresno State interim coach who was brought in as a special assistant to Foster before this season, will serve as the interim coach for the rest of the season as the school commences a search for a permanent replacement.
UCLA was outscored by a 108-43 margin in its first three losses, leading to trolling tweets from the Big Sky and Pac-12 conferences in addition to widespread ridicule from national media figures who noted that the Bruins had clinched last place in the Mountain West and were the only remaining winless team in the Big Ten.
Athletic director Martin Jarmond said he made the decision to remove Foster after consultation with UCLA chancellor Julio Frenk, acting swiftly because there was no clear path to success in the Big Ten even with an extra week to prepare for the conference opener against Northwestern on Sept. 26.
“I felt with the timing, the bye week,” Jarmond said, “it gave our young men the opportunity to just take a breath, recalibrate and change some things that give them the best chance to finish out the season strong and also as a signal to our fans that this is not what Bruin football is going to be.”
The Dodgers’ Mookie Betts, center, celebrates with Kiké Hernández after scoring on Miguel Rojas’ single during the sixth inning Sunday against the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park.
(Godofredo A. Vásquez / Associated Press)
From Bill Shaikin: This is the time to bring on the rivals. The Dodgers are used to taking on challengers down the pennant stretch: the San Francisco Giants and San Diego Padres — and, in a previous version of the National League West, the Atlanta Braves and Cincinnati Reds.
The final two weeks of the regular season are upon us. The Dodgers have one remaining head-to-head matchup that really matters — and that series starts Monday at Dodger Stadium, against the Philadelphia Phillies.
The Phillies?
The Phillies have not been realigned into the NL West. However, although the three division champions automatically qualify for the playoffs, the two with the best records earn a bye into the division series. The division champion with the third-best record — right now, that would be the Dodgers — must play in the first round.
The Milwaukee Brewers, the presumed champions of the NL Central, boast the best record in baseball. The Phillies, the presumed champions of the NL East, lead the Dodgers by 4 ½ games. The Dodgers have 13 games to play.
Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford speaks during a news conference after a 33-19 win over the Tennessee Titans on Sunday.
(John Amis / Associated Press)
From Gary Klein:Sean McVay did not plan to wait long to begin dissecting the Rams next opponent: the defending Super Bowl-champion Philadelphia Eagles.
After his team stayed unbeaten on Sunday with a 33-19 victory over the Tennessee Titans at Nissan Stadium, McVay aimed to take in the Eagles’ game against the Kansas City Chiefs during the plane ride back to Los Angeles.
“It will be fun to watch it,” said McVay, whose team plays the Eagles next Sunday, “as long as the damn WiFi on the plane works.”
Technical difficulties or otherwise, McVay and the Rams are feeling pretty good about themselves.
And rightfully, but perhaps cautiously, so.
Victories over the Houston Texans and the Titans were nice tune-ups that showed the Rams can indeed be Super Bowl contenders.
Now the real season — and test — begins.
The Eagles are the real measuring stick for the Rams, who are seeking their third Super Bowl appearance in eight years.
Chargers wide receiver Quentin Johnston celebrates after scoring a touchdown against the Kansas City Chiefs on Sept. 5.
(Doug Benc / Associated Press)
From Anthony De Leon: The Chargers embracing an opposite approach in play-calling — moving away from a run-heavy philosophy — left many bemused during their season-opening win over the Kansas City Chiefs in Brazil.
Justin Herbert was given free rein to showcase his arm, firing pass after pass against the defending AFC champions. This approach hinged on trust; not necessarily in Herbert’s ability, but in his receivers’ capabilities.
“It’s all about having a clear mind and trust,” Quentin Johnston said. “Trusting the play call, and then trusting yourself to get open. Trusting Justin that the ball will be in the right place when you get open.”
A byproduct of learning a new system last year, with young receivers thrust into pivotal roles, Herbert and his wideouts looked out of sync at times, whether from a lack of trust, chemistry or rhythm.
From the Associated Press: Cal Raleigh tied Mickey Mantle’s season record for most home runs by a switch hitter with his 54th, and the Seattle Mariners extended their winning streak to nine by routing the Angels 11-2 Sunday to take sole possession of the AL West lead for the first time since June.
With the loss, the Angels will finish the year without a winning record for the 10th consecutive season.
George Kirby matched his career high with 14 strikeouts as the Mariners completed a four-game sweep and won for the 20th time in their last 23 home games.
1899 — Willie Smith wins the U.S. Open golf title, beating George low, Val Fitzjohn and W.H. Way.
1923 — Bill Tilden wins the U.S. Lawn Tennis Association championship, beating William Johnston in straight sets, 6-4, 6-1, 6-4.
1962 — Frank Tripucka of the Denver Broncos passes for 447 yards and two touchdowns in a 23-20 win over the Buffalo Bills.
1971 — Stan Smith wins the U.S. Open title over Jan Khodes and Billie Jean King beats Rosemary Casals for the women’s title. It’s the first time in 16 years both titles were won by U.S. players.
1973 — Three-year-old Secretariat wins the Marlboro Cup Invitational Handicap in the then-world record time of 1:45 2-5 for 11/8 miles.
1973 — Archie Griffin of Ohio State starts his NCAA record string of 31 games of rushing for at least 100 yards, leading the Buckeyes to a 56-7 rout of Minnesota in Columbus.
1978 — Muhammad Ali becomes the first three-time heavyweight champion with a unanimous 15-round decision over Leon Spinks at the Superdome in New Orleans.
1991 — The United States women’s gymnastics team makes history with its first team medal — a silver — at the World Championships in Indianapolis.
1995 — Cards shortstop Ozzie Smith sets record of 1,554 double plays.
2002 — Sam Hornish Jr. wins another incredible race at Texas Motor Speedway, and his second straight IRL title. Hornish side-by-side with Helio Castroneves for many of the last 25 laps in the season-ending Chevy 500, crosses the finish line 0.0096 seconds — only a few inches — ahead of the other driver in contention for the season championship. Hornish wins his IRL-record fifth race of the season and becomes the first driver to win two IRL championships.
2002 — Oakland quarterback Rich Gannon begins NFL record-tying (Kurt Warner, Steve Young) streak of 6 consecutive 300-yard passing games, throwing for 403 yards in Raiders’ 30-17 victory at Pittsburgh.
2004 — NHL commissioner Gary Bettman announces a lockout of the players union and cessation of operations by the NHL head office.
2012 — LSU beats Idaho 63-14 to give the Tigers an NCAA FBS record 40th-straight non-conference regular season victory. LSU also set a Tiger Stadium mark with 20 straight home wins. Kansas State had 39 straight non-conference regular-season wins from 1993-2003.
2013 — Philip Rivers is 36 of 47 for 419 yards and three touchdown passes to Eddie Royal to lead San Diego to a 33-30 victory at Philadelphia. Michael Vick of the Eagles passes for a career-best 428 yards and two touchdowns and runs for a score.
2017 — The Cleveland has its AL record run stopped at 22 straight games as the Indians are beaten 4-3 by the Kansas City Royals.
2018 — Zlatan Ibrahimovic scores his 500th worldwide goal in the Los Angeles Galaxy’s 5-3 loss to Toronto FC. The 36-year-old Swede joins Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo as the only active players with 500 goals for in club and international play.
2021 — US gymnasts, including Simone Biles, testify against former team doctor Larry Nassar at a Senate Committee hearing, criticizing a system that allowed it to happen.
2022 — Tennis great Roger Federer announces his retirement from professional tennis at 41 with 20 grand slam wins and 103 ATP titles.
Compiled by the Associated Press
Until next time…
That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email me at [email protected]. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.
Several common themes emerge. These guys are sharp. Passionate. Dynamic. They can command a room. They have won as the guy in charge, after having done so as a coordinator. They have that “it” factor. They know why they win and can pinpoint reasons for falling short.
These are the qualities UCLA must seek in its next football coach after dismissing DeShaun Foster on Sunday. Foster was a nice guy and a great Bruin who loved the program, but he did not have the personality or the wherewithal to get the job done at even a modest level.
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Put aside, for a moment, any qualms about athletic director Martin Jarmond making the next hire after so badly botching the last one. Unless chancellor Julio Frenk intervenes and fires Jarmond or installs a football general manager à la Andrew Luck at Stanford or Ron Rivera at California, all that matters is Jarmond and his search committee getting this move right.
Jarmond, who said he wanted someone who yearns to take the Bruins to the College Football Playoff, should create a checklist of the aforementioned traits. Those who don’t check every box — we’ll make one exception, for promising coordinators — shouldn’t be considered.
That will eliminate many candidates who could probably win six to eight games a year while sustaining the sort of blah existence the program endured under coach Chip Kelly. A lot of them are current head coaches on preliminary candidate lists being widely circulated. And they’re all decent coaches and probably great people … and not good enough to elevate this program to where it needs to go.
Also, let’s make one thing abundantly clear: Being a former Bruin should have no bearing on one’s candidacy.
Several of the most successful coaches in UCLA football and men’s basketball history — John Wooden,Red Sanders and Ben Howland — had no previous ties to the school. The list of failed coaches with UCLA ties would require multiple pages.
Here at The Bolch Group, we think the list of candidates should fall into four broad categories:
Head coaches on the rise: Those who fit into this mold include Tulane’s Jon Sumrall (going a combined 35-9 at Troy and Tulane is no small feat) and Boise State’s Spencer Danielson (took the Broncos to the Fiesta Bowl in Year 2) plus an untold amount of promising candidates at the Football Championship Subdivision level.
Coordinators who deserve a promotion: Defensive coordinator Glenn Schumann (Georgia) and offensive coordinators Will Stein (Oregon), Brian Hartline (Ohio State) and Ben Arbuckle (Oklahoma) could be the next big thing. Don’t you want to be the one who identified great talent before anyone else?
The wildcards: Pat Fitzgerald, who compiled three 10-win seasons at the coaching graveyard known as Northwestern, is back on the market after being essentially exonerated in the school’s hazing scandal. As someone who covered Fitzgerald for the Daily Northwestern when the linebacker helped the Wildcats reach the Rose Bowl in 1996, I can safely say this guy is a winner with integrity. UCLA might be scared off by the optics, but it shouldn’t be.
Big names who might emerge: Alabama’s Kalen DeBoer, who should have been hired by Jarmond after a 2021 season in which DeBoer’s Fresno State Bulldogs toppled the Bruins at the Rose Bowl, could be back on the market if things further deteriorate in Tuscaloosa. Marcus Freeman would be another candidate who should be quickly snatched up if Notre Dame can’t rebound from its 0-2 start.
What’s most important is the person and the potential.
Go ahead, listen to them. Watch them speak.
UCLA quarterback Nico Iamaleava (9) has struggled to lead the Bruins’ offense so far this season.
(Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)
This is sort of like being placed on academic probation three weeks into the quarter and now you’ll be reporting to a substitute teacher.
Quarterbacks: C. At this rate, Nico Iamaleava will either be in the NFL next season … or playing for another college team. Might he hit the transfer portal before the Bruins’ next game?
Running backs: D. Who’s handling the rotation here? Jalen Berger is obviously not the answer in short-yardage situations.
Receivers: C. Rico Flores Jr. and Carter Shaw can’t return from injuries soon enough.
Offensive line: D. Talk about being a double threat, these guys get pushed around and commit penalties.
Defensive line: D. Providing close to zero resistance in the run game after New Mexico rushed for 298 yards and could have had considerably more with better playcalling.
Linebackers: C. These guys continue to be productive in cleanup duty but aren’t making many meaningful plays.
Defensive backs: D. Whether in press coverage or playing way off the line of scrimmage, the results are the same.
Special teams: A. Bids are being solicited for the Mateen Bhaghani statue outside the Rose Bowl.
Coaching: F. Foster clearly wasn’t the only issue here. Offensive coordinator Tino Sunseri and defensive coordinator Ikaika Malloe also deserve some questioning. Does anyone know what they’re doing?
Olympic sports spotlight: Women’s soccer
It’s hard to keep a good team down.
After opening the season with two losses in its first three games, the UCLA women’s soccer team has reeled off four consecutive victories, including a 2-0 triumph over Oregon on Saturday in its Big Ten opener.
The fourth-ranked Bruins (5-2 overall, 1-0 Big Ten) are rising quickly after their 2-0 victory over top-ranked Stanford on Sept. 7 showed they are once again one of the nation’s top teams. UCLA’s defense has led the way in the season’s early going, with five shutouts in seven games. Goalkeepers Daphne Nakfoor and Mariangela Medina combined for the shutout against the Ducks.
UCLA will open conference road play against Michigan State on Thursday and Michigan on Sunday.
Remember when?
This one hurt deeply.
As a Northwestern alumnus, it looked like I would be able to savor the Wildcats’ first bowl victory since 1949 when they intercepted three Drew Olson passes in the first quarter and raced to a 22-0 lead over UCLA in the 2005 Sun Bowl.
Then the Bruins did what they had done all season — they came back.
Having already wiped out a pair of 21-point deficits, UCLA decided a school-record comeback was in order. Olson went on to throw three touchdown passes and backup running backs Chris Markey and Kahlil Bell capably filled in for an injured Maurice Drew by combining for 286 yards rushing and two touchdowns.
Perhaps the most stunning part of the comeback was its speed. When Olson completed an eight-yard touchdown pass to Marcus Everett with 29 seconds left in the second quarter, the Bruins seized a 29-22 lead. They would never trail again.
Brandon Breazell added some late-game hilarity when he returned one onside kick 42 yards for a touchdown, only to later grab another onside kick and return it 45 yards for a touchdown, capping UCLA’s wild 50-38 triumph.
Interestingly, I was the UCLA sidebar reporter that season alongside the late, great Lonnie White, who was the Bruins beat writer. I had attended every previous road game, but the sports editors left me off the travel roster, like a sixth-string quarterback, for the game involving my alma mater. Not that I’m bitter or anything, two decades later.
Fortunately, I’m planning to be there for UCLA’s Big Ten opener against Northwestern on Sept. 26 at the Wildcats’ temporary lakeside stadium. It will be the first time the teams have met since the Sun Bowl.
Opinion time
Who will end up as UCLA’s next football coach?
A known commodity such as Michigan State’s Jonathan Smith
A former Bruin such as Florida State defensive coordinator Tony White
Do you have a comment or something you’d like to see in a future UCLA newsletter? Email me at [email protected], and follow me on X @latbbolch. To order an autographed copy of my book, “100 Things UCLA Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die,” send me an email. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.
PRINCE Harry is desperate and needing stardust from King Charles in order to stay relevant, even if it means sacrificing his privacy, a royal expert has claimed.
Prince William is desperate to hold onto King Charles’ stardust, a royal expert has claimedCredit: Getty
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Harry met the King last week – their first face-to-face meeting in more than a year and a halfCredit: AP
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Harry’s relationship with the royal family has left many of the Firm ‘very angry’ with him, the expert addedCredit: Splash
Their meeting, lasting just under an hour, was followed up by an interview where Harry said his priority this year was to “focus on my dad”.
However, Royal Expert and Biographer Ingrid Seward has said that Harry’s move was just a “PR stunt” as he “needs the King’s stardust” in order to stay relevant.
“Harry needs the stardust of his father. He needs people to see him as the son of a king.
Read More on Prince Harry
“His earning power is related to who he is. Without being the royal he is, Harry would not be interested to anyone in California.
“But because he is the son of a king, and the brother of an heir to the throne, he is of great interest and he needs that connection.”
Ingrid explained that since Harry “makes his money in America”, through his Netflix deals and other ventures, he would need to keep his image strong there.
She said the view of a “split” family did not sit well with audiences in the US, and so this decision would help mend that image and keep him relevant.
Ingrid continued: “This is a big, big PR push, and Harry was finally all smiles and charm, reminiscent of himself of old.”
Turning to Harry’s statement that his “conscience was clear”, in regards to the publication of his controversial memoir Spare, Ingrid said: “I’m not sure that Harry knows what a clear conscience is.
Prince Harry’s rift with royals is FAR from over – William will hate that he met the King
“Whether what he was saying was true or not, you just don’t do that.”
Ingrid added: “And it has far-reaching consequences, as it has had with Harry.
“But Harry obviously wants to wipe the slate clean, but people’s memories are a little bit longer than that, and I think a lot of the royal family are still very angry, and I suspect that Charles isn’t particularly happy with his son.
“But to him, it’s more important to welcome Harry, if not back into the family, at least back into his own, you know, personal fold, because at least Charles can then keep an eye on what he’s doing as well.”
HARRY’S BRIEF MEETING WITH CHARLES
This comes after Harry spoke out after briefly meeting King Charles during his visit.
The meeting, a “private tea” between the two, lasted 55 minutes – almost double the time Harry got last year.
And when quizzed on the possibility of further meetings with the King, Harry said: “The focus really has to be on my dad”.
He also leapt to the defence of his controversial memoir, Spare, claiming his “conscience is clear”.
Speaking to The Guardian, the Duke said: “I know that (speaking out) annoys some people and it goes against the narrative.
“It was a series of corrections to stories already out there. One point of view had been put out and it needed to be corrected.
“It was a difficult message, but I did it in the best way possible. My conscience is clear. It is not about revenge, it is about accountability.”
After his four-day trip, a spokesperson for Harry told how he “loved catching up with old friends” and colleagues.
Harry also admitted he wants to spend more time in the country.
When asked if he would bring his children, Archie, six, and Lilibet, four, he responded: “This week has definitely brought that closer.”
Kings forward Corey Perry will be sidelined for six to eight weeks after undergoing knee surgery.
The 40-year-old Perry was injured Friday while skating at his new team’s training complex, the team announced Saturday. The Kings will report for training camp in less than a week, and their season opener is Oct. 7 against Colorado.
Perry agreed to a one-year, $2-million contract laden with incentives to join the Kings this summer for his 21st NHL season. The 2011 NHL MVP spent his first 14 seasons with the Kings’ archrivals, the Anaheim Ducks, before moving on to Dallas, Montreal, Tampa Bay, Chicago and Edmonton.
Perry has played in the Stanley Cup Final in five of the last six seasons — but his team lost each time, including back-to-back losses with the Oilers to the Florida Panthers. He won a Stanley Cup title with the Ducks back in 2007.
Perry recorded 448 goals and 487 assists during his first 20 seasons, and he begins the new season 121st on the NHL’s career scoring list. He had 19 goals and 11 assists in 81 regular-season games for Edmonton last season before adding 10 goals and four assists in the playoffs.
From Ryan Kartje: When he first started spreading the word about Waymond Jordan, Mike Bennett figured the film would speak for itself. The Escambia High coach had been in the South Florida preps scene long enough to know what he was seeing from his new running back.
“Just watching him run the football for the first time, he was amazing,” Bennett said. He figured scholarship offers would roll in soon enough.
Jordan had similar expectations. Since he first picked up football, at 4 years old, he’d always told himself that he’d play at a big school, on the biggest stage. He’d come to Escambia as a senior with that in mind.
But in 2021, four years before Lincoln Riley and USC would see that same star potential, other college coaches, for whatever reason, weren’t paying much mind.
Given where Jordan stands today — the top running back on one of the nation’s top rushing offenses through two weeks of the college football season — plenty of them probably regret that now.
“Every coach in the country, I sent stuff to,” Bennett said. “I mean, everybody. I sent it out to everybody.”
Some smaller schools monitored Jordans’ senior year at Escambia, keeping a close eye as he rushed for 1,225 yards and 12 touchdowns. A few schools said he could walk-on. But none of them extended a scholarship offer. Jordan couldn’t understand why.
Hutchinson Community College, a junior college in Hutchinson, Kan., was one of the only places to give him an opportunity. Hutchinson was a thousand miles from his hometown of Pensacola, and a world away from the major college football he thought he’d be playing. But the staff there knew Escambia well, and they believed in what they saw in Jordan’s tape.
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NBA
Former NBA and UCLA basketball star Reggie Miller rides along a road in the Gypsum Canyon Wilderness.
(Carlin Stiehl / Los Angeles Times)
From Kevin Baxter: Early on a muggy Saturday morning, seven dozen riders lined up five and six abreast and aimed their mountain bikes toward a narrow, rocky trail leading away from the 91 Freeway and into the wilderness of Anaheim’s rugged Gypsum Canyon.
In their white helmets and monotone synthetic racing kits, the riders were more an indistinct mob than a collection of individuals. But in the middle of the pack, perched on a pricey, Santa Cruz Blur XL, one cyclist stood out if for no other reason than, at 6-foot-7, Reggie Miller was a foot taller than most of the people around him.
Miller is also, it should be noted, a basketball hall of famer and five-time NBA All-Star who seamlessly transitioned into a career as one of the sport’s most-respected TV analysts. He has earned fame and riches most will never know and competed at a level few have ever achieved.
Yet on the day before his 60th birthday, he was about to pedal his way along 19 miles of treacherous trails, swallowing the dust kicked up by cyclists a third his age. And he couldn’t have been happier because bike racing has not just given Miller a competitive outlet, it’s provided an avenue for addressing issues of importance to him, among them equality, inclusion and social justice.
“You see so many retired football, baseball, basketball players turn to golf. That’s their vice,” he said. “Mine is cycling.”
Except, perhaps, fantasy football players who drafted Adams.
“That’s not in the forefront of my mind,” Adams, chuckling, said this week. “I know they think it is. I’m just out here trying to win games and contribute and make plays when I can.”
Nacua brushed off a cut above his eye that required stitches and caught 10 passes for 130 yards. Adams, making his Rams debut, caught four passes for 51 yards.
Exhausted to the point of collapse and parked in the driveway of his Oakland Hills home, he briefly allowed himself to close his eyes — was it for a minute? An hour? — before jolting awake at 4 a.m. in a foggy panic. Had he just returned from his round-the-clock job with the Oakland Raiders, or was he supposed to be on his way back?
Here he was, a first-round pick from Michigan, a 15-year NFL veteran, and now a coaching grunt for the Silver & Black, ready to do whatever was asked.
“I always remember him with the hair all over his head going everywhere,” recalled receiver Tim Brown. “The veteran guys on the team were saying, ‘Jimmy, you don’t have to do this, bro. There’s other ways you can make money. You don’t have to be in here.’ Because he was literally the guy printing the papers, working the copiers. We were like, ‘All right, if that’s what you want to do with your life then OK.’”
Angels star Mike Trout hits a solo home against the Seattle Mariners on Thursday night.
(John Froschauer / Associated Press)
From the Associated Press: Rookie pinch-hitter Harry Ford drove in the winning run with a sacrifice fly in the 12th inning and the Seattle Mariners beat the Angels 7-6 on Thursday night to move into a tie with Houston atop the AL West.
It was the second straight walk-off victory in extra innings for the Mariners, who extended their win streak to six games. Leo Rivas hit a two-run homer in the 13th inning Wednesday night to complete a series sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals.
Mike Trout launched his 399th career home run for the Angels, tying it 4-4 in the fifth inning after they fell behind 4-0 in the second.
Sparks guard Kelsey Plum, right, tries to shoot over Las Vegas center A’ja Wilson during the Sparks’ loss on Thursday night at Crypto.com Arena.
(Harry How / Getty Images)
From Anthony De Leon: Being out of postseason contention didn’t make the Sparks’ season finale meaningless.
It was a chance to avoid finishing with a losing record for the first time since 2020. An opportunity to foil the Las Vegas Aces’ push for the No. 2 seed in the playoffs while derailing a 15-game winning streak. And, above all, a matter of pride.
But just as with their season-long goal of reaching the playoffs, the Sparks fell short of their goal, as A’ja Wilson and the Aces dominated in a 103-75 victory at Crypto.com Arena.
From Chuck Schilken: Retired NBA player and former Harvard-Westlake star Jason Collins is undergoing treatment for a brain tumor, the NBA said Thursday in a statement released on behalf of Collins and his family.
“Jason and his family welcome your support and prayers and kindly ask for privacy as they dedicate their attention to Jason’s health and well-being,” the league said.
A 46-year-old native of Northridge, Jason Collins and twin brother, Jarron, led Harvard-Westlake to state Division III titles in 1996 and 1997, with the former being named the state Division III player of the year both seasons. His 1,500 career rebounds stood as a CIF state record until 2010, when Hemet West Valley’s Joe Burton finished his career with 1,721 rebounds.
1895 — Defender wins three straight matches from the British challenger Valkyrie II to defend the America’s Cup for the United States.
1936 — Fred Perry becomes the first foreign player to win three U.S. men’s singles titles when he defeats Don Budge, 2-6, 6-2, 8-6, 1-6, 10-8. Alice Marble ends the four-year reign of Helen Jacobs as U.S. women’s singles champion, with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 victory.
1955 — Tony Trabert wins the U.S. Lawn Tennis Association championships with a victory over Ken Rosewall. Doris Hart wins the women’s title.
1966 — Australia’s Fred Stolle beats countryman John Newcombe to win the U.S. Lawn Tennis Association championships. Stolle wins in four sets, 4-6, 12-10, 6-3, 6-4.
1976 — Jimmy Connors beats Bjorn Borg in four sets to win the U.S. Open.
1979 — Carl Yastrzemski reaches 3,000 hits off of NY Yankee pitcher Jim Beattie.
1981 — Tracy Austin wins her second U.S. Open singles title, edging first-time finalist Martina Navratilova, 1-6, 7-6, 7-6.
1982 — Jimmy Connors wins the U.S. Open, defeating Ivan Lendl, 6-3, 6-2, 4-6, 6-4.
1984 — N.Y. Met Dwight Gooden sets rookie strike out record at 251.
1988 — 1st NFL regular-season game played in Phoenix; Dallas beats Arizona.
1995 — The Harlem Globetrotters’ 24-year, 8,829-game winning streak is stopped. It ends in a 91-85 loss to a team led by basketball great Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who scores 34 points in a competitive, unscripted game in Vienna, Austria.
1998 — Lindsay Davenport captures her first Grand Slam tournament singles title, defeating Martina Hingis, 6-3, 7-5 at the U.S. Open.
1999 — Andre Agassi comes back from two-sets-to-one down to win his second U.S. Open singles title. Agassi, who never loses his serve, defeats Todd Martin, 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-7 (2), 6-3, 6-2. It’s the first five-set U.S. Open final in 11 years.
2004 — Roger Federer becomes the first man since 1988 to win three majors in a year, thoroughly outclassing Lleyton Hewitt 6-0, 7-6 (3), 6-0 to add the U.S. Open title to those he took at the Australian Open and Wimbledon.
2005 — Mark Messier announces on ESPN radio that he will retire from the NHL.
2010 — Houston running back Arian Foster rushes for a franchise-record 231 yards and three touchdowns in the Texans’ 34-24 victory over the Indianapolis Colts. Foster is the first player in NFL history to rush for at least 200 yards and three touchdowns for an opening weekend.
2011 — Tom Brady passes for a team-record 517 yards and four touchdowns, including a 99-yarder to Wes Welker, and the New England Patriots beat the Miami Dolphins 38-24.
2011 — U.S. Open Men’s Tennis: Novak Djokovic wins his first US title; beats Rafael Nadal 6-2, 6-4, 6-7, 6-1.
2014 — Diana Taurasi and Candice Dupree score 24 points each and the Phoenix Mercury, playing without star center Brittney Griner, beat the Chicago Sky 87-82 to complete a three-game sweep of the WNBA Finals for their third championship.
2015 — Kent State dominates Delaware State in the Golden Flashes’ home opener, 45-13, but it’s overshadowed by a single point-after kick in the second quarter by April Goss. Goss, a four-year member of the Kent State team and a former high school soccer player, becomes the second female to score in a Division I game in NCAA history. Katie Hnida kicked a pair of extra points for New Mexico in 2003.
2015 — David Ortiz homers twice to become the 27th player in major league history to reach 500 homers, and Boston beats Tampa Bay 10-4.
2018 — Breanna Stewart leads the Seattle Storm to their third WNBA title, scoring 30 points in a 98-82 victory over the Washington Mystics in Game 3 of the best-of-five series.
2020 — Naomi Osaka of Japan wins her second US Open title beating Victoria Azarenka of Belarus 1-6, 6-3, 6-3.
Compiled by the Associated Press
Until next time…
That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email me at [email protected]. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.
In December, DeShaun Foster touted mass turnover as a reason to think he could win big in Year 2, citing the quick turnaround at Colorado under Deion Sanders.
On Saturday, UCLA’s football coach used mass turnover as an explanation for his team’s 0-2 start.
“I have a lot of new people,” Foster said after his team’s 30-23 loss to Nevada Las Vegas at Allegiant Stadium left it as the only winless team in the Big Ten. “I’m not somebody who’s going to come up here and give you guys excuses and everything, but I have a lot of new people and we’re still finding ways to come together and really rely on each other and we’re going to continue to build and it’s a long season.”
In other words, said a coach making $3.1 million this season, don’t blame me.
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Somebody needs to take accountability for spending all this money on such a lifeless product. New UCLA chancellor Julio Frenk posted a picture of himself at the season opener against Utah on social media, calling it a “blast” to cheer on the team, which was an admirable show of support in tough circumstances.
They just got a lot tougher for everyone in blue and gold.
Asked about his restrictive media policies before the season, Foster said winning would do the marketing for his team. Well, how’s that going?
There’s a real chance that the actual crowd inside the Rose Bowl on Friday night when the Bruins face New Mexico (1-1) could fall below 10,000, setting a record low.
Importing 57 new players on any team is going to lead to some misses, but it’s already apparent that UCLA’s talent evaluation was way off the mark. Maybe there was a reason a group filled with transfers coming off injuries and underwhelming starts to their college careers was available.
Compounding this situation in some fans’ eyes is the fact that these players are now getting paid — in some cases making CEO money — to play for a team that looks so woefully unprepared and undertalented, having fallen behind 20-0 against Utah and 23-0 against UNLV.
While quarterback Nico Iamaleava hasn’t been the savior some envisioned after arriving from Tennessee, he also hasn’t been the problem. He’s made some mistakes while also playing at a high enough level to win if he was surrounded by more talent.
He’s also been perhaps the only one associated with the team to take a measure of responsibility for UCLA’s worst start since it lost its first three games in 2019.
“I think that just starts with me, man,” Iamaleava said of the slow starts leading to losses. “I gotta be better coming out. I started off a little slow on the first drive coming out. And, yeah, I think overall, man, we got to clean up a lot of stuff.”
To their credit, UCLA coaches tried making some personnel changes after that clunker of a season opener. Edge rusher Kechaun Bennett and linebacker Isaiah Chisom moved into the starting lineup, and things started to coalesce on both sides of the ball in the second half while the Bruins outscored the Rebels, 20-7. (There was also some puzzling use of the running backs rotation when UCLA failed to score a touchdown after getting a first and goal at the UNLV one-yard line, but we digress.)
The bottom line is that there was a reason UNLV’s last win over a Big Ten team before Saturday had come in 2003 — the Rebels play in the Mountain West Conference and have far fewer resources than their Power Four conference counterparts.
So where do the Bruins go from here? Rebound and beat New Mexico before a smattering of friends and family on the way to four or five wins? Would that be good enough?
Somebody needs to step up and tell UCLA fans why they should still care about this team and spend money on a product that, frankly, isn’t even mediocre right now.
Kicker Mateen Bhaghani during the Iowa game last year.
(MediaNews Group/Pasadena Star-News via Getty Images / MediaNews Group via Getty Images)
Let’s just say if your kids got these kinds of grades two weeks into the school year, you’d be calling for a parent-teacher conference ASAP.
Quarterbacks: B. Iamaleava sparked his team’s comeback but also threw the pass that sealed defeat. It’s more than a little concerning that he’s the team’s leading rusher through two games.
Running backs: D. Jalen Berger was probably not the best option on those goal-line plays that came up empty. Jaivian Thomas and Anthony Woods need to be the guys moving forward.
Receivers: C. Kwazi Gilmer flashed his big-play potential again with a juggling catch and ability to continually generate separation. But it doesn’t appear he’ll need to clear room on the mantle for the Biletnikoff Award.
Offensive line: D. The lineup shuffle with Garrett DiGiorgio at left tackle and Reuben Unije at right tackle appears to be the way the rest of the season. But guard Julian Armella can’t keep committing dumb penalties.
Defensive line: C-. The Bruins got a sack! The Bruins got a sack! Sacks by Bennett and Anthony Jones that represented the team’s first of the season did little to mask the ongoing issues in generating a consistent pass rush.
Linebackers: C-. JonJon Vaughns has logged double digits in tackles in consecutive games, but does it matter when you’re 0-2?
Defensive backs: D. Getting burned by UNLV quarterback Anthony Colandrea for three touchdowns is not acceptable.
Special teams: B+. Kicker Mateen Bhaghani, now four for four on field goals, is on pace to be the team MVP.
Coaching: F. There’s no way you can justify falling behind 23-0 to UNLV one week after that abomination of a season opener.
Olympic sport spotlight: Men’s water polo
Ben Liechty was also a standout water polo player at Newport Harbor High.
(Raul Roa)
The best team in the country rolls on.
Having already beaten No. 14 Cal Baptist, No. 19 George Washington, No. 12 UC San Diego, No. 14 UC Davis and No. 20 Navy, the top-ranked UCLA men’s water polo team notched its most impressive victory of the season Saturday with a 16-9 victory over No. 4 Fordham.
For good measure, the Bruins added a 24-10 romp over Bucknell later in the day.
The Bruins (7-0) have been so dominant that they have posted 10 or more different scorers in every game this season. Redshirt senior Chase Dodd and junior Ben Liechty led the way against Fordham with one goal and three assists apiece.
The schedule doesn’t get any easier for UCLA, which plays No. 7 UC Irvine in its home opener at noon Friday before facing No. 16 Harvard later in the day. Might Bruins fans have a better time showing up at Dirks Pool at Spieker Aquatics Center than the Rose Bowl?
Opinion time
Who is most culpable for the state of UCLA football?
We asked last Monday, “Does UCLA’s football team rally immediately against the soft pocket of its schedule, or fall further into despair before facing Penn State on Oct. 4 at the Rose Bowl?” The results, after 607 votes:
The Bruins go 2-1 over their next three games, 38.9% The Bruins go 1-2 over their next three games, 29.1% The Bruins go 3-0 over their next three games, 21.1% The Bruins go 0-3 over their next three games, 10.9%
Do you have a comment or something you’d like to see in a future UCLA newsletter? Email me at [email protected], and follow me on X @latbbolch. To order an autographed copy of my book, “100 Things UCLA Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die,” send me an email. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.
Hi, and welcome to another edition of Prep Rally. I’m Eric Sondheimer. It was another week of scandal in high school football. And also games with top performances. It’s an interesting balancing act for sportswriters.
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Scandal widens
There’s continuing fallout from an Archdiocese of Los Angeles investigation that self-reported violations by Bishop Montgomery’s football program to the Southern Section, resulting in the school ending its varsity season after playing one game and forfeiting another. Now the rest of the season will be forfeits as the school investigates its 24 transfer students.
President Patrick Lee has been placed on administrative leave, according to a parent who says faculty were told of the decision. The Archdiocese has declined to confirm, saying it doesn’t comment on personnel matters. Most interesting is that Lee was brought in last school year as Bishop Montgomery’s first president. Also faculty members have been directed not to speak to the media. The school’s principal resigned from her role as president of the Camino-Del Rey Athletic Assn.
The school is trying to play a junior varsity schedule while allowing eligible varsity players to participate, but that’s unlikely to gain traction. Hart canceled this week’s JV game with Bishop Montgomery, not wanting to subject its regular JV players that include freshmen to a game against possible varsity players out of concern for player safety.
The Southern Section has to decide whether eligible Bishop Montgomery varsity players can transfer and be eligible immediately since the school dropped its varsity program.
The Southern Section has continued its crackdown of transfer students who submitted inaccurate paperwork. Long Beach Millikan had to forfeit two games for using ineligible players and most of its transfer students are now listed under review on the Southern Section transfer web page. One of those players who didn’t play Friday after previously being cleared was quarterback Ashton Pannell, who transferred from Loyola after previously attending St. John Bosco. Other schools are also dealing with issues involving transfer students.
The Archdiocese held a scheduled meeting with principals and athletic directors. The Catholic schools chief indicated changes are coming on how to handle transfer students within Archdiocese high schools.
Remember, under CIF rules, you have to move physically with the entire family unit to be eligible immediately. Otherwise you get a one-time sit-out period transfer status that lasts for a portion of the season. Schools confirm the transfers through paperwork requirements. The Southern Section appears to be using AI technology to catch students using addresses that had previously been used. That can result in a violation of bylaw 202, which prohibits providing false information. It also is a violation to receive inducements to transfer, such as housing, known as bylaw 510, undue influence.
One good thing is the early season attention on ineligible players can prevent numerous forfeits at the end of the football season that could prevent a school from entering the playoffs because of an anonymous tip.
Marine League coaches who forfeited to Narbonne last season alleging money payments feel vindicated after a booster confirmed during a podcast that he paid parents to transfer their sons to Narbonne. Here’s a report.
Madden Williams of St. John Bosco prepares to make a game-tying 51-yard touchdown catch against St. Frances.
(Craig Weston)
It was the Madden Williams show in Bellflower. He made two spectacular catches in the fourth quarter to rally St. John Bosco to a 21-14 victory over Baltimore St. Frances. Here’s the report.
Los Alamitos improved to 4-0 with a 41-21 win over Gardena Serra. There’s no doubt no coach has done a finer job in the first month of the season than Ray Fenton.
Mission Viejo exposed the weakness in Northern California football, routing one its top teams, Folsom, 53-14. Folsom and De La Salle are considered the top Northern California teams in contention for a CIF state championship Open Division bowl spot. San Mateo Serra comes to town to play St. John Bosco on Friday.
Jason Miller, the Leuzinger coach who used to coach in Northern California, was asked to explain the downward trajectory.
“Lots of traditional football families have moved out of the Bay Area, replaced by tech families,” he said. “Black and white families with generations of football players have found the Bay Area unaffordable. Interest has lacked in college football as well. East Palo Alto and West Oakland were once treasure chests of athletes that have been watered down by gentrification.”
Bishop Amat came up with an upset win over Valencia behind a game-winning 79-yard touchdown run from Ryan Salcedo. Here’s the report.
Huntington Beach quarterback Brady Edmunds.
(James Carbone)
Quarterback Brady Edmunds of Huntington Beach had a big game in win over Western. Here’s the report.
Hamilton coach Elijah Asante poses next to campus mural of Hall of Fame quarterback Warren Moon.
(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)
The City Section’s top teams continue to struggle in nonleague games against Southern Section opponents, but the strategy is designed to prepare them for league play. Birmingham lost to Moorpark, Carson lost to Palos Verdes and San Pedro lost to Great Oak.
Meanwhile, Palisades and Granada Hills engaged in a passing vs. running scoring marathon before Palisades prevailed 59-44 behind 387 yards passing and six touchdowns from quarterback Jack Thomas.
Robert Garrett, the longtime coach at Crenshaw, continues to be on administrative leave. The Cougars suffered their first team in falling to Hamilton 23-6. Jacob Riley of Hamilton had three interceptions. Here’s the report.
Garfield got its first win for new coach Patrick Vargas over La Palma Kennedy. All-City running back Ceasar Reyes rushed for 172 yards and had 12 solo tackles on defense.
Verbum Dei President Father Travis Russell finally got around to putting up a photo of the new Pope.
(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)
Verbum Dei is preparing to play its first football game later this month after dropping its varsity season last year for lack of players. It’s a re-start with a new coach and the backing of an energized school president who carries around a tool box acting like a handy man for any and all problems.
The Stillwell volleyball family. Sophomore Lucy (left), father Tom, a former UCLA All-American, and senior Maya. The daughters play at Harvad-Westlake.
(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)
Tom Stillwell won three NCAA titles playing volleyball for UCLA. Now he has two daughters playing for Harvard-Westlake. He’s enjoying life as a Girl Dad. Here’s the report.
Four-year starter Abby Zimmerman has led Redondo Union girls volleyball.
(Steve Galluzzo)
What a week it was for Redondo Union volleyball with wins over previously unbeaten Marrymount and powerful Mater Dei. Here’s the report from the Marymount victory.
The schedule doesn’t get any easier with a home match against Sierra Canyon on Tuesday.
Venice handed Palisades its first defeat in winning its own tournament championship. Gaia Adeseun-Williams and Samantha Lortie was named co-tournament MVPs from Venice.
JSerra is 11-0 and continuing to look like one of the best flag football teams in the Southern Section. The Lions began the El Toro tournament with shutout wins over Classical Academy of San Diego and Edison.
Freshmen receivers Tessa Russell and Ava Irwin continue to be impact players.
The JSerra Girls Flag Football team produced two convincing victories to start the El Toro Girls Flag Football Tournament on Saturday at El Toro High School in Lake Forest.
The Lions opened with a 35-0 triumph over Classical Academy of San Diego.
Infielder Trevor Deack of Orange Lutheran has committed to Utah Tech. . . .
Pitcher Damian Catano of Arcadia has committed to St. Mary’s. . . .
A refurbished outside basketball court at Crenshaw High was dedicated Saturday and painted in the school’s colors. . . .
Sophomore point guard Josh Lowery has transferred to Sierra Canyon. . . .
Swimmer Tori Yamamura of Valencia has committed to Missouri. . . .
Bishop Alemany baseball has picked up Mikey Martinez from Crespi. He was a starting infielder and top relief pitcher as a sophomore for the Mission League champions. Also senior pitcher Jaden Lee, the younger brother of UCLA pitcher Justin Lee, has left Sherman Oaks Notre Dame for Alemany. . . .
Casey Patterson is the new boys volleyball coach at Newbury Park . . . .
The stadium fields at Newbury Park, Thousand Oaks and Westlake will be receiving refurbishment beginning Dec. 1, forcing soccer teams to seek alternative sites. . . .
Long Beach Millikan has forfeited wins over Las Vegas Foothill and Newbury Park for using ineligible players.
From the archives: Ty Dieffenbach
Former Agoura quarterback Ty Dieffenbach
(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)
Former Agoura quarterback Ty Dieffenbach, who originally signed with and spent two years at Pittsburgh, made his debut for Cal Poly last week and passed for 263 yards and ran for 69 yards in a win over San Diego. He accounted for three touchdowns and was named the Big Sky player of the week. On Saturday, things didn’t go as well in a 63-9 loss to Utah. He passed for 82 yards.
TY Dieffenbach already making headlines!
263 passing yards, 69 rushing yards and three total touchdowns in his Mustang debut has earned him Big Sky Offensive Player of the Week honors! 👏 💥#RideHighpic.twitter.com/OZemxKMUwx
From Burlisononbasketball, a story on top girls basketball players making an impression at a local camp.
From Communityforwardredlands, a story on the return of Hall of Fame football coach Dick Bruich.
From SFGate.com, a story on the rapid growth of girls flag football.
From the Los Angeles Times, a story on the soccer Thompson sisters gaining money and attention.
From the Los Angeles Times, an excerpt from a book on Newbury Park’s cross-country success.
Tweets you might have missed
Remember four Marine League coaches last season forfeited to Narbonne trying to get an investigation under way. “We got treated so horribly trying to stand up for something that was right,” former Banning coach Raymond Grajeda said. He was proven right.
The coaching opening that should draw lots of applicants is Harvard-Westlake flag football coach. Coming in winter or spring. Imagine the players who could join. There’s a Thompson soccer sister arriving next year as a freshman.
Everyone is lawyering up in this latest high school football scandal. Whether it leads to reform or the usual “it’s just one program” remains to be seen. At a minimum, the CIF needs to do a better job educating the general public about its rules and penalties.
Two famous Sherman Oaks Notre Dame alumni showed up to Notre Dame-St. Francis football game last night. Former NFL defensive lineman Travis Johnson, who works for the Texans, and TCU basketball coach Jamie Dixon. Travis is known to talk a little bit more than Jamie.
Have a question, comment or something you’d like to see in a future Prep Rally newsletter? Email me at [email protected], and follow me on Twitter at @latsondheimer.
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If ‘the best things in life are free’ then clearly nobody told the 20 Premier League clubs, who spent an eye-watering £3.1bn this summer.
The top tier of English football is in a unique position. As the Premier League’s popularity and profits have grown, the money awarded to clubs competing in it far outweighs that of their European counterparts.
But Real Madrid once again proved this summer that money can only do so much.
There can be little doubt that when it comes to acquiring world-class talent for nothing or next to nothing, the Spanish giants are in a league of their own.
When Los Blancos signed Trent Alexander-Arnold from Liverpool for 10m euros (£8.4m) in June, the fee was just to accelerate the move so he could be registered in time to play in the Club World Cup.
That signing meant for the fourth time in five years Real Madrid had won the free transfer lottery after signing David Alaba in 2021, Antonio Rudiger in 2022, Kylian Mbappe in 2024 and Alexander-Arnold, who would have joined for free if Real had decided to wait, in 2025.
What makes their hoard even more impressive is that they have signed talent from their biggest European rivals in Bayern Munich, Chelsea, Paris St-German and Liverpool respectively.
La Liga commentator Phil Kitromilides told BBC Sport that when the 36-time champions of Spain come calling it’s almost impossible to ignore them.
“It doesn’t matter where you come from, it doesn’t matter who you played for before. It doesn’t matter who your team was when you were growing up as a kid, this is it. This is the biggest thing you will ever do in your career,” he said.
“Take Trent for example – he was playing for his boyhood team [Liverpool]. He wouldn’t have done this for any other club but Real Madrid. It’s the allure, the grandeur.”
The fact Real Madrid sign these players for nothing is not the surprising factor. What’s intriguing is more often than not the players are aware the La Liga club perhaps can’t afford or are maybe unwilling to pay the asking price for them.
However, they are so keen to join they are willing to run down the final year of their current deals to make it happen.
Real Madrid have a long and illustrious history of winning major trophies – and the same can be said for landing a prized free agent, notably dating back to 1988 when German international Bernd Schuster famously left Barcelona to ply his trade at the Bernabeu.
Add to the list Steve McManaman, Michael Laudrup and Fernando Morientes – a few other names who’ve made the move for free.
Kitromilides added: “[In Madrid] second is nothing, absolutely nothing. The club has a relentless desire to win everything, every single possible trophy. This philosophy has helped them to build an aura of mystique. That is what’s helped convinced big-name players to run down their contracts at big clubs.”
Karl Dorrell acknowledged not knowing where to stand on the sideline while losing his first game to Colorado in 2003?
Manual Arts High blew UCLA out, 74-0, in the program’s first game in 1919?
Regardless of your choice, what happened Saturday night at the Rose Bowl was awful. Putrid. Dreadful.
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UCLA’s 43-10 setback against Utah — the Bruins’ most lopsided loss in a season opener since they absorbed a 38-3 thrashing by top-ranked Oklahoma in 1986 — came largely as a result of losing the battle on both lines of scrimmage.
The offensive line couldn’t help the run game produce anything of note on the way to 37 yards from its three running backs.
The defense looked lost from the first snap. There was no containment of Utes quarterback Devon Dampier, who often saw more open field in front of him than closing defenders.
Quarterback Nico Iamaleava, appearing overly amped in his UCLA debut, overthrew several receivers on the way to completing only half of his passes but showed flashes of why his arrival was such a big deal. His slippery runs and perfect touch on a 19-yard touchdown pass to running back Anthony Woods were a possible harbinger of far greater success.
The big hope is that the Bruins accelerate their rebound from a year ago. Remember, UCLA looked equally pitiful in its home opener against Indiana last season (a 42-13 drubbing) as part of a 1-5 start, only to turn things around and nearly make a bowl game.
Defensive coordinator Ikaika Malloe moved players around until he found the right combination, putting Oluwafemi Oladejo at edge rusher and inserting linebacker Carson Schwesinger into the starting lineup on the way to one of the greatest individual seasons in school history.
But is there enough talent on this team to spark a turnaround? These guys looked slow-footed and couldn’t tackle very well. Finding a capable edge rusher or two must be a top priority.
For UCLA to have any meaningful success this season, it’s going to have to pile up wins against the soft patch of its schedule that starts next weekend. A road game against Nevada Las Vegas (2-0, albeit with victories over Sam Houston and Idaho State) will be followed by a home game against New Mexico (0-1) and the Big Ten opener on the road against Northwestern (0-1).
Was the Bruins’ opener just a bad night against a good team or an omen? We’ll know soon enough.
Joey and Dante watch
Former Bruin Joey Aguilar had a nice game against Syracuse on Saturday.
(Mike Stewart / Associated Press)
Compounding UCLA’s misery was the success that two former Bruins quarterbacks enjoyed in their season openers.
Joey Aguilar, briefly a Bruin in the spring before transferring to Tennessee as part of the so-called trade for Iamaleava, starred in his Volunteers debut. Joey Football, as he’s been known since his gunslinger days at Appalachian State, looked like a gamer Saturday during Tennessee’s 45-26 victory over Syracuse, throwing for 247 yards and three touchdowns.
Dante Moore, who looked so spectacular early in the 2023 season at UCLA before throwing a pick-six in three consecutive games and losing his starting job to Ethan Garbers on the way to the transfer portal, returned to a starring role during Oregon’s 59-13 victory over Montana State. Moore completed 18 of 23 passes for 213 yards and three touchdowns without an interception.
It’s important to note that Aguilar and Moore thrived against far lesser competition than Iamaleava faced in the Utes, a possible College Football Playoff contender. Iamaleava also projects as the best of the bunch in terms of NFL upside and could eventually lead UCLA to a renaissance in what’s likely to be his only season as a Bruin.
Perhaps the overriding takeaway after one week is that Iamaleava doesn’t have nearly the supporting cast that he enjoyed last season at Tennessee. The big question: Can he make something worthwhile out of what he has to work with and will others step up to help him?
New fan loyalty program
Airlines, hotels and even local coffee shops have loyalty programs, so why not college sports?
In an effort to strengthen the connection between UCLA and its fans while generating additional revenue, the Bruins athletic department last week announced the creation of the Blue & Gold Society, a loyalty program in partnership with sports marketing agency Two Circles.
Daniel Cruz, UCLA’s deputy athletic director and chief revenue officer, said he wanted to find a new way to connect with fans both inside and outside of Southern California.
“For our fans in New York or the Midwest,” Cruz told The Times, “how do they get access to different things that are cool and memorable and have that connection to the school and contribute directly to the student-athlete so that we can continue to support them and continue driving this program to winning?”
Fans who join the Blue & Gold Society will have access to limited-edition merchandise, behind-the-the scenes tours and specially curated game-day experiences, among other perks. Among the items that fans could secure are surplus jerseys or maybe a piece of the old Pauley Pavilion floor. Experiences could include getting to watch a select team practice.
The program has three tiers with a corresponding level of benefits. The signature tier (priced at $39.99 per month, or available at a discounted annual price) provides a welcome pack, exclusive video and editorial content, an annual merchandise box, quarterly sweepstakes opportunities and an Olympic sports card good for admission to every UCLA sporting event besides football and men’s basketball.
The premium tier ($59.99 per month) comes with enhanced benefits, including two merchandise boxes per year, two tickets to a UCLA sporting event and behind-the-scenes tour of Pauley Pavilion. Those who splurge for the elite tier ($99.99 per month) will receive four merchandise boxes per year, four tickets to two UCLA sporting events and behind-the-scenes tours of both Pauley Pavilion and the Wasserman Football Center, among other benefits.
UCLA is the third college to launch a fan loyalty program in collaboration with Two Circles, joining Kentucky and Colorado.
“It’s not just going to a game or buying a piece of merchandise; it’s really, truly like an immersive experience for the fan,” said Nick Garner, executive vice president for Two Circles. “We want them to know that by joining the Blue & Gold Society, you will have the opportunity to do something that you couldn’t otherwise.”
Cruz said the venture could be instructive in letting UCLA know where fan strongholds exist outside of Los Angeles.
“It could maybe help one day dictate, like, OK, we have a massive fan base in this state,” Cruz said, “why don’t we try to play a game there or do something special there when we do play a team in that region, so I’m pretty excited about that.”
Heard on campus
Delays in the completion of UCLA’s new football practice fields outside the Wasserman Center, which have forced the Bruins to use Drake Stadium and the intramural fields, were twofold, according to an athletic department spokesperson.
The new grass and artificial turf fields were not completed before the season because of extended approval and bid processes after the project was submitted for campus approval in August 2024. Once construction started in July, the schedule for completion has remained on the expected timeline.
The Bruins could start using their new practice fields as soon as the last week of September. The estimated cost of the project is $2.9 million.
A blue-and-golden anniversary
There was another season debut at the Rose Bowl on Saturday.
The UCLA Alumni Band, entering its 50th anniversary, performed before the game to kick off a yearlong celebration.
The band will perform a two-hour concert in the Fan Zone outside the Rose Bowl starting three hours before every home UCLA football game — including a show with the UCLA spirit squad 90 minutes before kickoff — followed by a 30-minute concert in the Court of Champions starting 45 minutes before kickoff. All fans are welcome to attend.
Olympic sport spotlight: Women’s volleyball
The free agency era of college sports could be a great thing for this team.
Coming off a sub-.500 season, the UCLA women’s volleyball team restocked its roster with a bunch of highly coveted transfers. Among the new arrivals are outside hitter Maggie Li, a former Pac-12 Conference freshman of the year at California; Zayna Meyer, a former Big West Conference setter of the year at Long Beach State; middle blocker Phekran Kong, a onetime star at Louisville; and defensive specialist-libero Lola Schumacher, a former All-Big Ten freshman from Wisconsin.
They will join senior outside hitter Cheridyn Leverette, a returning first team All-Big Ten selection, in the bid for a breakthrough. UCLA opens the season Monday evening against Long Beach State at the Pyramid in Long Beach.
Opinion time
So, does UCLA’s football team rally immediately against the soft pocket of its schedule — consecutive games against UNLV, New Mexico and Northwestern — or fall further into despair before facing Penn State on Oct. 4 at the Rose Bowl?
Do you have a comment or something you’d like to see in a future UCLA newsletter? Email me at [email protected], and follow me on X @latbbolch. To order an autographed copy of my book, “100 Things UCLA Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die,” send me an email. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.
Hi, and welcome to another edition of Prep Rally. What’s a high school football season without scandal and success. It’s just happening in the opening week.
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Bishop Montgomery woes
Bishop Montgomery announced the firing of its football coach after weeks of turmoil that saw the program lose five transfer students to ineligibility, saw numerous players suspended for leaving the team bench during a loss in Hawaii and finally was forced to forfeit to Mater Dei because it did not have enough players to compete.
Valencia quarterback Brady Bretthauer has his team at 2-0.
(Craig Weston)
Valencia has come out with a 2-0 start behind its dynamic duo of quarterback Brady Bretthauer and running back Brian Bonner. Here’s a report from its victory over Chaminade.
Santa Margarita went to overtime to beat Corona Centennial and deliver a first victory for coach Carson Palmer. Here’s the report.
Loyola, despite losing more than a dozen players in the off season to transfers, upset Long Beach Millikan behind Stanford commit Max Meier, who had 10 tackles and two sacks.
Yorba Linda rallied for a win over Edison in a battle of top 25 teams. Here’s the report.
It was a rough opening game for Hamilton freshman quarterback Thaddeus Breaux. The Yankees lost to Gardena Serra 47-0. But Breaux showed off a strong arm and looked resilient, good qualities for the future. Hamilton plays Crenshaw on Friday. Here’s the report from the Serra loss.
Crenshaw is 2-0 but longtime coach Robert Garrett has not been on the sideline. Here’s a report.
Referee Charles Davis & Co. deserves the MVP award for Thursday, except next time he needs a police escort. Was referee at Hamilton for flag football game. Then was referee at L.A. High for afternoon 11-man game. Then was referee for Serra at Hamilton night game.
San Pedro and Carson rebounded from losses in their opening games to rout City Section opponents Kennedy and Dorsey.
University coach Bryan Robinson (left) and brother Jason Robinson, an assistant, with their father, 80-year-old EC Robinson, a former Locke and Uni coach.
(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)
The sons of former Locke and University coach EC Robinson have University at 2-0. Here’s the report.
Orange Lutheran (12-0) and JSerra (8-0) continue look like the top two teams in flag football and they will be meeting twice in league play with games on Sept. 30 and Oct. 9.
Redondo Union defeated San Pedro in the championship game to win the LA City Girls Flag Football Classic.
Agoura won the Malibu tournament championship. Kiyomi Kohno was named MVP.
It’s go tiime for Redondo Union in girls volleyball facing two huge tests this week. First up is a home match against 9-0 Marymount on Tuesday, followed by a road match against 7-1 Mater Dei.
Redondo Union is 13-1 and led by four-year starter Abby Zimmerman.
“Sea Hawks pull out a win vs. a TOUGH LB Poly team 25-20, 23-25, 25-11, 26-24 😎💪
Sea Hawks move to 9-1 on the year.
Next up, Thu 5:30 @ Bishop Montgomery
We had a SPECIAL guest before the match, All-American setter Kami Miner!! One of the ALL-TIME greats for Ruhs!!! pic.twitter.com/vJvgyB1BbF
Brandon McCoy gets fired up after a basket for St. John Bosco. He had 28 points in overtime win over Richmond Salesian.
(Nick Koza)
After rumors all summer that he would be transferring from St. John Bosco to Sierra Canyon, standout guard Brandon McCoy made it official, enrolling at the Chatsworth school last week. He didn’t attend St. John Bosco’s opening day of school last month, so it was only a question of the news becoming official. His arrival coincides with the arrival of JSerra transfer Brannon Martinsen at Sierra Canyon. The best player might be Maximo Adams, who’s being recruited by Duke and Kansas. It will make for a quite a Mission League season with Sherman Oaks Notre Dame, Harvard-Westlake and Crespi all having top players.
And don’t feel sorry for St. John Bosco, which picked up sophomore point guard Cam Anderson from Eastvale Roosevelt. . . .
Pauley Pavilion will be the site on Nov. 22 for a Mission League vs. Trinity League basketball challenge that features an 8:30 p.m. matchup of St. John Bosco vs. Harvard-Westlake. Santa Margarita will play Sherman Oaks Notre Dame at 7 p.m. and Sierra Canyon will face JSerra at 5:30 p.m as the featured matchups that begin at 9:30 a.m.. . . .
Cole Knupfer of St. John Bosco has committed to St. Mary’s for baseball. . . .
Sophomore 6-6 forward Evan Willis has transferred from Mater Dei to Crossroads. . . .
Tom Kelly is the new swim coach at Edison. He was at Crean Lutheran. . . .
Westlake pitcher Caden Atkinson has committed to UC San Diego. . . .
USA 18U baseball team headed to Japan. Anthony Murphy (Corona), James Clark (St. John Bosco), Jared Grindlinger (Huntington Beach), Jaden Jackson (St. John Bosco), Brody Schumaker (Santa Margarita) made the team.
Chaminade basketball coach Bryan Cantwell is such a big San Diego Padres fan that he listens to every game and his dogs are named Manny and Tatis. pic.twitter.com/3MWpZk0OMd
Loyola running back Tahj Owens on his way to scoring five touchdowns against Culver City in 2021.
(Brody Hannon)
Entering his senior season at Princeton, Tahj Owens is a former Loyola running back who’s become a key player at defensive back for Princeton. He started every game last season.
Do high school football players understand they are being filmed at all times during a game? Their actions and decisions will be publicized, for good or bad. That’s why it is so important to learn lessons from coaches about discipline. Yes, mistakes are made. It’s what you learn.
The feel good story is former Stanford walk-on WR Brycen Tremayne from Venice High (yes City Section) making Carolina Panthers 53-man roster. From 2020. https://t.co/5ObXY0IZ44
Soccer parents are not pleased at Newbury Park, Westlake and Thousand Oaks. The Conejo Valley Unified School District signed off on turf and stadium refurbishment starting Dec. 1, leaving 18 soccer teams without fields until February.
Have a question, comment or something you’d like to see in a future Prep Rally newsletter? Email me at [email protected], and follow me on Twitter at @latsondheimer.
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For over 40 years, Scott Anderson has been one of America’s most incisive foreign correspondents, filing dispatches from trouble spots around the world with a novelist’s eye and a talent for disentangling complex issues. The author of seven previous books, Anderson’s latest is “King of Kings,” an immersive history of the events that led to the 1979 downfall of the shah of Iran and the rise of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini’s theocratic republic. Anderson traces the roots of the Iranian revolution to the U.S. government’s sponsorship of the 1953 coup that restored Mohammad Reza Pahlavi to power. A creeping co-dependency between the U.S. and Iran followed, abetted by massive military and oil contracts, at the same time that U.S. representatives in Iran turned a blind eye to the shah’s abuses of power and, later, Khomeini’s anti-Western jihadism.
I spoke with Anderson about his book, and the long tail of missteps that led to the occupation of the United States Embassy by Khomeini’s followers on Nov. 4, 1979.
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✍️ Author Chat
Author Scott Anderson.
(Nanette Burstein)
The overall feeling I get reading the book is fecklessness and foot–dragging on the part of the American government in the service of protecting our oil sales and military contracts with Iran. There seems to be a complete misunderstanding of, well, just about everything.
Even after the revolution when Khomeini had come in — that nine month period before the hostages were taken — the Americans pretty much replicated the mistakes they’d made with the shah. There’s this whole idea of like, well, they’re going through this revolutionary anti-American fervor right now, but they need us. They’re going to come back around because our economies are so intertwined. All their weapons are American, so they’re going to need us to service them. So there’s just this manner that everything was going to work out and, of course, that became institutionalized.
With a few exceptions, none of the U.S. officials in Iran even spoke Farsi. You talk about how they had all those cassettes of Khomeini’s speeches in the drawers at the CIA and no one bothered to translate them.
So Khomeini comes back from exile on Feb. 1, 1979, with 4 million people greeting him. He goes to the cemetery to give his inaugural speech and the Americans don’t even send an embassy worker. They don’t even send a local out to the cemetery to hear the speech. They didn’t know whether it is a pro- or anti-American speech. It was just astonishing.
Do you feel like 1972 is the turning point? This is the year that President Nixon lifted all restrictions for arms sales to Iran.
I really do. And for what I think is a pretty interesting reason. The shah was a congenitally insecure man. He could never be affirmed enough. And it doesn’t matter how many presidents said, “You’re our man,” he always needed to hear more and more. So what happened in ’72 was the shah’s dream came true. He had knelt at the feet of FDR in 1943. Kennedy was dismissive of him. He had always been trying to push in the door with the Americans. He’d been humiliated again and again. And now he’s got carte blanche from Nixon and Kissinger. This is when you saw the huge escalation in arms purchases and the catapulting of the Iranian military into the first tier of militaries around the world.
Do you think the revolution could have been prevented?
I spent a lot of time studying the revolution as it unfolded, and what struck me was how mysterious the whole thing was, how it came to be. There were so many moments where the outcome might have been different. If the shah’s confidante Asadollah Alam hadn’t died in the early days of the revolution, for example, because he was decisive and the shah was not. There were so many odd quirks that took things down a certain path.
📰 The Week(s) in Books
Justin Currie, lead singer of Scottish rock band Del Amitri, chronicles his struggle with Parkinson’s in the book “The Tremolo Diaries.”
(Colin Constance)
“Helen Oyeyemi’s books are getting weirder — and I mean that in the best way,” Ilana Masad writes about the author’s new novel, “A New New Me.” “Such whimsy … could be overwhelming, but Oyeyemi is such a confident writer … that you know you are in good hands.”
R.F. Kuang’s new novel, “Katabasis,” is “a dark academic fantasy” that is “more mature and less showy” than the author’s earlier works, according to Valorie Castellanos Clark.
David Baron has written a book called “The Martians” about the frenzy over extraterrestrial life that gripped America at the turn of the 20th century, and Chris Vognar approves. Baron “approaches his subject with clarity, style and narrative drive,” he writes.
Finally, Stuart Miller talked with Justin Currie of the band Del Amitri about his new book, “The Tremolo Diaries,” about Currie’s struggles with Parkinson’s disease.
📖 Bookstore Faves
Malibu Village Books is the only general interest bookstore in Malibu. We spoke to owner Michelle Pierce about the beachside literary hub.
(Malibu Village Books)
Malibu Village Books is the first new bookstore to arrive in the beach city in 15 years. A small yet inviting space with a well curated selection of books, the store has had its share of challenges over the past year. I spoke to the store’s owner, Michelle Pierce, about it.
This is the first new bookstore to open in Malibu in quite some time. How did you come to open it?
I also own Lido Village Books in Newport Beach, and the owners of the Malibu Village Mall came by and liked what I was doing there, so they asked me if I wanted to open a store in their mall.
The fires have affected us enormously. With the Franklin fire, we lost so much of our holiday book sales, and then the Palisades fire shut down PCH for six months. So our sales are definitely down, and the summer tourism traffic has not been what it should be, so yes, we are definitely in a challenging period.
What about the locals? Are they shopping in your store?
Local residents are really excited that we’re here. We have a lot of active book clubs, and we’re working with the library on a lecture series at the Soho House, where we will bring in authors to speak. We’re still fighting, and the community is definitely supporting us. It’s true what they say — bookstores are all about community.
Malibu Village Books is located at 23359 Pacific Coast Highway #23359, Malibu, 90265.
Hi, and welcome to another edition of Prep Rally. I’m Eric Sondheimer. Let the bidding begin. A 15-year TV contract that the CIF signed with Time Warner Cable in 2011 ends in 2026. What will happen next?
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CIF seeks new TV deal
The California Interscholastic Federation is about to open up bidding for its television broadcast rights because a 15-year deal with Time Warner (now Spectrum) is ending on July 31, 2026.
Signed in 2011, the $8.5-million deal gave Time Warner Cable the rights to televise state championship games and playoffs. It turned out to be a boon for the CIF, because game rights fees for high school sports ended up declining. Charter Communications acquired Time Warner in 2016 and rebranded to Spectrum, which has struggled at times as to how to maximize its investment in the TV package. Spectrum recently signed a three-year deal to broadcast Southern Section games.
CIF executive director Ron Nocetti.
(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)
This year, the final payment of $952,422 is being made and will go into the CIF general operating budget. The deal started with a $550,000 payment and has gone up 4% each year. The CIF, which runs high school sports in California, uses money from membership fees, championship events and corporate sponsorships for its budget. The TV package is the largest financial deal among the sponsorships and helps reduce dues charged to schools.
Executive Director Ron Nocetti said the CIF will soon initiate a request for proposals and put it out for bidding. The market has changed considerably since 2011, with online streaming coverage of high school events surpassing linear coverage.
It will be interesting to see which media companies decide to bid, how much money they are willing to pay and how long the contract might last.
Another contract ending next year is with SBLive, which originally was trying to compete with MaxPreps and help the CIF design a way for fans to get immediate scores from games. SBLive changed its focus, entered into a partnership in 2021 with The Arena Group and in 2024 joined Minute Media, which runs Sports Illustrated sites. MaxPreps has moved to take further control of the prep sports scene after being acquired in April by PlayOnSports, the owner of GoFan and the NFHS Network, which started streaming a national game of the week.
This changing world of high school sports offers opportunities for the CIF to expand its media reach but also possible pitfalls depending on how media companies view the future.
How it started
Eric interviewing Sophomore Tajh Ariza after a basketball game. Son of Trevor Ariza. Taken December 2022.
(Nick Koza)
Starting with John Elway as a high school student at Granada Hills High in the 1970s, my journey covering prep sports has been going on for 49 years. It’s been quite a journey.
My mission has always been to entertain, inform and make a difference. There’s no reason to quit something you enjoy as long as the challenges keep coming and the athletes keep getting better and better with personalities that make you laugh and cry.
The opening weekend of Southern Section football saw a terrific matchup of top 10 teams: Mission Viejo vs. Santa Margarita. It turned out to be a defensive struggle until Ohio State-bound quarterback Luke Fahey struck late in the third quarter with a 33-yard touchdown pass to Jack Junker to give the Diablos a 7-3 victory. Here’s the report.
Three Trinity League teams — Mater Dei, St. John Bosco and Orange Lutheran — traveled to Florida for games, and each one came home with a victory. Here’s the report. Mater Dei plays Bishop Montgomery on Friday at home. Bishop Montgomery went to Hawaii and lost to St. Louis in Honolulu 34-27 in a game that ended with 51 seconds left when players from both sides left benches. Here’s the report.
Huntington Beach showed off its passing attack in a win over Orange. Here’s the report.
Corona Centennial defeated Servite 42-14 to give coach Matt Logan victory No. 296 in his 29 years with the Huskies.
Granada Hills Kennedy quarterback Diego Montes, right, and Eagle Rock quarterback Liam Pasten stand next to each other after Kennedy’s 59-56 win on Friday night.
(Benjamin Royer / For The Times)
The best high school football game of the weekend belonged to City Section teams Kennedy and Eagle Rock in a battle of All-City quarterbacks. After more than three hours, 15 touchdowns and the game ending past 11 p.m., Kennedy prevailed 59-56 on a late touchdown by Diego Montes. Here’s the report on the drama.
Granada Hills’ Troy Versa makes interception in 50-16 win over North Hollywood.
(Craig Weston)
Granada Hills rushed for 420 yards with no passing yards or attempts in an impressive 50-16 win over North Hollywood. Here’s the report.
Birmingham knocked off Hart 24-14 in a sign the Patriots are clearly the No. 1 team in the City Section. Quarterback Kevin Hawkins ran for more than 150 yards and Jimmy Renteria had a touchdown on a fake punt, catching a pass and also recovered a fumble.
Crenshaw defeated Fairfax 37-6 to give coach Robert Garrett victory No. 291.
Teams will be playing Thursday this week, with Dorsey at Carson a big one for future playoff seedings. Also Hamilton opens up its new stadium Thursday against Gardena Serra.
These three City Section football teams have forfeited their opening games: Dymally, Maya Angelou and West Adams. Sotomayor may not have a team this season. No Sotomayor games scheduled until Oct. 3. Teams can either take forfeit or schedule another opponent.
JSerra is unbeaten and looking like a challenger to Orange Lutheran. The Lions won their own tournament championship with a 19-0 win over Carlsbad.
The JSerra Girls Flag Football team remained undefeated and claimed the Surf Division championship at the inaugural Surf & Turf Invitational on Saturday, as the Lions blanked the Carlsbad Lancers 19-0 in the title game at JSerra Catholic High School.
Redondo Union hosts Long Beach Poly on Tuesday in a big nonleague match in preparation for a showdown against Marymount on Sept. 2.
Prep talk
Athletic trainer Jonathan Rivas of Culver City helped save an athlete who went into cardiac arrest last spring.
(George Laase)
Every day, there’s positive information coming from high school sports. That’s Prep talk. Here are last week’s stories.
Athletic trainer Jonathan Rivas saved an athlete last spring in cardiac arrest. Here’s a report.
Mira Costa’s special teams trio of punter Jackson Shevin (left), snapper Jackson Reach and kicker Nico Talbott.
(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)
Mira Costa has a trio to make its special teams pretty good this football season. Here’s a report.
Harvard-Westlake started the girls’ volleyball season 7-0 under a first-year coach. Here’s a report.
John Michael Flint is quite a two-sport star at Bishop Diego with a 38-inch vertical leap. Here’s a report.
Ty Plinski of Corona Centennial became a media sensation with his one-handed catch on Friday night. Here’s a report.
Notes . . .
High school sports participation has risen to record levels aided by one of the new sports, girls flag football. Here’s the report. . . .
Last season’s Southern Section singles tennis champion, Sophie Suh of Orange Lutheran, will not be playing for the team this season. The sophomore will be focusing on the International Tennis Federation circuit. . . .
Grant Leary of Crespi won the Southern Section individual golf championship. He’s also a photographer for the Yearbook.
(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)
Crespi golfer Grant Leary, the winner of the Southern Section individual title last season, has committed to San Jose State. . . .
The Downey vs. Warren football game on Oct. 24 has been moved to Dignity Health Sports Park at Cal State Dominguez Hills at 7 p.m. . . . .
Richard Schroeder is the new baseball coach at San Marcos. . . .
Beverly Hills basketball coach Jarvis Turner announces he is stepping down as coach. A tough loss to the basketball community. pic.twitter.com/Ulj8OgXreR
After 16 years as basketball coach at Beverly Hills, Jarvis Turner announced he has stepped down. . . .
Orange Lutheran girls water polo coach Brenda Villa has resigned to become associate head coach at Stanford. She’s a former Olympian and won two Open Division championships coaching the Lancers. . . .
Omari Cuffe, a 6-foot-4 junior basketball player who’s played sparingly the last two seasons at St. Pius X-St. Matthias, has transferred to Loyola. So has senior guard Deuce Newt from Campbell Hall. Newt started at times. Loyola has a new coach, Cameron Joyce. . . .
St. Francis basketball coach Todd Wolfson said his school has received a 7-foot-4 transfer in Cherif Millogo from Burkina Faso. Mater Dei has transfers from IMG Academy and the state of Oregon. . . .
Corona del Mar water polo standout Nathan Simoncelli has committed to USC. . . .
Pitcher Colten Rainer of Royal has committed to UCLA. He was throwing in the 90s this summer in a major improvement. He’s the younger brother of former Harvard-Westlake star Bryce Rainer, a first-round pick of the Detroit Tigers last season. Other UCLA commitments include pitchers Garrett Jacobs (Mira Costa) and Robert Zimmerman (Redondo Union) and outfielder Jaden Jackson (St. John Bosco). . . .
Rob Loehle is the new boys basketball coach at Simi Valley. . . .
Nareg Kopooshian, head coach of AGBU, has been appointed as the head coach of the FIBA Armenia U16 National Team by the Armenia Basketball Federation. The Eurobasketball competition is scheduled for the summer of 2026. . . .
Pitcher Jake Chung of Harvard-Westlake has committed to Brown.
From the archives: Lars Nootbaar
St. Louis Cardinals’ Lars Nootbaar celebrates with teammates in 2021.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Former El Segundo and USC standout Lars Nootbaar has been in the major leagues for the St. Louis Cardinals since 2021.
He was a much decorated athlete during his days at El Segundo as the school’s quarterback in football and star baseball player.
From Texas A&M, a story on how youth sports can create future leaders or future cheaters.
From the Los Angeles Times, a story on how Carson Palmer views coaching high school football.
From the Daily Pilot, a story on two Huntington Beach surfers creating a documentary.
From the Washington Post, a story on premium seating in high school sports.
From the Los Angeles Times, a question and answer with former USC quarterback and Orange County legend Todd Marinovich.
Tweets you might have missed
True freshman Bear Bachmeier is going to start at QB for Brigham Young. Here’s a profile from 2023 that explains his talent and instincts. https://t.co/oAt91fNknt
The Mission League keeps getting stronger in all sports. Arriving at Harvard-Westlake is freshman Calvin Portley, who’s run a 10.74 100 meters. Also plays baseball, so beware catchers trying to throw him out stealing.
Who knew that cutting hair has become such a lucrative business for high school students. Besides Eagle Rock All-City QB Liam Pasten cutting his teammates’ hair, Kennedy All-City QB Diego Montes gets his hair cut by receiver Miguel De La Torre. There’s an MTV show in this.
Here’s a first: No fight reports from the officials in City Section 11-man football in the opening week. But there was one fight for girls flag football. The boys behaving. The girls, well . . .
Have a question, comment or something you’d like to see in a future Prep Rally newsletter? Email me at [email protected], and follow me on Twitter at @latsondheimer.
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Greg Biggins, the 247Sports.com college football recruiting analyst who is one of the best in the nation at what he does, likes to say that you need dudes to win big.
No one has won a national championship in the College Football Playoff era whose roster wasn’t at least halfway stocked with four- and five-star players. Only a handful of teams have made the title game without meeting that blue-chip ratio — and they’ve been walloped.
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“So you’ve got to have dudes, you have to have talent,” Biggins recently told The Times. “Coaching and development is huge, but you take coaching and development with guys who look like [star Ohio State wide receiver] Jeremiah Smith, now that’s a different level altogether.”
As UCLA’s DeShaun Foster prepares to open his second season as the head coach at his alma mater, he’s increasingly replenished his roster with dudes. Transfer quarterback Nico Iamaleava is a five-star talent, and 13 other players who arrived through the transfer portal were rated as four stars either coming out of high school or as a transfer.
While the Bruins’ blue-chip ratio still falls well short of 50%, it’s creeping upward. But as Biggins mentioned, coaching and development also matter. Former UCLA linebacker Carson Schwesinger, who received zero stars coming out of high school, is now with the Cleveland Browns after being selected in the second round of the NFL draft.
For the Bruins to have the breakthrough they’re seeking under Foster, they will need both blue-chippers and less heralded prospects to emerge as stars. Here are 10 players who must become dudes for UCLA to succeed in 2025:
Offense
QB Nico Iamaleava: Well, duh. UCLA is not going to have the kind of season it wants unless its quarterback puts himself in the conversation for the school’s best player at the position since Brett Hundley. (Sorry, Dorian Thompson-Robinson and Josh Rosen, eight- and nine-win seasons don’t suffice.) Efficiency will tell the story. If Iamaleava exceeds his 2024 accuracy, when he completed 63.8% of his passes and tallied nearly four times as many touchdowns (19) as interceptions (five), then the Bruins will be in business.
OT Courtland Ford: Quickly slotting into the starting left tackle spot in spring practices, Ford projects to have his biggest role since he started the first eight games of the 2021 season at USC. He went on to become a part-time starter with the Trojans in 2022 and at Kentucky in 2023 and 2024 before transferring to UCLA. The hope is that he can provide stability and bolster an offensive line that was a major weakness last season amid several injuries at left tackle.
RB Jaivian Thomas: Jaydn who? Foster likes to point out that Thomas was the top tailback at California last season despite Jaydn Ott receiving much of the hype. There’s a widespread expectation that Thomas will reprise that role with the Bruins as part of a deep group of running backs that also includes Jalen Berger, Anthony Woods, Anthony Frias II and Karson Cox. While each of those players holds promise, Thomas appears to have the biggest upside given his speed, patience and vision.
WR Kwazi Gilmer: Often by Iamaleava’s side getting off the team bus at training camp, Gilmer quickly established a narrative of becoming his quarterback’s go-to receiver. The duo established a strong connection during the short practice viewing window open to the media, Iamaleava often finding the speedy and shifty Gilmer in the end zone. It’s easy to envision Gilmer more than doubling his output from 2024, when he caught 31 passes for 345 yards and two touchdowns. Gilmer showed some swagger by saying he wanted to win the Biletnikoff Award that goes to the nation’s top college receiver; now he’s got to back up those words.
TE Hudson Habermehl: After shedding his surfer look, those long blond locks replaced by a far more streamlined hairstyle, Hambermehl yearns to reintroduce himself as a sleeker, more productive version of the player Bruins fans last saw in the spring of 2024. That’s when he suffered a season-ending anterior cruciate ligament injury that would require two surgeries and more than a year of recovery. Now Habermehl is back, ready to become the team’s most targeted tight end while exceeding his 2023 production (nine catches for 148 yards and three touchdowns).
Defense
LB JonJon Vaughns: Having abandoned his baseball pursuits for football full time, Vaughns needs to slide into a starring role. He’s shown glimpses of promise, particularly during a 2022 season in which he started 11 games and made two interceptions and five pass breakups. Now comes the challenge of sustaining that sort of production while leading a defense that thirsts for new playmakers to emerge at every position.
S Key Lawrence: Perhaps the most energetic player on the team, the Mississippi transfer also boasts plenty of talent thanks to his combination of speed and smarts. Barring a setback from the minor right leg injury he sustained midway through training camp, Lawrence projects to be an opening-day starter. He’ll need to anchor a secondary that’s replacing every starter.
Edge Devin Aupiu: UCLA’s pass rush was meh last season, generating 22 sacks to rank tied for No. 78 in the nation. As a part-time starter, Aupiu made 4½ tackles for loss, including 1½ sacks — decent production given his role and easily the most among returning players. Getting into the backfield more often this season is a must for the redshirt senior.
DT Gary Smith III: Most successful diets don’t end with someone weighing 340 pounds. But after shedding 20 pounds thanks to what he described as clean eating, Smith appears slimmer, stronger and more explosive in his return from the ankle injury that sidelined him all of last season. He posted a video of his squatting a team-high 700 pounds and could combine with fellow interior defensive lineman Keanu Williams to make running up the middle the place where ambitions go to die for opposing tailbacks.
LB Isaiah Chisom: In case Chisom was tempted to get cocky after one season at Oregon State in which he was selected a freshman All-American by The Athletic, he lost out to new UCLA teammate Jalen Woods in the battle to keep his No. 9 jersey. Maybe every time he glances at his No. 32, it will remind him of the work he needs to put in to become a super sophomore.
Olympic sport spotlight: Men’s soccer
The program that produced Sigi Schmid, Cobi Jones and Paul Caligiuri hasn’t been in the news much lately.
UCLA men’s soccer has not made it past the Round of 16 in the NCAA tournament since reaching the finals in 2014, when it lost to Virginia. The Briuns’ last national championship came in 2002.
Could 2025 be a breakthrough year?
Answers will start to emerge once the Bruins open the season Thursday evening at UC Irvine. UCLA returns four starters, including junior midfielder Philip Naef, who led the team last season with 10 assists — the most since Jackson Yueill also reached double digits in 2016. A bevy of talented freshmen from the nation’s top-ranked recruiting class, according to TopDrawerSoccer, should also help coach Ryan Jorden’s bid to guide his team deep into the NCAA tournament.
Alumni watch
UCLA linebacker Carson Schwesinger at the NFL football combine earlier this year.
(Michael Conroy / Associated Press)
Carson Schwesinger’s incredible ascent continues.
The linebacker who was essentially unwanted out of Oaks Christian High when UCLA snagged him with a walk-on spot impressed in his NFL preseason debut, leading the Cleveland Browns with six tackles during a 30-10 exhibition victory over the Carolina Panthers.
Making that production all the more impressive, it came in only 13 snaps. Maybe that transition from college to the NFL isn’t so hard after all.
“I mean, I think there’s always going to be a difference going to the next level,” Schwesinger told reporters after the game, “but we’ve been practicing against it so much now that it’s something that I’m getting used to. So there wasn’t a huge difference, I would say, from practice to the game. I think that’s because of how we practice.”
Remember when?
UCLA quarterback Mike Fafaul gets away from Utah defensive back Justin Thomas in a 2016 matchup.
(Mark J. Terrill / Associated Press)
My favorite UCLA-Utah game felt like one played in an alternate universe.
The Bruins, who ran what could have been called the “Point-Three Yards and a Cloud of Dust” offense under Kennedy Polamalu in 2016, came out in a spread, no-huddle, hurry-up formation against the Utes for the first time all season.
It might have resulted in a UCLA victory had the Bruins’ defense showed up.
Utah running back Joe Williams ran for a school-record 332 yards and four touchdowns during the Utes’ thrilling 52-45 victory, overcoming a record-setting day for UCLA quarterback Mike Fafaul. Continuing to start in place of the injured Josh Rosen, Fafaul completed 40 of 70 passes for a career-high 464 yards and five touchdowns while breaking Rosen’s previous school records for completions (34) and pass attempts (57).
In a lost season for the Bruins, this was as entertaining as it got.
We asked, “Which UCLA football player not named Nico Iamaleava will be the team’s most important in 2025?” and gave you five choices: offensive tackle Courtland Ford, running back Jaivian Thomas, wide receiver Kwazi Gilmer, defensive tackle Gary Smith III or linebacker Isaiah Chisom.
After 534 votes, the results:
Running back Jaivian Thomas, 37.4% Wide receiver Kwazi Gilmer, 23.7% Offensive tackle Courtland Ford, 17.6% Defensive tackle Gary Smith III, 17.4% Linebacker Isaiah Chisom, 3.9%
Opinion time
UCLA’s 2025 football schedule features a handful of games that scream intrigue.
The opener against Utah is a battle of former Pac-12 rivals. A showdown against presumed national title contender Penn State could match undefeated teams if the Bruins get off to a hot start. The game at Ohio State provides fans willing to travel more than halfway across the country a chance to visit one of college football’s top venues. The rivalry game at USC speaks for itself.
Do you have a comment or something you’d like to see in a future UCLA newsletter? Email me at [email protected], and follow me on X @latbbolch. To order an autographed copy of my book, “100 Things UCLA Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die,” send me an email. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.
Hi, and welcome to another edition of Prep Rally. Zero week has arrived for high school football. Let’s examine some of the big games.
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Showdown openers
Eagle Rock All-City quarterback Liam Pasten is 6 feet 1 and 145 pounds.
(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)
After months of preparation, the high school football season begins this weekend. Here are some attractive games to watch.
North Hollywood at Granada Hills. If you want to see a game that lasts less than 90 minutes, this Thursday game is it. Two double-wing teams running the ball again and again. They played in last year’s City playoffs. You better eat that hot dog quick. The pick: Granada Hills.
Mayfair vs. Yorba Linda at SoFi Stadium, 5 p.m.. You’ll have to pay a hefty fee for parking and to get in on Thursday night, but Yorba Linda is a top 25 team. The pick: Yorba Linda.
Eagle Rock at Kennedy. It’s two All-City quarterbacks going at it on Friday night, with Liam Pasten vs. Diego Montes. Both teams are favored to win their respective leagues, so this is big for playoff seedings. The pick: Eagle Rock.
Leuzinger vs. Long Beach Poly at Veterans Stadium. It’s the senior season for the little running back that will run through a brick wall if needed, Leuzinger’s Journee Tonga. Combined with quarterback Russell Sekona, that’s a formidable duo. Poly returns veteran quarterback Deuce Jefferson for first-year coach Justin Utupo. Look for a close, intense matchup. The pick: Leuzinger.
Mission Viejo vs. Santa Margarita at Trabuco Hills. Carson Palmer debuts as head coach for the Eagles, which have perhaps the toughest schedule in Southern California. It won’t be easy taking down quarterback Luke Fahey & Co., but the return of Trent Mosley at receiver, the arrival of Trace Johnson at quarterback and a strong defensive line makes this the most intriguing game of the night. The pick: Mission Viejo.
Downey at Sherman Oaks Notre Dame. Downey quarterback Oscar Rios is a magician with his arm and legs. Notre Dame won’t have USC commit Luc Weaver at receiver (injured). Quarterback Wyatt Brown debuts for the Knights. This game is certain to go down to the final seconds. The pick: Downey.
JSerra at Sierra Canyon. Keep track of touchdowns allowed by Sierra Canyon this season. There won’t be many. That’s how good defensively the Trailblazers are. Sierra Canyon has aspirations of being a Final Four team in Division 1 and this will be the first big test. The pick: Sierra Canyon.
Newbury Park at Long Beach Millikan. It’s the final season for quarterback Brady Smigiel, and he’ll have to wait until the sit-out period ends to get his full complement of receivers, giving Millikan the opening to try for an upset. The pick: Newbury Park.
Hart at Birmingham. The Patriots begin their annual five-game stretch of playing Southern Section teams. They intend to feature an offensive line filled with 300 pounders. One lineman won the pizza eating contest with 10 slices in seven minutes. Hart returns a veteran quarterback in Jacob Paisano. The pick: Hart.
Orange Lutheran at Miami Northwestern. This was supposed to be a big national game, with Teddy Bridgewater coaching Northwestern. He was suspended, so now Orange Lutheran gets to show off its powerful offensive and defensive lines to help its new quarterbacks. The pick: Orange Lutheran.
St. John Bosco at Bradenton (Fla.) Manatee. The Braves get a nice trip to Florida to show off their many skill-position players. The pick: St. John Bosco.
Mater Dei at Florida St. Aquinas. It’s another national TV game on Saturday in which the No. 1-ranked Monarchs are going to dominate. Who’s going to stop their exceptional receiving group featuring tight end Mark Bowman, a USC commit, and two Ohio State commits? The answer is no one. The pick: Mater Dei.
Cousins Diego Montes (left) and James Montes of Kennedy.
(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)
The Valley Mission League held a media day. Kennedy and San Fernando are considered the league favorites but don’t forget about Van Nuys and quarterback Carlos Herrera. Here’s a report.
Valencia running back Brian Bonner on why he stayed four years at the same high school: “The coaches showed me a lot of love the past four years. If I’m doing fine at Valencia, there’s no reason to leave and go somewhere else.” pic.twitter.com/mK9rJx9vAQ
Simi Valley’s Micah Hannah makes interception against Spanish Springs.
(Craig Weston)
There were three games played last week with Los Alamitos and Long Beach Millikan picking up wins. Here’s a report.
West Adams, Dymally and Maya Angelou canceled games this week in the City Section because rosters were not ready to play.
Prep series
Defensive tackle Mikhal Johnson of Sierra Canyon makes his first ever reception on tackle eligible play to score go-ahead touchdown in 21-20 win over Gardena Serra last season.
(Craig Weston)
The Times’ nine-part series previewing top high school football players continues this week with top linebackers on Monday.
Dos Pueblos came close to pulling off the shocker of the early season in flag football, taking unbeaten Orange Lutheran to triple overtime before falling 23-21 in the championship game of a tournament at Beckman High.
Freshman quarterback Kate Meier connected on a single game school record six touchdown passes, including three scoring passes to junior G.G. Szczuka, as the JSerra Girls Flag Football team easily dispatched Santiago High of Corona, 45-6, in a nonleague contest on Thursday at… pic.twitter.com/cRrD1V0w6g
JSerra has three of the best freshmen players in Tessa Russell, Katie Meier and Ava Irwin. Irwin is the sister of former Hart, Stanford and NFL receiver Trent Irwin, so catching passes comes in the family.
The JSerra Girls Flag Football team started its’ 2025 season in victorious fashion on Monday, as the Lions defeated the Downey Vikings 32-7 in a nonleague clash at JSerra Catholic High School.
After an interception in the first quarter by junior Bria Johnson, freshman Tessa… pic.twitter.com/XlGCxFgpgx
Redondo Union started the season going 8-1 in Hawaii, including a win over Sierra Canyon, to finish runner-up in the Iolani tournament.
Sea Hawks fight bravely but go down 0-2 to Byron Nelson in the finals of the Iolani Tourney. Start the season 8-1. Congrats to all tourney picks Abby Zimmerman, Taylor Boice & Rowan Devore 😎💪🤙🏐👏👏 pic.twitter.com/u6XMysF1hC
Logan Brooks from El Segundo has committed to San Diego baseball. . . .
Guard Nick Giarrusso has transferred from Oaks Christian to Crean Lutheran. . . .
One of the state’s top basketball players, Brandon McCoy, is not returning to St. John Bosco for his senior season. He was not enrolled when classes began this week. There has been speculation he might transfer to Sierra Canyon. Top Eastvale Roosevelt sophomore guard Cam Anderson has enrolled at St. John Bosco. . . .
Capistrano Valley has added a football game against Crean Lutheran on Sept. 5. Most notable: Capistrano Valley’s head coach, Sean Curtis, is the son of Crean Lutheran coach Rick Curtis. Someone is going to have to pay for dinner after a loss. . . .
Offensive lineman Blake Graham of Leuzinger has committed to Cal Poly. . . .
Eagle Rock is scheduled to get a new football field and new track in 2026. Construction would begin in December. . . .
Erik Zimmerman is the new boys water polo coach at Mater Dei. . . .
Junior outfielder Tyler Vladic of Cypress has committed to Oregon. . . .
St. Francis quarterback Shawn Sanders suffered a broken collarbone in a scrimmage last week and will be sidelined at least a month. . . .
Newport Harbor water polo standout Kai Kaneko has committed to Stanford. . . .
Santa Margarita softball player Camryn Legeny has committed to Utah State. . . .
Defensive back Dillon Booth from Crean Lutheran has committed to Hawaii. . . .
Pierce College has closed its cross-country course for 2025, forcing City Section schools to scramble for a new site. Here’s the report. , , ,
Pete Cassidy, a former basketball coach and teacher at St. Genevieve and later Sherman Oaks Notre Dame, has died. He was always confused with the late former basketball coach with the same name at Cal State Northridge. He became a much-beloved teacher at Notre Dame and lover of sports who’d ride his bike to games.
From the archives: Lorenzo Booker
Lorenzo Booker was once one of the top running backs in California, if not the nation, in 2001 at St. Bonaventure. He ended up playing for Florida State and had four seasons in the NFL after being a third-round draft pick, retiring in 2012. He’s a member of the Ventura County Hall of Fame, He played on three unbeaten St. Bonaventure teams and rushed for nearly 8,500 yards and 137 touchdowns.
Now he’s an assistant coach at Newbury Park with another former St. Bonaventure standout, Whitney Lewis. His son played for the Panthers last season.
From 13wmaz.com, a story on new high school transfer requirements in Georgia.
From the Los Angeles Times, a story on Jaime and Gabriella Jaquez hosting a basketball camp.
From Deseret.com, a story on former Murrieta Valley QB Bear Bachmeier challenging for starting job at BYU.
From SI.com, a story on former Santa Margarita football player Jacob Bower making impact at Nebraska.
From MaxPreps, a story on more than 100 former NFL players being high school coaches this season.
Tweets you might have missed
Max Baker, Finley Green, Quinn Boehle, Lucas Keldorf, Brody Brooks. Incoming freshmen at Loyola High and all members of 2023 El Segundo champion Little League team. They’re all grown up. pic.twitter.com/yDBD5R3k7W
The new Garfield stadium field is officially open for use. Ruben Torres, Patrick Vargas, Lorenzo Hernandez. Waiting for the B-2 flyover. pic.twitter.com/SMwtipJzGF
Good news to report. The cancer has been removed. Loyola volleyball coach Michael Boehle is moving on with his life. Surgery worked. Back to work. https://t.co/OYBhEnwGlL
During a presentation about the reconstruction at Palisades High, LAUSD official said, “Best baseball field in the city, I hope, in a couple of years.” Right now no field as temporary bungalows took over. Reconstruction won’t be finished until late 2028. New track coming.
Congratulations to Bosco Baseball’s James Clark, Julian Garcia, and Jaden Jackson for performing tremendously at the Area Code Games. All three represented Bosco well and displayed their immense talent on one of amateur baseball’s biggest stages! #boscobaseball#boscobuilt… pic.twitter.com/G3NRmQhlZ8
On behalf of all sportswriters, is there any school or league in the Southern Section that would like to sponsor a bylaw requiring numerical rosters to be sent in to the Southern Section? The City Section has requirement for exchanging rosters before football games.
Baldwin Park’s Elvis Diaz was asked about the possibility of being the last Braves football team. Schools with Indian nicknames must change by next season. Diaz’s response was awesome. pic.twitter.com/H4lQnQDRU9
It really has come to the point we have to start saluting top high school football players who stayed for four years at the same high school. So let’s go. 10 weeks of thanks. Brady Smigiel, Newbury Park; Madden Williams, St. John Bosco; Madden Riordan, Sierra Canyon.
Have a question, comment or something you’d like to see in a future Prep Rally newsletter? Email me at [email protected], and follow me on X at @latsondheimer.
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Every man, woman and child deserves only the best fan experience at the Rose Bowl.
Too few are getting it, leading to dwindling UCLA football attendance over the last decade-plus.
The sad phenomenon is only partly attributable to mediocre teams. In 2022, the Bruins got off to a 6-0 start, rising to No. 9 in the national rankings, and still averaged just 41,593 fans for home games over the season.
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There’s an endless list of excuses for not making the drive to Pasadena. It’s too far. Traffic’s too bad. Games are too expensive. The weather’s too hot. The opponent is from the Sun Belt Conference. The Bruins are out of contention for anything meaningful. The game’s on a Friday. The game time wasn’t announced until less than a week before kickoff. The game starts too early. The game starts too late.
Since it’s not possible to move the stadium closer to campus or lower the temperature in August or September, we’re offering eight ways to make a day of Bruins football more enticing. Some of these suggestions might seem as realistic as moving the San Gabriel Mountains, but who ever imagined that UCLA would play in the Big Ten?
Give freebies: The best way to help fans stretch their entertainment dollar is to let them keep it.
Tickets are reasonably priced given they sometimes go for next to nothing on the secondary market and currently can be bought for as low as $43 for some games through UCLA, but how about offering free parking? Even if this is a cost the school has to subsidize, free parking would be a tremendous lure and goodwill gesture.
Students also should get in free. While student attendance has been robust since athletic director Martin Jarmond and his staff implemented several initiatives, it would make sense to have even more of the stadium packed with a segment of fans who tend to make the most noise and create the best atmosphere. It would also build lifelong loyalty and help pack the Rose Bowl with alumni in future seasons.
Eliminate six-day selection: Just tell us the kickoff times already. People need to plan their lives.
As of early August, the only home games with known kickoff times are the opener against Utah on Aug. 30, which starts at 8 p.m. (yikes), and a Friday game against New Mexico on Sept. 12 that starts at 7 p.m. (good luck getting to the Rose Bowl in weekday evening traffic).
The other four home games — against Penn State, Maryland, Nebraska and Washington — all come with the dreaded TBD tag.
The uncertainty is, of course, a function of television running the sports world, waiting for the best matchups to fill prime-time slots. Fox executives don’t want to miss out on possible surprises, such as undefeated Maryland coming to the Rose Bowl in mid-October to face nationally-ranked UCLA.
Some kickoff times will be announced once it becomes clear how good the Bruins are; others won’t be known until six days before the game. The indecisiveness hurts attendance given that many fans like to plan their schedules way more than a week in advance.
No more Friday night lights: This is something else that can be blamed on greedy TV execs and conference commissioners.
Fridays should be reserved for high school football, not college games that seem out of place. And the fans seem to agree.
Recent UCLA games played on Fridays haven’t generated big crowds. Even a showdown between unbeatens when the Bruins faced Washington in 2022 drew just 41,343.
When it comes to Friday college football games, just don’t do it.
Start every game in the afternoon or early evening: Nobody wants to be getting home from the Rose Bowl after midnight.
Games that start too late also miss one of the most glorious sites in college football: sunset over the San Gabriel Mountains.
Ideal kickoff times are early to mid-afternoon, which don’t make you set an alarm clock and allow you to get home in time to watch some game involving Hawaii or Boise State.
Bring in a live bear cub mascot: How much fun would it be to have a baby bear on the sideline at the Rose Bowl?
Imagine the possibilities involving “Fuzzy,” our preferred nickname. Snuggle with Fuzzy. Get your picture taken with Fuzzy. Put your fours up with Fuzzy.
Since we can feel the outrage from animal-rights activists, let’s point out that Colorado has a massive buffalo running onto the field at its home games and that UCLA once had its own live-bear mascots for games at the Coliseum into the early 1960s.
Attacked by a bear in 1932
(Los Angeles Times)
Fuzzy could probably only stick around for a season or two until he got too big and possibly tempted to chomp on someone (which actually happened in 1932). Then it would be time to introduce Fuzzy II.
Get the towel waver back on the sideline: In more than a century of UCLA football, Ed Kezirian holds the distinction of being the school’s only unbeaten coach.
OK, so he coached just one game, taking over for the Las Vegas Bowl in 2002 after the dismissal of Bob Toledo. But Kezirian is even more widely known for waving a white towel on the sideline to get players — and fans — juiced.
It was a tradition that started in 1994, coinciding with a missed Stanford field goal and a Bruins win, and formally ending in 2007 with Kezirian’s retirement as the football team’s director of academic services. It’s time to get those towels flapping again.
Wear more alternate uniforms: Fans love this stuff.
Need we remind you of all the uniform and helmet combinations at Oregon, where the Ducks sold out 110 consecutive games between 1999 and 2016?
Partnering with Nike and Jordan Brand means that there’s no shortage of cool (and marketable) possibilities for the Bruins when it comes to getting creative. Wearing all white uniforms or Gary Beban-era throwback blues once a season isn’t enough.
Bring back Geoffrey Strand on a limited basis:
Imagine the fourth quarter of a taut game, the Bruins needing to drive 75 yards for the go-ahead score against Penn State.
That would be the perfect time to unveil a secret, deafening weapon.
“All right, I need every man, woman and child on their feet!” Strand would yell through a microphone, triggering a huge roar.
The world’s oldest cheerleader hung up his tattered blue-and-yellow sweater and newsboy cap after the 2013 season, a year after he was briefly suspended for referencing the Taliban in cheers and allegedly using a golf cart without authorization.
But no one loves UCLA more, and no one could revitalize his alma mater quite like him.
Finding a new voice
Josh Lewin, UCLA’s lead radio announcer, has gone Hollywood.
Don’t worry, not in that way; he’s just taking a cue from his environment.
“This is L.A.” Lewin said, “and this is where creative things get made.”
Given an extended break in his schedule after calling his last Major League Baseball game in 2019, Lewin has pivoted to producing a series of soccer documentaries in his free time between the end of the Bruins men’s basketball season and the start of the football season.
His latest project, a series on Cambridge United Football Club’s attempt to extricate itself from hard times, will air its third and final segment Saturday on CBS Sports Network. It’s the sixth documentary that Lewin has produced, including others on English and American soccer.
“I’m building the airplane as I’m flying it — I mean, I never went to film school, never went to business school,” said Lewin, who earlier this year launched Josh Lewin Productions. “I really only trained to be a play-by-play guy and that’s been great, it’s made me a nice living and I love doing it, but this is just a really interesting way to learn how to connect with fans at kind of a deeper level.”
Lewin’s first project, “Five Dollar Derby,” pitted three American owners of English soccer teams against one another in a manner reminiscent of “Trading Places” — the owners placed a $5 bet among themselves to see who would fare the best. You can watch a trailer for “Five Dollar Derby” here.
When he started making documentaries, Lewin fully immersed himself in every aspect. He wrote, produced, directed, narrated and served as musical director — “everything but key grip,” he quipped — but has since ceded some of those duties to others with more experience to enhance the production quality.
“It’s been a really interesting side hustle, I guess you could call it,” Lewin said. “I’ve learned so much about soccer, England and filmmaking, three things that I really didn’t have on my plate before all this happened.”
After calling the Rams’ game against Dallas on Saturday at SoFi Stadium for Compass Media Network, Lewin will savor the airing of his soccer documentary before preparing to shift back into his usual work flow.
“That’s the perfect time to hit the pause button,” Lewin said, “because Bruins season begins exactly two weeks later and there are 19 new starters to learn about, so it’s time to shift back into Bruins mode.”
Olympic sport spotlight: Women’s soccer
UCLA women’s soccer coach Margueritte Aozasa gets water dumped on her after winning the Division I title in 2022.
(Eakin Howard / Getty Images)
Curt Cignetti, Indiana’s football coach, once said that he wins, just Google him.
Well, Margueritte Aozasa can top that.
She only wins championships, just check her assortment of trophies.
In her three seasons guiding UCLA’s women’s soccer team, Aozasa has won one NCAA championship and two conference titles, including a Big Ten tournament championship last season that made her team the first in UCLA history to take home a Big Ten title. The Bruins went on to reach the second round of the NCAA tournament.
UCLA should be back in contention for another national championship this season thanks in part to the return of skilled midfielder Emma Egizii and forward Lexi Wright, members of the 2022 national title team who were lost for much of last season because of injuries. Also returning are defender Nicki Fraser, the reigning Big Ten freshman of the year, and midfielder Val Vargas, who was a third-team all-conference selection a year ago.
Pulling it all together will be Aozasa, one of Jarmond’s best hires. Her team will be the first on campus to open the 2025-26 UCLA sports calendar when it travels to face Georgia in Athens, Ga., on Thursday.
Mount Rushmore results
Jonathan Ogden with his bust during the induction ceremony at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2013.
(David Richard / Associated Press)
A mountain of a man might be the preeminent face of UCLA football.
Jonathan Ogden was the leading vote-getter in our Mount Rushmore of UCLA football survey, the 6-foot-9, 345-pound offensive tackle named on 282 of 417 ballots. The others who made the cut were coach Terry Donahue (named on 227 ballots) and quarterbacks Troy Aikman (191) and Gary Beban (182).
The next four were safety Kenny Easley (136), linebacker Jerry Robinson (100), coach Red Sanders (93) and halfback Jackie Robinson (82).
Others named on at least five ballots: Maurice Jones-Drew, DeShaun Foster, John Lee, Marcedes Lewis, Cade McNown, Jim Mora, Ken Norton Jr., Tommy Prothro, John Sciarra, JJ Stokes, Bob Toledo, Wendell Tyler and Dick Vermeil.
Opinion time
Which UCLA football player not named Nico Iamaleava will be the team’s most important in 2025? Is it offensive tackle Courtland Ford, part of an offensive line that must protect its new quarterback? How about running back Jaivian Thomas? Wide receiver Kwazi Gilmer? Defensive tackle Gary Smith III? Linebacker Isaiah Chisom?
The last time UCLA faced Utah in a season opener, the Bruins featured a highly touted quarterback making his first start with the program.
Sound familiar?
It was 2006, and Ben Olson, who had not started a game since his senior year at Thousand Oaks High in 2001 after making a Mormon mission, lived up to the five-star hype in shredding the Utes for 318 yards and three touchdowns. You can watch highlights from the game here. UCLA went on to finish 7-6, the season highlight coming in a 13-9 upset of second-ranked USC at the Rose Bowl.
Do you have a comment or something you’d like to see in a future UCLA newsletter? Email me at [email protected], and follow me on X @latbbolch. To order an autographed copy of my book, “100 Things UCLA Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die,” send me an email. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.
Hi, and welcome to another edition of Prep Rally. The Times begins a nine-part series previewing Southern California’s top high school football players Tuesday. In a final sneak peek, let’s look at defensive backs and kickers/punters.
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Secondary power
Oregon commit Davon Benjamin of Oaks Christian returned three interceptions for touchdowns last season.
(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)
The hardest projection this coming season involves which school has the best secondary. That’s how much depth and talent some teams have at defensive back.
Sierra Canyon has two USC commits, Madden Riordan and Brandon Lockhart, plus an LSU commit, Havon Finney Jr., and a terrific junior safety, Myles Baker.
Gardena Serra is loaded with Duvay Williams, Marcellous Ryan,Wesley Arce and Devohn Moutra Jr. Mater Dei has Cory Lavender, Aaryn Washington and Ace Leutele. St. John Bosco counters with USC commit Josh Holland, standout junior safety Isala Wiley-Ava and improving junior cornerback Dorian Franklin.
Murrieta Valley has the Johnson brothers, Derrick Johnson Jr., an Oklahoma commit, and junior Darius Johnson. Long Beach Poly has juniors Julius Johnson and Donte Wright Jr. Rancho Cucamonga has cornerbacks Joshua Mensah and Justin Lewis, both committed to UCLA.
There’s top defensive backs throughout the region, from Jeron Jones of Mission Viejo to Davon Benjamin of Oaks Christian. Sophomore Jalen Flowers of Palos Verdes is coming off an exceptional freshman season and keeps getting better and better. Sophomore Jordan Slye Jr. of Salesian is someone to keep your eye on because of his athleticism and size. Sophomore Micah Hannah of Simi Valley already has proven himself as a freshman.
They can kick
San Pedro junior kicker Dylan Moreno was seven of nine on field goals last season.
(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)
The band of kickers and punters keeps getting better aided by an army of private coaches.
Aiden Migirdichian of Orange Lutheran was nine of nine on field goals last season. Jacob Kreinberg of Loyola could be doing double duty after making 11 field goals.
Dylan Moreno of San Pedro is headed for All-City honors for his accuracy. Oscar Reyes Ramirez of Hemet returns after making 15 field goals as a junior. Jackson Shevin of Mira Costa is headed toward averaging better than 40 yards on punts. Washington commit CJ Wallace of St. John Bosco reaches his senior year ready for a big season.
Sophomore Jerry Shifman has left Agoura for Mater Dei and junior Carter Sobel has left Chaminade for Sierra Canyon. Each has shown strong kicking skills. Gabriel Goroyan of Westlake is a junior who figures to receive lots of kicking opportunities. Carter Montgomery of Claremont holds a school-record 48-yard field goal.
Top 25 preseason rankings
Mater Dei coach Raul Lara receives Division 1 championship plaque after win over St. John Bosco last season.
(Craig Weston)
Drum roll, please. The Times’ top 25 preseason football rankings are out, and Mater Dei starts out as the No. 1 team.
The Monarchs went unbeaten last season and there’s no reason they can’t go unbeaten again. Their receiving group is exceptional but there are top players throughout positions.
Los Alamitos and Inglewood will open the football season on Friday night at Inglewood in an official game a week ahead of most schools. Los Alamitos has a game scheduled in Hawaii on Aug. 22, so it gets to have a double zero week game. Simi Valley is playing Spanish Springs at Simi Valley. Santa Monica is traveling to Honolulu to play Kaimuki on Saturday.
Long Beach Millikan is also opening on Friday in Nevada against Foothill in Henderson. Most schools will be playing scrimmages this week, such as Corona Centennial hosting Sierra Canyon on Thursday night. Scrimmages are considered practices, so players who won’t be eligible because of a sit-out transfer period are allowed to play.
The Moore League, led by Millikan and Long Beach Poly, held its first media preview session. Here’s a report.
The Meeker twins, quarterback Liam (left) and receiver Luke, are key players for Mira Costa.
(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)
Mira Costa is turning to twins Liam and Luke Meeker, surfer and football dudes. Here’s a report.
The Tri County League held a media day in Ventura. Here’s a report.
The Marmonte League held its media day at Oaks Christian. Here’s a report.
Narbonne is engaged in another rebuilding year after an exodus of players because the team is banned from the playoffs for the next three years. Here’s a report.
Dymally has canceled its scheduled season opener against Palisades on Aug. 22 for lack of players.
Orange Lutheran quarterback Makena Cook throws a pass.
(Steve Galluzzo For The Times)
The flag football season has begun with new rules and new pressure on quarterbacks to adapt to having defensive players only one yard away from the line of scrimmage to start a play instead of seven yards.
Jesic to Nelson for first ever TD in sports history. Jesic follows up with a pick six and then the dynamic due Jesick to Nelson strikes again! 18-0 over Calabasas with 2:50 left in the first quarter pic.twitter.com/1O6VvOQaE5
Panorama has some key players returning and could be a factor in the City Section. Here’s a report.
Anthony Barr retires
Dallas Cowboys linebacker Anthony Barr (51) warms up in 2022.
(Ashley Landis/AP)
Former Loyola High, UCLA and NFL linebacker Anthony Barr, 33, has retired from football.
His coach at Loyola in 2009, Jeff Kearin, said, “He was real pleasure to coach. High level and high profile and he knew his hard work would get him to where he wanted to be. Never felt a need to thump his own chest or transfer three times to feed his own ego. And believe me, the sharks were swimming around. His mom and family were well grounded. Different time. And different kind of guy.”
Transfers in California during the 2024-25 school year totaled 17,041, according to CIF stats. That’s down from the record 17,068 the previous school year. . . .
Final totals are in for prep sports transfers in California for 2024-25. For second straight year, they exceeded 17,000. Last year was a record 17,068. This past school year, it was 17,041. Southern Section led the way with 7,139. City Section had 1,085. San Francisco had 163.
The CIF announced a record number of students — more than 820,000 — participated in high school sports during the last school year in California. . . .
Brock Livingston, Crespi’s long-time lacrosse coach, has resigned to move back east to take care of his family. . . .
Max Luchs is the new boys lacrosse coach at Chaminade. . . .
Mater Dei and Santa Margarita have won the Southern Section Commissioner’s Cup for boys and girls sports as the top athletic programs for 2024-25. . . .
Pitcher Grayson Martin of Temecula Valley has committed to Cal Baptist. . . .
The girls volleyball season begins this weekend with teams traveling to Hawaii for the Ann King Invitational. Top teams entered include Mira Costa, Sierra Canyon, Redondo Union, JSerra, Los Alamitos, Huntington Beach and Harvard-Westlake. . . .
Golfer Hill Wang from La Serna has committed to Pepperdine. . . .
Standout girls soccer and flag football quarterback Makena Cook of Orange Lutheran has committed to Georgia. . . .
Pitcher Juju Diaz-Jones from Sherman Oaks Notre Dame has committed to Cal. . . .
Junior pitcher Roy Kim from Great Oak has committed to Stanford. . . .
Softball pitcher Liliana Escobar of JSerra has committed to Florida. . . .
Outfielder Ethan Price of Harvard-Westlake has committed to Santa Clara. . . .
Cory Skinner is the new softball coach at Chaminade. . . .
Standout junior guard Grayson Coleman is leaving Calabasas for Milken. His father, Ryan, will take over the Milken program after being head coach for many years at Shalhevet. . . .
Incoming Harvard-Westlake freshman baseball players Louis Lappe and Mateo Mier have made the U.S. 15U national baseball team. Also selected was Mira Costa sophomore Kekoa Delatori. Lappe was the hero on El Segundo’s championship Little League team in 2023. They will compete at the U-15 Pan American Championship in Mexico Sept. 13-18. . . .
Former Mira Costa and UCLA third baseman Kyle Karros made his major league debut for the Colorado Rockies on Friday and got a single and RBI in his first at-bat.
From the archives: Giancarlo Stanton
Sherman Oaks Notre Dame baseball coach Tom Dill with his former pupil, Giancarlo Stanton.
Stanton will go down as one of the three greatest athletes in Southern California high school history, having been All-CIF in football, basketball and baseball.
From FIBA basketball, a story that shows former Harvard-Westlake guard Robert Hinton playing for Taiwan.
From Gpb.org, a story on a high school in Georgia opening its $62 million stadium.
From Newstribune.com, a story on a high school football player in Tacoma who got too big to be a UFC fighter.
Tweets you might have missed
The fan who hit the home run as a walk-on player was former Thousand Oaks standout Eli Steinhaus, who happens to play Division III baseball at Lewis & Clark. A great ringer. https://t.co/2hGCihzDXb
The Coliseum has confirmed that San Fernando’s football team will play Sylmar in the San Fernando Valley Classic on Friday, Oct. 17. There also will be JV boys game and girls flag football game on the same day at the Coliseum.
Thank you to the Los Angeles Dodgers @Dodgers and Bosco Baseball alum, Nomar Garciaparra for recognizing our accomplishments this 2025 season. First-class treatment from a first-class organization! pic.twitter.com/vGZQawDe9G
David Hilton, the parent of a Loyola football player, was planning to address Southern Section Executive Committee today. Then his son broke his leg last night. Here’s what he was going to say. pic.twitter.com/eTVCBDAAtu
The Los Angeles-based Dodgers Dreamteam won the RBI World Series 13-15 division in Florida with 5-2 win over Detroit. Lennex Minor tossed two innings of shutout relief with three strikeouts. Marc James had two RBIs. Minor finished with nine RBIs in the tournament.
Let me be blunt. I don’t write about players simply because they have stars next to their name. I write about people who are good players, good students, good teammates, good citizens. That’s my mission.
Serra at Servite scrimmage on Thursday at 5 pm. I’ll never forget the best scrimmage I ever went to between the two teams years ago. There were so many future pros. Most intensity ever for a scrimmage.
Have a question, comment or something you’d like to see in a future Prep Rally newsletter? Email me at [email protected], and follow me on Twitter at @latsondheimer.
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Hi, and welcome to another edition of Prep Rally. With one week to go before The Times begins a nine-part series looking at the top players by positions on Aug. 12, let’s give a sneak peek at the strongest position in Southern California this season: defensive line. And look at some talented linebackers.
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Big men, big hitters
Defensive end Richard Wesley of Sierra Canyon.
(Craig Weston)
Defensive line, in my opinion, is the strongest position in Southern California when it comes to elite players who could make an impact at the college and even NFL level one day.
Tomuhini Topui of Mater Dei is a 320-pound man among boys. He will be the crown jewel in the USC 2026 recruiting class. He’s so athletic he’ll also be seeing time on Mater Dei’s offensive line. But make no mistake about it — he causes havoc in the middle for the Monarchs.
Marcus Fakatou of Orange Lutheran is a 6-foot-7, 265-pound sophomore who continues to grow into his body and becomes meaner every game. Khary Wilder of Gardena Serra is an Ohio State commit who routinely sees double teams. Richard Wesley of Sierra Canyon is a Texas commit and part of a Trailblazers defense that might be best in the Southland. Don’t sleep on his teammate, Mikhal Johnson, a two-sport athlete who had 16 tackles for losses.
Dutch Horisk of St. John Bosco and Anthony Jones of Crean Lutheran are committed to Oregon and UCLA, respectively. Elijah Harmon of Inglewood is 280-pound junior with immense potential. Simonte Katoanga has transferred from JSerra to Santa Margarita and is committed to USC.
St. Pius X-St. Matthias has Malik Brooks, a 330-pound USC commit. JD Hill of Mission Viejo is a Northern Arizona commit with improving skills. Devyn Blake of Edison is a 275-pound Sacramento State commit. Elyjah Staples of Marquez had 13 sacks as a sophomore and is the younger brother of UCLA receiver Ezavier Staples. Corona Centennial defensive lineman Kingston Schirmer is a Cal commit.
Linebackers make impact
When it comes to linebackers, there’s an impressive list to admire.
Tristan Phillips of Ventura is an Oregon commit and tackling machine. Shaun Scott of Mater Dei is a USC commit with the speed to sack quarterbacks. Samu Moala of Leuzinger is a Texas A&M commit who keeps getting bigger and stronger.
Dash Fifita of Santa Margarita is an Arizona commit who fills up the middle better than anyone even though his 5-9. Isaiah Leilua of Servite and Isaiah Phelps of Oxnard Pacifica who are two juniors ready for big seasons.
Taylor Johnson of Cajon is a USC commit who averaged double-digit tackles. St. John Bosco is filled with quality linebackers, led by UCLA commit Matthew Muasau. Jackson Reach at Mira Costa is a top tackler and long snapper.
Practice begins
Quarterback Jeremy Pacheco of University is back after suffering a season-ending knee injury in first game last season.
(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)
Official football practice began on Monday. Senior quarterback Jeremy Pacheco of University was particularly happy. He suffered a season-ending knee injury in the opening game last season. To get back onto the field healthy was something he had worked hard to accomplish.
Bellflower went 0-10 last season but is ready for a big change under first-year coach Keith Miller. Here’s a report.
The City Section preseason top 10 rankings are in. Here’s the report.
Quarterback Brady Smigiel (left) and linebacker Balen Bentancourt have been teammates since fourth grade. They’re seniors at Newbury Park.
(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)
The Conejo Coast League held its media day, with Newbury Park leading the way as the team to beat. Here’s the report.
The rule changes in flag football are immense, from allowing punting for the first time to figuring out screen blocking and what’s legal and what’s a penalty.
Then there’s the defense starting from only one yard from the line of scrimmage instead of seven yards last season. All these changes will make the early season game important for everyone — coaches, players, officials, parents.
The high school basketball player who has made big-time progress in terms of attracting attention from elite college programs this summer is Maximo Adams of Sierra Canyon, younger brother of Arizona State’s Marcus Adams. Duke is the latest program to offer Adams. . . .
Corona Centennial guard Isaiah Rogers has committed to Stanford. . . .
Left-handed pitcher Drew Slevcove of Cypress has committed to UC Santa Barbara. . . .
Oaks Christian cornerback Davon Benjamin has committed to Oregon. . . .
Southern Section high school football television games are moving to Spectrum this season. The first game will be Sierra Canyon vs. Oaks Christian. Bally Sports has been the primary TV channel in years past. . . .
Standout point guard Acen Jimenez from La Habra has committed to Dartmouth. . . .
Incoming freshmen Louis Lappe (Harvard-Westlake), Mateo Mier (Harvard-Westlake) and Jordan Leon (Sierra Canyon) are on the list of finalists for the USA 15U national baseball team. Also on list are Jayden Singer (Calabasas) and Ayden White (Corona). Lappe was the LL star.
Mater Dei’s football team will make an early appearance on ESPN, traveling to Florida to face St. Thomas Aquinas on Aug. 23 at 12:30 p.m. . . .
Mater Dei running back Justin Lewis has committed to Massachusetts. . . .
Nick Itkin, a Palisades grad, and Bryce Louie, a Campbell Hall grad, helped the USA Men’s Foil team claim a silver medal at the World Fencing Championship in Tibilisi, Georgia. . . .
Former Newbury Park distance star Nico Young won the USTA national championship in the 10,000 meters, running 29:02.12. . . .
Robert Prieto is the new baseball coach at Bishop Amat. He was an assistant at Mt. SAC. . . .
Girls volleyball teams begin official practice next week, but Mater Dei and Santa Margarita made it to the championship of the Queen’s of the Court summer tournament. Corona Centennial and JSerra were the other semifinalists. Mater Dei won. Long Beach Poly also won its divisional championship. . .
Audrey Flanagan from Mira Costa is playing for the U.S. Girls U19 national team at the Women’s U21 World Championships Aug. 6-17 in Indonesia.
From the archives: Jonah Mathews
Oregon State’s Gianni Hunt tries to get past USC’s Jonah Mathews in 2020.
(Amanda Loman / Associated Press)
Former Santa Monica and USC guard Jonah Mathews was a standout player for Besiktas in leading the team to the Turkish finals in June.
Jonah Mathews scored a combined 53 points in the final two games of the Turkish semifinals to lead Besiktas to back-to-back wins over Anadolu Efes, completing the upset and sending Besiktas to the Turkish Finals, where they will face Fenerbahçe. @jonah_mathews4pic.twitter.com/3dP1W2PFd3
Mathews was a top scorer during his Santa Monica and USC days.
Jonah Mathews finished with a 30 performance index rating, 27 points (6-11 2PT, 3-5 3PT, 6-7 FT), 4 rebounds, 1 steal, and 1 assist to lead Besiktas to a close victory over the BC Wolves in the EuroCup today. 🔥@jonah_mathews4pic.twitter.com/qblBLg7Jj4
From the Los Angeles Times, a story on former NFL punter Chris Kluwe suing the Huntington Beach Union School District.
From Oaks Christian, a story on Quentin Young starting his pro baseball journey.
From the Los Angeles Times, a story about renewed concerns about getting CTE playing football.
Tweets you might have missed
Master P’s son Mercy Miller is headed into Year 2 at Houston — and Cougars legend Otis Birdsong tells us the sophomore is already something special. pic.twitter.com/8eAs432vUV
Participants in Softball Breakthrough Series at Compton Youth Academy this week: Jaylene Echeverria (Lakewood), Laritza Esparza (Paramount), Kalin Badgley (LB Wilson), Brianna Ramirez (Valley Christian), Isabela Sanchez (La Serna).
Middle school student Delilah Walters from La Canada Flintridge set an AAU national record running the 800 meters in 2:17.44 at the AAU Junior Olympics.
Former Quartz Hill pitcher transfers from USD to UCLA. Huge recruiting victory for John Savage. The team now has its elite starting pitching for 2026. Had 2.29 ERA. Beat out LSU. https://t.co/4uVm3P69fo
A young Paul Skenes at El Toro High. In Southern California, you never know when the teenager you’re talking to is a future Hall of Famer. pic.twitter.com/8CJWbIyZja
— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) August 3, 2025
Until next time….
Have a question, comment or something you’d like to see in a future Prep Rally newsletter? Email me at [email protected], and follow me on Twitter at @latsondheimer.
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Revenue sharing payments started flowing into UCLA football players’ PayPal accounts this week, leading to the inevitable sidling up to teammates for quiet comparisons … or not.
“We try not to,” linebacker Isaiah Chisom said when asked if players discussed how much money they’re making. “Obviously, I mean, people know how much some people are getting, but, you know, at the end of the day, we all came here for one reason, and that’s to play football and the extra money or whatever we get is just extra, it’s not making anybody play harder.”
While UCLA athletic director Martin Jarmond would not divulge the specifics of his school’s revenue-sharing plan, it’s believed that the football team was allotted roughly 75% of the $20.5 million in payments — or about $15.375 million — which is in line with the suggested formula as part of the House settlement with the NCAA. That would break down to $146,428 per player if divided evenly among the 105 players on the roster, though coach DeShaun Foster said his staff divvied up the money based on talent evaluations.
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Does that mean new quarterback Nico Iamaleava, the highly coveted transfer from Tennessee, is the team’s highest-paid player? Nobody will know unless Iamaleava wants them to.
“We haven’t put anything out publicly like that for the other players to see,” Foster said of divulging payment amounts. “So if they wanted to share that, they can.”
The lack of transparency about revenue sharing across the country will lead to guesswork and assumptions about who’s making what. Chisom acknowledged the importance of ensuring that the presumed revenue sharing discrepancies didn’t disrupt team chemistry.
“It definitely can expose a team or bring up a team,” Chisom said. “It really just depends on the people you have on the roster. But I think the coaches did a great job of bringing in the right type of character and people who want to play football and are excited to play in California in the Rose Bowl.”
Foster said players were taught about financial literacy to give them information about the importance of saving money and the tax implications of their new windfall.
But the quaint notion that revenue sharing would level the playing field for UCLA with teams whose name, image and likeness collectives were generating several multiples of what the Bruins were before the House settlement has long been discarded.
“They’re just going to find ways to do it under the table,” Foster said of the powerhouse programs sustaining their financial edge. “It is what it is. We’re just going to control what we can control. We have our salary cap. We’re gonna do the best that we can do with that, and allocate it to our players the way that we want to, and you know, whatever everybody else does, that’s what they do. They’re just gonna find other ways to do what they’ve been doing.”
A cloak-and-dagger camp
First impressions of UCLA’s football training camp?
Iamaleava looked good getting off the bus in a light blue hoodie, black sweatpants and a black do-rag.
The offense’s black uniforms with blue numbers looked spiffy.
The weather in Costa Mesa has been close to perfect.
Oh, you wanted some insight into how the Bruins look on the field? That’s been much harder to gauge.
Daily media viewing sessions have been limited to 25 minutes of mostly stretching, individual drills and special teams work, leaving almost everything else to the imagination.
One early takeaway has been that defensive linemen Keanu Williams and Gary Smith III look fully recovered from their respective injuries. Williams made one quick burst that appeared to please defensive line coach Jethro Franklin, who unleashed an excited expletive.
Iamaleava’s arm has looked strong and accurate in throwing drills, but it’s been impossible to determine how well he’s mastered the offense given the viewing limitations.
The punters appear promising. Will Karroll and Lennox Miller, a pair of newcomers with Australian roots, were regularly booming punts some 50 yards.
Foster said he’s happy that his team features better depth in Year 2, leading to more competition because some backups could be good enough to supplant the presumed starters.
“It’s not just ‘I’m the guy,’ ” Foster said of having multiple players worthy of starting at various positions, “so it just feels that there’s more guys that can push a starter.”
A singular vision
JonJon Vaughns quit the UCLA baseball team to focus on football.
(Courtesy of UCLA Athletics)
JonJon Vaughns is all in on pigskin.
The UCLA linebacker’s decision to redshirt last season after playing in the first four games, combined with a choice to stop playing outfield after four seasons on the school’s baseball team, provided him with nearly a full year of football prep.
He can see and feel the difference, no longer having to work his way back into football shape after having missed spring practice while playing baseball.
“It was hard, just getting back in shape, running straight, not having those muscles from football early on,” Vaughns said, “and then, and then I don’t get those muscles until like midseason, so it’d be too late. But now it’s like, I got them, let’s use them, you know?”
As luck would have it, the timing of Vaughns’ decision to quit baseball was not ideal — UCLA made it back to the College World Series for the first time since 2013.
“I wanted to be there with the guys and coach [John] Savage, and I even texted [Savage] before [the Series], like, ‘Hey, wish I was there,’ you know?” Vaughns said. “But seeing them doing what they did this year was amazing to see.”
Looking a bit sturdier at 6 feet 1 and 225 pounds after having completed his first series of spring football practices, Vaughns said his weight is actually about the same after gaining 10 pounds of muscle and losing an accompanying amount of fat.
Having started 11 games in his first five seasons with the football team, Vaughns could move into a full-time starting role in his final football season. His ability to play both strong-side and weak-side linebacker gives him the versatility to fill a variety of spots and make the biggest influence of his career on a defense that needs playmakers.
Another softball title
Megan Faraimo during her days with UCLA.
(Alonzo Adams / Associated Press)
UCLA’s 12 NCAA softball championships lead all college programs — no one else is in double figures — so it should come as no surprise that three Bruins alums were crucial members of the first champion in the new Athletes Unlimited Softball League.
While helping the Talons sweep the Bandits, two games to none, in the championship series, Megan Faraimo pitched the seventh inning of Game 1 and collected the save with two strikeouts; Sharlize Palacios reached base four times in the series and ranked top five on the team in hits and total bases; and Maya Brady reached base safely twice in Game 1 and scored the team’s third and final run.
Competing as part of a barnstorming four-team, 24-game debut season that was completed in 12 cities and drew 20 sellouts, the Talons had several other UCLA connections. Lisa Fernandez was the team’s general manager, Kirk Walker the associate head coach and Will Oldham an assistant coach.
The AUSL plans to become a city-based league in 2026.
Opinion time
We had an influx of new subscribers after last week’s newsletter, so we are holding over the Mount Rushmore voting for one more week.
To recap, we’re wondering which four coaches or players would you put on your Mount Rushmore of UCLA football? Email your list of four to [email protected] and we’ll post the results in a future UCLA Unlocked. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, of course, but anyone who doesn’t list coach Terry Donahue should be denied entry to the Rose Bowl.
Remember when?
Speaking of Donahue, his final season opener as UCLA’s coach in 1995 was one of his more memorable ones.
The No. 15 Bruins welcomed No. 12 Miami to the Rose Bowl and proceeded to hand the Hurricanes a 31-8 whipping. You can watch the game here.
Left tackle Jonathan Ogden led a powerful offensive line that opened massive holes for running back Karim Abdul-Jabbar, who ran 29 times for 180 yards in 102-degree heat. The game was also notable in that it marked the debut of freshman quarterback Cade McNown, who completed both passes he threw in relief while starter Ryan Fien was sidelined by a concussion.
It was a high point in an up-and-down season that ended with a 51-30 loss to Kansas in the Aloha Bowl and the Bruins needing a new coach after Donahue announced that he was retiring after 20 seasons before becoming a college football analyst with CBS.
Do you have a comment or something you’d like to see in a future UCLA newsletter? Email me at [email protected], and follow me on Twitter @latbbolch. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.
Forward Alex Laferriere has agreed to a three-year, $12.3-million deal to stay with the Kings.
The Kings announced the deal Saturday for Laferriere, who was a restricted free agent this summer after playing out his entry-level contract.
The 23-year-old Laferriere had 19 goals and 23 assists last year for the Kings, emerging as a dependable scorer in only his second NHL season. He largely played on the right wing alongside center Quinton Byfield, another key member of Los Angeles’ young core, and high-scoring Kevin Fiala.
A third-round pick in the 2020 draft, Laferriere has 31 goals and 34 assists in 158 games for the Kings.
New general manager Ken Holland has taken care of his most pressing summer contract issues after the signing of Laferriere, but Holland said last month that he would be eager to sign Adrian Kempe to a long-term deal as the Swedish forward heads into the final season of his current contract.
