Top recruit may fall back to UCLA
UCLA BASKETBALL
Abdul Gaddy committed to Arizona, but now that Lute Olson has left the Wildcats he may choose between Bruins and Washington.
Abdul Gaddy, a 6-foot-3 point senior guard from Tacoma (Wash.) Bellarmine Prep, said today that he is strongly considering both UCLA and Washington as his college basketball destination.
Gaddy, who is rated as the No. 2 player as his position by Scout.com, had given a commitment to Arizona and was prepared to sign a national letter of intent next month until Lute Olson announced Thursday he was retiring as Wildcats coach.
"As of right now I don't know what I'm doing yet," Gaddy said. "My top places would probably be UCLA or Washington right now, but I've got to sit down and talk to my parents and my coaches."
Gaddy said UCLA had been the runner-up when he made his original decision, a choice he said he made, "Just because I always liked Arizona and the program and the way they played."
He called Olson's decision "a shocker" but said he understood. "Coach Olson is older, he needs his rest. I respect the decision."
Gaddy also said he liked UCLA as much as he liked Arizona, "Except my heart had always been with Arizona."
UCLA coaches could not comment because of rules that prohibit them from talking about recruits until the player has signed an official letter of intent.
This summer, Gaddy spent some time playing at UCLA's men's gym with current freshmen guards Malcolm Lee and Jerime Anderson. Gaddy said the fact the Bruins had three highly ranked guards in this year's freshman class -- last year's high school player of the year Jrue Holiday is the other -- might play a small part in his choice.
"That might play a little bit of a factor," Gaddy said. "But I don't mind a little competition."
He said he had no timetable for making his final decision. Gaddy said he hadn't made an official recruiting visit to Washington and might still do that.
Pucin is a Times staff writer.
diane.pucin@latimes.com
