Freshman

WASHINGTON - Sen. Elizabeth Warren, the newest member of the Senate Banking Committee, waited patiently for her first chance to question top financial regulators at a recent hearing on Capitol Hill. When her turn finally came after 90 minutes, Warren quickly showed she wouldn't be following the custom that a freshman senator be seen and not heard. After some pleasantries, the longtime consumer advocate and Wall Street critic lit into the heads of the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

WASHINGTON - Sen. Elizabeth Warren, the newest member of the Senate Banking Committee, waited patiently for her first chance to question top financial regulators at a recent hearing on Capitol Hill. When her turn finally came after 90 minutes, Warren quickly showed she wouldn't be following the custom that a freshman senator be seen and not heard. After some pleasantries, the longtime consumer advocate and Wall Street critic lit into the heads of the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

UCLA's Shabazz Muhammad was selected the Pac-12 Conference's freshman of the year. Muhammad and Larry Drew II, who helped the Bruins win the conference title, were named first-team All-Pac-12. California's Allen Crabbe was named the conference's player of the year. The Bruins' Kyle Anderson was named second-team all-conference and was also on the all-freshman team. Muhammad averaged 18.3 points per game. He is the eighth UCLA player to be named the conference's freshman of the year.

By the time she was 10, Samantha Mae Coyiuto was a published author in the Philippines. By the time she was 16, she had four children's books published. Now she's 18 and goes by just Mae and is a student at Pomona-Pitzer, where she plays for the women's tennis team, ranked No. 10 in NCAA Division III. Playing mostly No. 2 in singles as a freshman this year, Coyiuto is 21-5, best on the team. No one else on the team has more than 13 singles wins. She rarely plays doubles but is 4-1 when she does.

UCLA's Shabazz Muhammad was named the Pac-12's freshman of the year. Muhammad and Larry Drew II, who helped the Bruins win the conference title, were named first-team All-Pac-12. California's Allen Crabbe was named the conference's player of the year. The Bruins' Kyle Anderson was named second-team all-conference and was also on the all-freshman team. Muhammad averaged 18.3 points per game. His made 42% of his three-pointers, ranking him third in the conference. He is the eighth UCLA player to be named the conference's freshman of the year.

Rarely does a freshman have the skills and poise to crack the varsity starting lineup. Even rarer does one dominate the competition. Which explains Coach Mike Young's reluctance before the season to trumpet the talents of wrestler John Garfinkel of Highland High. But Young can't keep the secret any longer. Now, if only Garfinkel would feel comfortable expressing himself. Garfinkel, a 112-pound freshman, has emerged as one of the region's best wrestlers on one of the region's best teams.

UCLA defensive end Ellis McCarthy's freshman season ended last week when he underwent surgery on his right knee. He will miss the Bridgepoint Education Holiday Bowl on Dec. 27. McCarthy was considered the top prospect in the Bruins' 2012 recruiting class. He was the No. 2-ranked defensive tackle nationally as a senior at Monrovia High last season. But his freshman season has been difficult. He underwent arthroscopic surgery on his left knee before summer training camp, which cost him three weeks, delaying his development.

A UCLA freshman rescued the Bruins on Tuesday, helping his team escape with an overtime win. Off in fantasy-land, Bruins fans would like to imagine that Shabazz Muhammad saved the day.  But, no. It was Jordan Adams, who poured in 26 points -- and hit all 16 of his free throws -- in UCLA's 80-70 overtime win against UC Irvine at Pauley Pavilion .  "Jordan Adams was key for us down the stretch, and the entire game for us, offensively," Bruins...

Loyola Marymount freshman Mike O'Quinn has been ruled ineligible for the remainder of the basketball season after he failed to meet the university's academic requirements for student-athletes in the fall semester. O'Quinn played as a reserve in all nine games for winless Loyola, averaging 7.8 points and 4.1 rebounds. The 6-foot-5 forward was an All-Southern Section selection at Muir High in Pasadena last season and was considered the Lions' top recruit.

Mohammed Barakat, a freshman at Moorpark College, has been named 1985 Athlete of the Year by the Field Hockey Assn. of America, the national governing body for the U.S. Olympic Committee. Barakat, 18, was a member of the U.S. Olympic field hockey team that won a bronze medal at the 1984 Summer Games. He has already qualified to be in the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. Barakat is a graduate of Moorpark High, where he played football and basketball. UCLA Offering

NEW YORK - It could average 400 pounds from tackle to tackle, and still the offensive line Johnathan Franklin runs behind in the NFL won't be as daunting as the line he had at UCLA. His line in college was a queue of seven running backs, and Franklin was at the bottom of the depth chart as a freshman. He typically got to touch the ball once per practice. "If I didn't do something with my one rep, I'd walk away mad," said Franklin, who this week will become the first Bruins running back drafted since Maurice Jones-Drew in 2006.

Danusia Francis, a charismatic freshman on the UCLA gymnastics team, had a little trick up her sleeve Sunday for the balance beam event final in the NCAA championships at Pauley Pavilion. Francis did something you probably shouldn't try at home — even on the ground and certainly not on a balance beam. It was a move she described as "a backward cartwheel with no hands. " And she landed it, the first collegiate gymnast to perform that difficult aerial trick on the balance beam.

With its giant volume of applications from around the state and world, UCLA is once again the toughest UC campus to crack for students who want to enroll in the fall as a freshman. According to statistics released Thursday, UCLA offered fall 2013 admission to only 17.4% of California residents who applied and to 20.1% of its overall applicants, including those from other states and nations. As it has for several years, UCLA attracted the most freshman applications -- 80,494 this time -- of any public university in the nation, campus officials said.

NEW ORLEANS - After all the years and countless milestones, it's hardly possible for Connecticut to bounce a pass anymore without making history. Geno Auriemma, the master craftsman, and his series of master classes, have become as synonymous to women's basketball as Howard Johnson was to the ice-cream cone. Things just seemed vastly different in the world once they came along. On Tuesday, after being re-routed at times by injuries and, well, you know, Notre Dame, the Huskies arrived at the place they've come to know so well.

It is no longer rare for freshman tailbacks to start season openers for USC. C.J. Gable became the first true freshman to achieve the feat in 2006 and D.J. Morgan did it as a redshirt freshman in 2011. The Trojans' Aug. 29 opener at Hawaii is still months away, but Justin Davis might earn the opportunity to join that select group if he performs during training camp as he has in spring practice. Davis, who graduated from Stockton Lincoln High in December, rushed for 116 yards and a touchdown in 17 carries Saturday during a situational scrimmage at the Coliseum.

After his team's embarrassing finish to the 2012 season, USC Coach Lane Kiffin began spring practice determined to implement a more physical style to workouts. The switch has generally resulted in spirited, hard-hitting practices. But the approach comes with a cost. Kiffin announced Thursday that highly regarded freshman safety Su'a Cravens would have knee surgery to repair a torn meniscus Friday. Cravens, USA Today's 2012 defensive player of the year at Vista Murrieta High, had worked extensively with USC's first-team defense and appeared on track for a large role in the fall.

When Heidi Voorhees, 14, won her age division in the L.A. City Junior Golf tournament in April, she was playing against unusual competition--girls. The Notre Dame High freshman has played her first high school season on the boys team because there is no girls team. "It's nice but nothing different," Voorhees said. Voorhees, who has played golf since she was 7 years old, has had little trouble adjusting to, and competing with, the boys this season.

It is rare when a freshman makes a boys' varsity basketball team, even rarer when he plays. Once in a blue moon, a freshman comes along who can crack the starting lineup. Burbank High's Juni Williams is rarer than a blue moon. Williams, 14, a guard, is a starter who seems to have taken Burbank's quest for a Southern Section title into his own hands.

AUSTIN, Texas - This sure looked like adieu. UCLA guard Larry Drew II left the game with a 83-63 loss to Minnesota decided. Coach Ben Howland greeted him near the official scorer's table and the two hugged for several seconds. It was goodbye for Drew, a senior who played his last game. But it may be only one of the so-long, thanks-for-playing moments. UCLA's season, which started with such high expectations, ended not with a bang, but with a whimper Friday night in the NCAA tournament.

Seven months into his college basketball career, Shabazz Muhammad is glad he waited to turn pro. The UCLA freshman has used his time in Westwood to improve on defense and make a few All-Star teams. He has learned a thing or two about living on his own. "I'm giving it a thumbs-up," he said. "The college experience is good. " That doesn't mean it will last much longer. Muhammad is expected to leave school for the NBA draft this summer, joining the ranks of the "one-and-dones.