Ucla

UCLA next vs. Pepperdine, Monday at Pauley Pavilion, 8 p.m. ESPNU ? The Bruins open the NIT Season Tip-Off against a Southland rival that returns all five starters, albeit from a team that went 7-24 last season and finished tied for sixth in the West Coast Conference. Junior guard Keion Bell is one of the most explosive players in Southern California, having scored 34 points during the second half of a game against Gonzaga last season in which he finished with 37.

Ben Howland, who led UCLA to three Final Fours, was fired Sunday, the school announced, ending the longest tenure for a Bruins coach since John Wooden retired in 1975. Howland spent 10 seasons in Westwood, finishing with a 233-107 record. He is coming off one of his best coaching performances, with the Bruins winning the Pac-12 Conference regular-season championship. Yet his star had fallen considerably since he took UCLA to consecutive Final Fours in 2006, '07 and '08. He was informed Sunday that he was fired.

UCLA got a recruiting bonus Wednesday. Running back Malcolm Jones, who left UCLA last fall, will return to the Bruins program as a walk-on, Coach Jim Mora said. Jones was a high-profile recruit out of Westlake Village Oaks Christian, where he was named the national Gatorade player of the year as a senior. But Jones career meandered his first three years at UCLA. GRAPHIC: UCLA recruits The 6-foot, 220-pound running back had 313 yards rushing in three seasons before leaving after the 2012 season opener.

UCLA freshman Shabazz Muhammad announced Tuesday that he will enter the NBA draft. Muhammad has been expected to declare for the draft. He needed to drop his classes by April 19 or he would have been given an incomplete, which would have counted against UCLA's academic progress rate. While he attended Las Vegas Bishop Gorman, Muhammad was considered among the top two high school players in the nation. He spent one hectic season in Westwood. IN-DEPTH: UCLA star's father mapped out a dream The NCAA held up his eligibility, forcing Muhammad to miss the first three games of the season.

Dietrich Riley wore a Cheshire cat-like grin as he sat on a bench outside Morgan Center at UCLA. His expression was the polar opposite from the hangdog look he carried around spring football practice a year ago. Riley has dealt with the unknown. He had been rushed to a hospital after a head-first collision with California running back Isi Sofele during a 2011 game. To play football again, he needed neck surgery. And there were no guarantees. The kind of direct, point-A-to-point-B path that Riley employed on the field as a hard-hitting safety didn't help him off the field.

Two of the most prestigious names in Southern California healthcare - Cedars-Sinai and UCLA - are getting shut out of a major insurance plan for being too expensive. In a bold cost-cutting move, Anthem Blue Cross has eliminated doctors affiliated with the hospitals from a health plan offered to about 60,000 employees and dependents at the cash-strapped city of Los Angeles. The city opted for Anthem's plan because it will save $7.6 million in annual premiums next year by excluding physicians from the two institutions known for tending to the Southland's rich and famous.

UCLA up next AT OREGON STATE 4:30, Saturday, Gill Coliseum UCLA has a nine-game winning streak against Oregon State and has not lost to the Beavers in Corvallis since New Year's Eve 2004. Oregon State ended a three-game losing streak Thursday, as Calvin Haynes scored 25 points off the bench in a 51-45 victory over USC. -- Chris Foster

When Diamond Bar High tweeted that sophomore wide receiver Correll Broadus was offered a football scholarship by UCLA, it probably went unnoticed by most Bruins fans. But take a closer look at that last name. Broadus. That happens to be the real last name of his famous father: rapper Snoop Dogg. Of course, it's still early. Broadus is a sophomore, after all, and there is no word on whether he is even contemplating accepting the offer. Still though, the son of Snoop Dogg playing at UCLA?

While giving UCLA head football coach Jim Mora a hefty raise, UCLA athletic department officials have upped the ante for assistant coaches as well, with a payroll of $2.08 million, a significant bump from $1.645 million last season. Defensive coordinator Lou Spanos has received a two-year, $1.1-million deal. Offensive coordinator Noel Mazzone will receive $350,000 for this season and $375,000 in 2013. Special teams coach Jeff Ulbrich also received a two-year deal, which will pay him $215,000 in 2012 and $225,000 in 2013.

UCLA schedule Aug. 30: at Rice; 4:30 p.m. Sept. 8: Nebraska; 4:30 p.m. Sept. 15: Houston; 7:30 p.m. Sept. 22: Oregon State; TBA Sept. 29: at Colorado; TBA Oct. 6: at California; TBA Oct. 13: Utah; TBA Oct. 27: at Arizona State; TBA Nov. 3: Arizona; TBA Nov. 10: at Washington State; TBA Nov. 17: USC; TBA Nov. 24: Stanford; TBA All games Pacific Time. Home games at Rose Bowl.