UCLA was supposed to be a Final Four team with T.J. Leaf and Lonzo Ball leading the team as freshmen, but were stopped by Kentucky in the Sweet 16. While the team lost key players in those two, the Bruins also lost Bryce Alford (graduation), Isaac Hamilton (graduation) and Ike Anigbogu (draft). However, they did get back two other important players from last year's squad that had originally declared for the NBA Draft:
Thomas Welsh and Aaron Holiday both returning to UCLA next season. Bruins would have lost their top seven players had those two departed.
— Jeff Borzello (@jeffborzello) May 23, 2017
And the lineup with those two in it could very well look like this:
Early prediction on UCLA's 17-18 starting five: Jaylen Hands, Aaron Holiday, Kris Wilkes, Cody Riley, Thomas Welsh.
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) May 23, 2017
Wilkes, Hands and Riley are going to be freshmen next season and are part of the No. 3 recruiting class in the country according to ESPN. Hands and Wilkes are both top 25 recruits and Riley is a four-star recruit in the class. With the ball likely to move a little better on offense, this team could be making a deep run in the postseason.
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