On April 15, an undisclosed UCLA alumni decided to auction off one of the coolest and therefore most expensive pieces of memorabilia in Bruins history. The object at hand is th eclassic powder-blue UCLA center circle from the original Pauley Pavilion floor, the nexus of the John Wooden era.
It's as iconic as college hoops collector's items come, and that's why, according to SCP Auctions, the bidding for the center circle had already reached $94,948 by Tuesday afternoon.
The signatures of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bill Walton and Wooden himself certainly aren't hurting the value.
May 2011 UCLA Bruins Wiretap
A study by Rivals.com revealed that the Big 12 has lost the most underclassmen to the NBA draft.
From 2006-10, the Big 12 lost 28 underclassmen to the draft, followed by the Pac-10 (24 early entries), the Big East (24), the SEC (22), the ACC (21), Conference USA (15) and the Big Ten (9).
Kentucky, Memphis and USC have had the most early entries with seven each.
Texas tops the Big 12 with 6 early entries.
Malcolm Lee will hire an agent and enter the draft, forfeiting the remainder of his NCAA eligibility.
"My dream has always been to play in the NBA," Lee said in a statement, "and I think that this is the best time for me to try and make that a reality."
UCLA coach Ben Howland did not conceal his disappointment in Lee's decision not to heed his advice.
"Obviously, it's what's best for UCLA basketball," Howland said of Lee returning for his senior season. "But honestly in my heart, with all the factors, I thought that was also in his best interest."
Lee was second on the team in scoring at 13.1 points per game and finished fourth in rebounding at 3.1 rpg.
He has been projected as a second-round pick.
UCLA will play most of its home basketball schedule at the Los Angeles Sports Arena next season while Pauley Pavilion is being renovated, according to an Associated Press report.
The Bruins will play 14 regular season games at the downtown Sports Arena, with four others being played at Honda Center in Anaheim. Their lone exhibition game will be at Citizens Business Bank Arena in Ontario.
Agent Jason Martin appears close to signing UCLA’s Honeycutt and the Morris twins, Marcus and Markieff, of Kansas, a source told Yahoo! Sports’ Marc J. Spears.
The Morris twins met with Martin on Wednesday.