We’re into the heart of the UCLA countdown now, and No. 17 is a name that can get people talking: Russell Westbrook.
This ranking leans first on what a player did in Westwood. Individual stats and accolades matter, and so does team success. NBA greatness and broader influence are part of the conversation too, but they’re supporting pieces, not the whole case.
That’s where Westbrook becomes tricky. A lot of people would push him higher, and the argument is easy to understand.
His professional career has been enormous. He won an NBA MVP award, made multiple All-Star teams, and even averaged a triple-double for an entire season.
If pro success carried the most weight here, he’d be sitting much closer to the top.
But this list is built around college production, and Westbrook only spent two seasons at UCLA. His first year was limited, with just one start for the Bruins. It was his sophomore season that really turned him into one of the program’s defining players.
In 2008, he averaged 12.7 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 4.3 assists per game and emerged as one of the team’s defensive standouts. That Bruins squad reached a third straight Final Four, and Westbrook was a major part of that run.
He also played on two UCLA Final Four teams overall, including the 2008 group that fell to Memphis in the semifinal round. Even if his college numbers don’t jump off the page the way some others on this list do, his impact in Westwood is impossible to ignore.
Westbrook may not have had the longest UCLA career or the most decorated one, but he’s too important to the program’s story to leave out. That’s why he lands at No. 17.
In Other News...
UCLA Freshman Kenneth Moore Faces A Tough Reality Right Away
Kenneth Moore arrived at UCLA with the kind of athletic upside that can make a freshman receiver easy to dream on, but the path to snaps in Westwood looks crowded from the start. The Bruins have built a wide receiver room that leans heavily on veteran transfers, and the early expectation is that Landon Ellis, Brian Rowe Jr. and either Mikey Matthews or Semaj Morgan will handle the starting jobs.
For Moore, that means the first step is likely patience rather than production. UCLA still sees him as a talented player worth developing, but with so many older options ahead of him, his early college football reality is a lesson in depth-chart gravity. If he wants a bigger role later on, it may come only after he spends time learning behind more experienced receivers. [Read more 🡒]
UCLAs New Linebacker Is Suddenly Caught In A Big Ten Fight
A new wrinkle has surfaced around UCLAs latest addition at linebacker, as Trent Hendricks path to Westwood now intersects with a Big Ten rule that could soon tighten eligibility for players who dipped into the NFL process. Hendrick declared for the NFL Draft, worked through NFL minicamps and did not sign a professional contract, then won a fifth year of eligibility through a Louisiana court injunction that opened the door for him to commit to UCLA.
Now the conference is preparing to prohibit players in that lane from competing for a Big Ten school, creating a murky situation for Hendrick and the Bruins. Legal challenges are still in play, and the timing of his signing could matter as much as the rule itself, leaving UCLA with a linebacker whose status may be decided off the field before it is settled on it. [Read more 🡒]
UCLAs Small Ball Plan Hinges On One Crucial Rotation Decision
UCLAs roster rebuild has given Mick Cronin something he can actually work with: more size, more balance and enough versatility to make the Bruins a legitimate small-ball team if he wants to go that route. With newcomers Nikola Kusturica, Jaylen Petty and Azavier Robinson joining returning pieces Trent Perry, Eric Dailey and Xavier Booker, the projected starting five already looks different from last season, and it gives UCLA a mix of shooting, length and interchangeable defenders that can be arranged in more than one way.
The key question now is how much the Bruins lean into that flexibility early in the year. Auburn transfer Filip Jovic is expected to be the first man off the bench because he can handle multiple frontcourt roles, and that makes him the swing piece in any rotation plan that asks UCLA to play smaller without losing too much size or versatility. If Cronin can find the right balance between the starters and Jovics minutes, the Bruins could have a deeper, more adaptable lineup than the one they finished with a year ago. [Read more 🡒]