John Walters of AOL FanHouse has written an outstanding feature on UCLA volleyball coaches Andy Banachowski and Al Scates. Banachowski has announced his retirement after 43 years as head coach of the women's volleyball program and Scates was his college coach and mentor.

For a great read about two coaching legends, click here.

Curt Sandoval of ABC7 (Channel 7 in Los Angeles) did a nice feature about head women's volleyball coach Andy Banachowski, who is retiring after 43 years as the Bruins' head coach.

The piece aired tonight (Jan. 26) on the 5:00 pm news.

To watch the feature, click here.

Longtime UCLA radio play-by-play voice Chris Roberts and Don MacLean, who joins Roberts as men's basketball color analyst on the UCLA ISP Sports Radio Network, have been nominated for two sports broadcaster awards for 2009 presented by the Southern California Sports Broadcasters (SCSB).

Roberts is one of three finalists in the "Radio Play-by-Play" category.  MacLean is among three nominees for "Radio Color Commentary."

Winners are determined in voting by the SCSB membership and will be announced on February 2nd at the organization's annual awards luncheon at Lakeside Golf Club in Toluca Lake.

Roberts recently completed his 18th year as play-by-play "Voice of the Bruins."  This marks the fourth time that the SCSB has recognized him as an award finalist.

MacLean, the all-time leading scorer in UCLA and Pac-10 history, is in his eighth year covering Bruin basketball contests following his career as a player in the NBA.

Four members of the Bruin football team competed in today's East-West Shrine Game in Orlando, FL - receiver/kick returner Terrence Austin, linebacker Reggie Carter, h-back Ryan Moya and cornerback Alterraun Verner.

Moya scored the only West touchdown - an eight yard reception from BYU's Max Hall with 6:59 remaining in the game. Overall,he made two catches for 11 yards and carried the ball once for four yards.

Austin made two receptions for 18 yards (the West only had 12 completions), averaged 8.0 yards on two punt returns (one for 15) and had 24 yards on two kickoff returns.

Verner returned one kickoff (13 yards) and one punt. On defense, he made three solo tackles and broke up one pass.

Carter was third on the West team with five tackles (four solos), including one for a two-yard loss.

The East defeated the West, 13-10, scoring the winning touchdown with six seconds remaining in the game.

Yahoo! Sports is doing a series of college baseball previews.

One of today's stories is a feature on the Bruin pitching tandem of sophomores Gerrit Cole and Trevor Bauer.

To read the feature, click here.

Tonight at the NCAA Convention in Atlanta, GA, UCLA icon Jackie Joyner-Kersee was among the honorees.

JJK was one of the Silver Anniversary Award winners. That award is presented to former student-athletes who completed their careers 25 years ago and have gone on to achieve greatness and make an impact since their collegiate careers.

In the attached photo, Jackie is presented her award by UCLA Senior Associate Athletic Director Petrina Long.

View image

David Estrada (Seattle Sounders FC):

Sigi Schmid on David Estrada (from SoundersFC.com)

From Salinas to Seattle - ESPN Los Angeles

Sounders FC official draft recap - Seattle Times

Sounders top pick as surprised as anyone - Tacoma News-Tribune

Sounders FC picks UCLA forward in first round - Daily Herald

Sounders FC selects UCLA's Estrada with first-round pick - Seattle P-I

Sounders' pick Estrada surprise of draft - MLSnet.com

Michael Stephens (Los Angeles Galaxy):

2010 MLS SuperDraft is Now Complete (Michael Stephens audio, Bruce Arena video/audio)- LA Galaxy Blog

Video of Michael Stephens' draft announcement - MLSnet.com

Michael Stephens drafted by Galaxy - ESPN Los Angeles

Only One Pick - LA Soccer News

Philadelphia Union (Amobi Okugo, Kyle Nakazawa, Brian Perk):

Amobi Okugo draft selection - MLSNet.com

In West Philadelphia ... - ESPN Los Angeles

Union starts with youth movement - Delaware County Daily Times

Union loads up on youth, talent in MLS SuperDraft - Philadelphia Daily News

Union busy at top of MLS draft - Philadelphia Daily News

Union wanna be startin' something - Philadelphia Metro

Union presence felt at SuperDraft - MLSNet.com

ESPN.com has released its 2009 All-America team and two members of the Bruin football squad are on the list - place kicker Kai Forbath and defensive tackle Brian Price.

UCLA was one of just four schools to have multiple members on the squad. Flordia and Alabama each had three players named to the team while UCLA and TCU had two each.

Forbath was the 2009 consensus All-America kicker, earning first-team honors from the American Football Coaches Assn., Walter Camp Football Foundation, Sporting News, Football Writers Assn. of America, Phil Steele and Rivals.com.

Price also earned first-team honors from the American Football Coaches Assn. and SI.com.

Ensure your men's basketball seats for next season by making a season ticket deposit.   

For just $100, you can guarantee your seats for an exciting Bruin campaign in 2010-11 at legendary Pauley Pavilion.

For details and to place your non-refundable deposit, click here or call (310) UCLA-WIN.

The No. 1 ranked UCLA Gymnastics team will be featured on Fox Sports programming this week. Runnin' With the Pac will have a segment on gymnastics, including interviews with head coach Valorie Kondos Field and gymnasts Anna Li and Elyse Hopfner-Hibbs. In addition, The UCLA Sports Report will take a closer look at Kondos Field's floor exercise choreography.

Runnin' With The Pac airs nation-wide on Fox Sports Net. In Los Angeles, the first airing is on Prime Ticket on Thursday, Jan. 14 at 7 pm. For a listing of airtimes around the nation, CLICK HERE.

The UCLA Sports Report airs four times this week. It will air on the postgame shows of the Anaheim Ducks on Wednesday, Jan. 13 (Fox Sports West, approximately 9:30 pm), the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday, Jan. 14 (Fox Sports West, approximately 10 pm), and the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday, Jan. 15 (Prime Ticket, approximately 10 pm. On Saturday, Jan. 16, it will run during halftime of the UCLA-USC men's basketball game, which tips off at 4:30 pm on Prime Ticket.

Seven members of the UCLA football team have been selected to the ESPN.com All-Pac-10 Bowl team for their efforts in the EagleBank Bowl.

On defense, the Bruins selected were defensive tackle Brian Price, linebackers Kyle Bosworth and Akeem Ayers and defensive backs Alterraun Verner and Rahim Moore. Center Jake Dean represented the offense and Kai Forbath was selected as the place kicker.

To read about the entire team, click here.

UCLA consensus All-America place kicker Kai Forbath and All-America safety Rahim Moore finished the season as NCAA statistics leaders.

Including the bowl games, Forbath concluded the season averaging 2.15 field goals per game (28 in 13 games), edging Alabama's Leigh Tiffin, who averaged 2.14 per contest (30 in 14 games) to rank No. 1 in the nation. In addition, Forbath's percentage of .903 (28 of 31) ranked second nationally to Missouri's Grant Ressel's .963 (26 of 27) among players with 23 or more attempts.

Moore led the nation with 10 interceptions in his 13 games, two more than any other player in the nation. In fact, his 10 interceptions were the most by any player in the Football Bowl Subdivision since two players made 10 each in 2003. Moore also tied for second nationally with his average of 1.31 passes defensed per game.

All-America defensive tackle Brian Price, the Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Year, ranked third nationally and first in the Pac-10 with 23.5 tackles for loss (the next highest total in the Pac-10 with 15.5). He was fourth nationally with his average of 1.81 tackles for loss per game.

Here is the list of NCAA and Pac-10 rankings for UCLA and Bruin players:

INDIVIDUAL

* Kai Forbath -- field goals: 1st in NCAA, 1st in Pac-10 (2.15); scoring: T-23rd in NCAA, 5th in Pac-10 (8.31); kick scoring: 3rd in Pac-10 (8.31); FG%: 2nd in NCAA - 23+ att.:(.903)

* Terrence Austin -- all-purpose: 34th in NCAA, 5th Pac-10(139.85); receptions: T-22nd Pac-10(2.85); ko ret.: 60th NCAA, 4th Pac-10(24.09); punt ret.:34th NCAA, 3rd Pac-10(9.15); receiv. yds: 22nd Pac-10 (35.00);

* Nelson Rosario -- receiv. yds:9th Pac-10 (55.62); receptions: T-18th Pac-10 (3.23)

* Taylor Embree -- receptions: T-12th Pac-10 (3.46); receiv. yds:13th Pac-10 (46.77)

* Kevin Prince -- passing efficiency: 8th in Pac-10 (115.45); passing yards: 8th in Pac-10 (186.36); total offense: 7th in Pac-10 (202.64)

* Johnathan Franklin -- rushing: 12th Pac-10 (43.54); total off.: 21st Pac-10 (43.54)

* Derrick Coleman -- rushing: 21st Pac-10 (18.77

* Jeff Locke -- punting: 16th in NCAA, 2nd in Pac-10 (43.63)

* Rahim Moore -- int.: 1st NCAA,1st Pac-10(10, two more than anyone else in the nation - 0.77 avg.);passes def.:T-2nd NCAA,1st Pac-10(1.31)

* Akeem Ayers -- int: T-4th in Pac-10 (0.31); sacks: T-10th Pac-10 (0.46); TFL: 5th in Pac-10 (1.12); Forced fum: T-3rd in Pac-10 (0.31); tackles: 22nd Pac-10 (5.77)

* Brian Price -- TFL: 3rd in NCAA, 1st Pac-10 (23.5), TFL average: 4th in NCAA, 1st in Pac-10 (1.81); sacks: 9th in Pac-10 (0.54)

* Datone Jones -- TFL: 12th Pac-10 (0.85); sacks: T-17th in Pac-10 (0.31)

* Alterraun Verner -- int: T-32nd in NCAA, T-2nd in Pac-10 (0.38); tackles: T-28th Pac-10 (5.54)

* Reggie Carter -- tackles:T-16th Pac-10 (6.08);TFL:T-19th Pac-10(0.65)

* Kyle Bosworth -- tackles: T-19th in Pac-10 (5.92)

* Korey Bosworth -- TFL: T-6th Pac-10 (1.08)

* Tony Dye -- tackles: 27th Pac-10 (5.62)

TEAM

Rushing Offense:  97th in NCAA, 9th in Pac-10 (114.62)

Passing Offense:  52nd in NCAA, 4th in Pac-10 (222.77)

Total Offense:  88th in NCAA, 8th in Pac-10 (337.38)

Scoring Offense:  94th in NCAA, 9th in Pac-10 (22.00)

Rushing Defense:  59th in NCAA, 8th in Pac-10 (142.77)

Pass Efficiency Defense: 41st in NCAA, 5th in Pac-10 (118.99)

Pass Defense: 28th in NCAA, 2nd in Pac-10 (191.23)

Total Defense: 32nd in NCAA, 3rd in Pac-10 (334.00)

Scoring Defense: 27th in NCAA, 3rd in Pac-10 (21.23)

Third Down Conversion Offense: 8th in Pac-10 (34.05%)

Third Down Conversion Defense: 18th in NCAA, 2nd in Pac-10 (33.15%)

Red Zone Offense: T-41st in NCAA, T-5th in Pac-10 (83.78%)

Red Zone Defense: T-44th in NCAA, T-1st in Pac-10 (80.00%)

Turnover Margin: 26th in NCAA, 1st in Pac-10 (+0.46)

Kickoff Returns: 26th in NCAA, 4th in Pac-10 (23.75)

Punt Returns: 57th in NCAA, 7th in Pac-10 (9.09)

Net Punting: 19th in NCAA, 1st in Pac-10 (38.04)

Interceptions: T-7th in NCAA, 1st in Pac-10 (20)

Tackles For Loss: 5th in NCAA, 1st in Pac-10 (8.15)

The Spokane Shock announced today that DL Brigham Harwell has been added to the 2010 roster. Harwell, 6-0 300, most recently played for the New York Sentinels of the UFL, registering 16.5 tackles and one-half sack.

Prior to joining the Sentinels, Harwell signed with the Washington Redskins as an undrafted free agent and was released during mini-camp.

"Winning football games is done up front in the trenches," Head Coach Rob Keefe explained. "Brigham Harwell is a physical presence on the defensive line who can physically dominate his opponent. He is just another example of a person who deserves to be in the NFL and he just needs to continue to play until that opportunity comes back."

Harwell was a four-year player at UCLA where he tallied 145 tackles with six sacks including 26.5 tackles for loss. In his senior season, Harwell was selected as a second-team member of the All PAC-10 team.

As a rookie to the Arena game, Harwell hopes to improve his pass rushing ability and return to the NFL.

"In eight man football, it's always a one-on-one match-up on the line," Harwell explained. "At the NFL level, they always talk about 'winning the one-on-one battles' and this will be an excellent opportunity for me to further my one-on-one experience and improve my pass rush."

Although Harwell has not been to Spokane, he is familiar with the Shock and understands what the team means to the city.

"I'm just really excited for this opportunity," Harwell said. "I know that team has a tradition of winning games, and I just want to do my best to help the team and to help the city."

The Spokane Shock will kick off the 2010 season on Friday April 2nd as they host the Milwaukee Iron.

The UCLA women's basketball team is featured today on ESPN.com. Women's basketball columnist Mechelle Voepel talks about the Bruins' 2-0 conference start this year and also gets some words from legendary coach Pat Summitt about Bruin head coach Nikki Caldwell.

A sampling of quotes about Coach Caldwell:

"I felt like Nikki was going to be a great head coach," Summitt said. "A lot of people say she's more like me than anyone who's been on my staff. I don't know if that's true, but I do know that she is very focused on doing things the right way.

"What I've seen from her as a coach, it's been very telling and impressive," Summitt said. "When they came here, it was like 'Wow.' We had a tough time early and managed to win late.

To read the article, CLICK HERE.