Six games and two indefinite suspensions into his junior season, Reeves Nelson has finally been kicked off the UCLA basketball team. Nelson had a strong freshman season, averaging 11.1 points and 5.7 rebounds per game for the Bruins. He was one of the top players on the squad last season, averaging 13.9 points and 9.1 boards per game. But after being a poor teammate this season and failing to change, he was kicked off the squad.
Nelson received his first suspension after missing a team meeting the day after the Bruins lost their season opener to Loyola Marymount. He was reinstated after being forced to miss the next game — a loss to Middle Tennessee State. Next, Nelson missed the team’s flight to Maui and had to sit out the first half of their game against Chaminade. He was benched at the end of the team’s loss to Texas. Coach Ben Howland suspended him indefinitely after his poor behavior on the bench that game. Howland finally kicked Nelson off the team Friday.
“Here I am, on the road again….. There I gooooooo. Turn the page,” Nelson tweeted Friday.
What sucks beyond the disappointing season, is what Nelson cost the team. UNLV sophomore Mike Moser leads the country in rebounding. He transferred from UCLA because he didn’t get enough playing time his freshman year for the Bruins. Had UCLA gone with Moser over Nelson, they would likely be in much better shape.
UCLA is becoming a mess this season, but we can only hope the dismissal of Reeves cleans up the locker room. And we can only hope Ben Howland makes better personnel decisions in the future.
