Myles Johnson Provides Missing Pieces For UCLA

The basketball world fell in love with UCLA during March Madness. It has been a long time since Bruin men’s basketball wore Cinderella’s slipper in NCAA Tournament. The display that Mick Cronin’s Bruins put on has opened the eyes of recruits.

In a tough recruiting battle with Stanford, UCLA was able to land from the transfer portal center Myles Johnson (6-11, 255), who started his college career with Rutgers. Coming back to Westwood is a kind of a homecoming for Johnson. He played his high school basketball at Long Beach (Calif.) Poly.

As a junior for the Scarlet Knights, Johnson was second in the Big 10 in blocked shots averaging 2.5 bpg and was fifth in rebounding, coming down with 8.6 boards a game. He also had seven double-doubles and averaged 8.0 ppg.

Richard Schnyderite of The Knight Report the rivals.com Rutgers site shared his views on the newest Bruin.

“UCLA is getting a solid defensive big man; he will immediately become one of the best defenders in the Pac-12,” Schnyderite said. “He was one of the top shot blockers in the Big Ten and altered a ton of shots last season. On offense, he has a little hook shot around the rim that works pretty well for him.”

“Off the court, he is the nicest kid in the world, he started an organization called BLKDEV, to get more African American students into engineering, and it’s been pretty successful so far.

“I think he will be a solid player in the PAC-12 and, like I said before, easily one of the best defenders in the league from day one.”

Johnson is limited on the offensive end, but he has developed a solid inside offensive game. He shot 62.8 percent from the field. He needs to improve his shooting from the line. He only hit 43.5 percent of his free throws.

The Bruins get a player who can protect the rim, something missing from the team that made a final four run. He’s a player who should thrive in Cronin’s system and plays a position of need for UCLA.