Ira Gorawara

@IraGorawara • 3,669 subscribers

college sports @theathletic | @ucla 26 | fmr sports editor @dailybruin | @emergingcricket | ex @latimes @scmpnews @ndtv | @aaja | The ABCs of Life author | 🇭🇰

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Ira Gorawara

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Watch: UCLA HC Mick Cronin appeared to eject his own player, Steven Jamerson II, after he committed a foul on Carson Cooper on the fast break. Jamerson squared up with Cooper, was assessed a technical before Cronin signaled for him to get off the floor.

Cori Close says UCLA’s finish as the No. 1 seed in the Sacramento regional played out as they expected, and LSU as the No. 2 seed is exactly what Lauren Betts said she wanted this morning at breakfast.

Nico Iamaleava wouldn’t be who he is, on paper or in the media, without one man. Nico Iamaleava, otherwise known as “Big Nic,” is ready for kickoff with his wife Leinna.

UCLA football interim head coach Tim Skipper began his first media scrum shaking everyone’s hands and asking us to call him “Skip,” which he prefers to go by.

Gabriela Jaquez: “The fact that I got to end the whole Jaquez family legacy at UCLA with a national championship, you can’t even write a better story than that.”

Tim Skipper: “Every time you go on the road there’s all these built-in excuses that you can use. Especially here, we went three time zones over, it’s an early kickoff, it’s their homecoming … at the end of the day, once you tee it up, it’s ball and ball.” 🎥: UCLA Athletics

Yet another incredible Bruins moment for your feed: Christeen Iwuala signed a rookie scale contract with the Mystics yesterday. She’s a former Bruin (22-24) — overlapped with Angela Dugalic for two years AND Lauren Betts for one in Westwood They now *all* reunite in DC as pros.

What really IS Cori Close’s coaching style? “You’re not coaching people’s jumpshots, you’re coaching people’s hearts. But if you coach their hearts really well, usually their jump shots end up pretty good too. And I would say our players jumpshots ended up pretty good too.”

There’s a black van driving around UCLA’s campus, and now heading into Westwood, with billboards advocating for the firing of athletic director Martin Jarmond. “$7 Million Buyout for UCLA’s AD? Failure Never Paid So Well” and more flashing on the billboard:

Nico Iamaleava spoke to reporters this morning, appearing more enthused and a little freer. With his Tennessee saga now in the past, and a new, passionate coaching staff in town, perhaps the UCLA QB has finally settled in. “They make you want to be here.”

Tim Skipper doesn’t tap one bit into the travel/away game excuses. He reminded us of that again last night, speaking on the travel to No. 2 Indiana. “I don’t blame no trip or any of that stuff. We’re gonna go have a good week of practice and we’re gonna battle it out out there.”

We're all seeing how involved Bob Chesney is at practices — is that common for his players? "Coach Chesney is lifting with us, ... I've never seen that before. I'm over here doing reps, I rack my weight, look to my left, and he's doing his reps. .. That's the type of guy he is."

Videos

Watch Anya Live

Live footage of the couple on ESPN’s 4K stream opening texts of themselves and realizing they’ve been the center of this camera for the last hour. This is hilarious

Chesney on Thursday said good football players can’t be “bad at life.” I asked OC Dean Kennedy about it. “If you’re going to be bad in the classroom, you’re going to be late for academics, we can’t trust on third and 7 to run the correct route. … You have to attack everything.”

Megan Grant didn’t get a chance to cut the nets in Phoenix, so Cori Close gave the softball-basketball star her moment in front of the Bruin faithful upon the team’s return to campus.

Dawn and Geno are heated on the sideline.

Mick Cronin starts his presser post the Nebraska win speaking about the tip-off time of this game (8 p.m. PT, 10 p.m. CT) being exceptionally late given that students of both teams need to go to class tomorrow morning.

As much as UCLA struggled under DeShaun Foster, I’m genuinely curious how this weekend has been for him. A longtime Bruin who loved UCLA, but probably wasn’t made to be HC. Looks like he’s taking the day with family, a day after a big celebration for his daughter’s 2nd birthday.

Jerry Neuheisel’s first words after orchestrating a stunning upset over No. 7 Penn State. “Just a special, special day. I don’t know where it would rank. I don’t know how to really put it into words I just am glad I’m the one who gets to be in it right now.”

Bob Chesney: “In the weight room, the way we sit in our meetings, the way our lockers our kept, every single thing is a competition. Every single thing is gonna be graded and judged and held to a high standard and accountability follows it.”

Welcome home, national champs. A warm, warm welcome to Westwood for the Bruins.

There's been a barrage of high-profile recruits picking UCLA. What's Bob Chesney's magic? Everything around him. Academics, prestige, athletics, "future CEOs, doctors, lawyers, ... leaders of America." "This is rare air that our guys get to breathe ... surrounded by greatness."

UCLA alum and Miami Heat guard Norman Powell shouts out the UCLA women, remembering hanging out with Cori Close during his first year at UCLA — her first as head coach. Says Close "did things the uncommon way, had all the players thinking uncommon goals, uncommon thoughts."

Mick Cronin’s four-something minute start to his availability today: Cronin said he apologized to Steven Jamerson II, went on to praise many traits of Jamerson and talked about the importance of his words and perception, apologizing to the UCLA community as well.

One of the most special and meaningful moments of my career so far: USU Men's Hoops coach Jarred Calhoun recognizing the story I wrote about the Aggies in his postgame presser at the Round of 32 today. Loved covering the Aggies this weekend and Calhoun is really, really great.

Lauren Betts, Gabriela Jaquez and Charlisse Leger-Walker just stole the show at the UCLA dance team’s halftime show. Whole team and coaches were here to watch and it was incredible. Watch the full performance:

DB Cole Martin on safeties coach Anthony DiMichele, who joined Chesney in Westwood after two years in the same role at JMU: “I see something the other day, a recruit’s mom was like, “This is the type of coach you want to just leave your kid with,’” Martin said of Anthony DiMichele.

There’s been talk of how Gabriela Jaquez’s March Madness performance upped her draft stock even further. A big reason why is her truly unrelenting motor. “I take it as the ultimate disrespect if someone says I don’t work hard — because I’m always gonna try my best.”

UCLA Alumni Band is performing The Mighty Bruins at the Rose Bowl. Pretty incredible considering some of them graduated 50 years ago. Unfortunate part is that this season, they’ve been “banished,” according to one member, to a smaller and obscure part of the Rose Bowl.

Yet another incredible Bruins moment for your feed: Christeen Iwuala signed a rookie scale contract with the Mystics yesterday. She’s a former Bruin (22-24) — overlapped with Angela Dugalic for two years AND Lauren Betts for one in Westwood They now all reunite in DC as pros.