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It appears that this past season’s success for the UCLA men’s basketball team may have had some unexpected benefits. UCLA Athletic Director, Dan Guerrero, was appointed to the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Committee. He will begin serving his 5 year term as a committee member on September 1. The job entails certain responsibilities for its members, including, and perhaps most importantly, the job of selecting the teams that take part in the NCAA tournament. Incidentally, this year was the first year in the last three years that the Bruins have made the NCAA tournament and it was the first tournament of Guerrero’s tenure. As a committee member, Guerrero’s main responsibilities will lie in evaluating teams around the country throughout the year and administrating the tournament and championship. Guerrero has been successful in the smaller sports during his time at UCLA, but has not had the same success with higher profile sports. While the Bruins’ 11 national titles in the past three years is unmatched by any other school, Guerrero has yet to bring Westwood a championship contender in either basketball or football. With the expected rise of the basketball team due to a young, talented nucleus and with second or third place projections in the Pac-10 for the upcoming football season, the obscurity of the major Bruin sports may be coming to an end.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL: It was announced Thursday that the UCLA women’s basketball team hired Trisha Stafford-Odom as its new assistant basketball coach. Stafford-Odom was a standout player at the University of California during her collegiate days and recently starred in the WNBA with the Houston Comets and Miami Sol. Stafford-Odom replaces former assistant coach Tia Jackson, who left UCLA May 9 to become an assistant coach at Duke. Many of Stafford-Odom’s responsibilities will include recruiting, specially those from her native Southern California area. “Trisha’s vast playing experience at all levels of the game, both here and abroad, will be invaluable tools she can share with our players,” said UCLA head coach Kathy Olivier.

TRIP TO AUSTRALIA: The UCLA women’s basketball team is currently in the midst of a two-week tour, running from June 22 to July 2, to Australia. The Bruins are traveling from Sydney to Cairns, where they have a four-game schedule including games against the Australian Junior National Team and other Australian club teams. On Saturday, the Bruins faced off against the Sutherland Sharks of the Australian National League, and defeated the Sharks 87-57 in their first preseason game of the trip.

Compiled by David Woods, Bruin sports reporter, and Sagar Parikh, Bruin sports senior staff