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Former UCLA player Reeves Nelson filed a lawsuit against Sports Illustrated and reporter George Dohrmann Wednesday and the suit includes declarations from 18 current and former UCLA players who reject various claims made in a March Sports Illustrated article that depicted Nelson as a boorish player with a propensity for violence and out-of-control behavior.

Some, such as Drew Grodon, and Tyler Trapani, were alleged victims of Nelson's violent antics who said Nelson never did to them what the Sports Illustrated story said. Others, such as Blake Arnet and Alex Schrempf, said they spoke with Dohrmann and told him the information he had was incorrect only to see it end up in print anyway.

All of them disagreed with the Sports Illustrated depiction of Nelson as a player who intentionally injured teammates and was coddled by coach Ben Howland, who turned a blind eye to Nelson's transgressions.

"I never saw Nelson intentionally hurt or intentionally try to hurt any member of the UCLA basketball team or staff, nor do I believe that Nelson ever intentionally hurt or tried to hurt any member of the UCLA basketball team or staff," reads a passage in each of the 18 declarations. "I did not observe and do not believe that Coach Howland favored Nelson over the other players in any fashion, not with respect to discipline or anything else."

Some players addressed specific incidents alleged in the article. Gordon, for instance, was reported to have gotten into an off-campus fight with Nelson that resulted in a black eye for Gordon, but Gordon's declaration stated "The article’s description of Nelson’s behavior toward me is false. We have never had a fight, not at a teammate’s apartment or anywhere else, nor has Nelson ever given me a black eye from a fight or otherwise."

The Sports Illustrated story also reported that Schrempf, a former UCLA walk-on, suffered a serious back injury as a result of a Nelson attack during practice. Schrempf's declaration said that never happened. In his declaration, Schrempf acknowledged speaking with Dohrmann but told Dohrmann his facts were wrong.

"During our conversation, Dohrmann specifically told me that he had 'heard' that Nelson intentionally injured me during practice by knocking me to the ground from behind," Schrempf's statement says. "According to Dohrmann’s 'source,' Nelson’s conduct caused me to suffer a serious back injury. I explained to Dohrmann that this version of events was incorrect."

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UCLA center Anthony Stover had surgery Friday to repair a torn labrum in his left shoulder and will be out for up to four months, coach Ben Howland said.

"It was straight forward and successful," Howland said. "Once they got in there it was definitely clear that it needed to be done."

Stover, a 6-10 sophomore reserve, originally injured his shoulder during preseason practice in October, when an MRI exam revealed torn cartilage. He played through the injury for most of this season and appeared in 28 games with three starts. A defensive specialist, Stover led the team with 39 blocked shots despite averaging only 8.4 minutes per game.

Ben Howland has pocket aces and might possibly get another on the flop, now he's got to decide how to play the hand.

Shabazz Muhammad and Kyle Anderson, two of the top five national recruits, have signed with UCLA along with No. 41 Jordan Adams and No. 26 Tony Parker could very well join them in Westwood next season as UCLA reopens Pauly Pavilion in front of what is sure to be a full house.

With that kind of recruiting class comes pressure to win and it's up to Howland to decide the best course of action.

He could slow play this talented lineup, letting them grow into their own as the season progresses, or he could go all in on his fabulous freshmen, letting them loose from the beginning and trying to ride them to prominence knowing that they could very well be one-and-done players at UCLA.

"We have to have a good plan as to what we're going to put in right away offensively and defensively," Howland said. "We've got to move quickly because the games come so fast."

[CLICK THIS LINK TO HEAR Ben Howland on 710 ESPN radio with Mason & Ireland]

Howland's coaching philosophy has long centered on the team-first mentality. He prefers to have three or four players score in double figures every night instead of having two players with 25 each and that balanced philosophy coupled with his slow-down motion, offense and tough-nosed defensive style tends to hide the explosive offensive talents of star players.

The college statistics of players such as Kevin Love (17.5 points per game) and Russell Westbrook (8.3) don't exactly foreshadow NBA all-star selections. Former national high school player of the year Jrue Holiday is now a starting point guard for the Philadelphia 76ers, but didn't make so much as second-team all-conference during his year at UCLA.

His style has proven successful over the long haul, with three consecutive Final Four appearance as evidence, but that doesn't mean Howland is oblivious to the need to use talented players.

"We definitely have to try to take advantage of their abilities," Howland said. "They're going to be great in the open court and hopefully we're going to have the depth where we can play faster and get up and down."

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UCLA's maligned basketball program is back in the national spotlight, but this time it's a good thing.

Coach Ben Howland, his reputation soiled after his program received national exposure for all the wrong reasons, made a startling comeback just a month after his future at UCLA had been called into question.

With one short, declarative sentence, Las Vegas high school senior Shabazz Muhammad changed the fortunes for UCLA basketball and Howland. Muhammad, the No. 2-ranked recruit in the nation, made UCLA relevant once again when he appeared on ESPNU Wednesday and said "I chose to be a Bruin."

And with that, the Bruins, who did not even make the NCAA tournament -- nor the NIT for that matter -- last season, are suddenly a sleeper pick for a national championship run next season. UCLA, its proud basketball tradition waning after missing the NCAAs twice in the past three seasons, once again has something to brag about.

And after a couple of seasons of contemplating how far the mighty had fallen, those around UCLA are now wondering if the bandwagon has any seats left on it.

"I think he’s going to have a tremendous impact," Howland said of how much of a difference-maker Muhammad could be. "He’s a special, special talent and has so many attributes that will help our team."

Muhammad, a 6-foot-6 small forward, is explosive, athletic and can score from anywhere, including beyond the three-point line. He was named the 2012 Naismith Boy’s High School Player of the Year and selected by the McDonald’s All-American committee as the 2012 Morgan Wootten Player of the Year. He also was named the MVP of the 2012 McDonald’s All-American game on March 28 and won the Powerade Jam Fest dunk contest.

But his scoring ability and talent are only half the story of what he brings to UCLA. His character off the court is equal to his ability on it and that is exactly what UCLA needs after Sports Illustrated reported dysfunction in the UCLA program caused mostly by the unscrupulous acts of entitled recruits.

The signing of Muhammad, along with Kyle Anderson and Jordan Adams, puts a new face on the way UCLA does things.

"The thing that’s great about Shabazz is he’s a great kid," Howland said. "They have a great family. He’s really, really the total package. An outstanding student athlete. This is a whole new era. What we’ve really try to institute now is a whole new level of accountability for our current team."

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The most talented offensive player in the Class of 2012 is headed to Westwood. Shabazz Muhammad (Las Vegas, Nev./Bishop Gorman), ESPNU's No. 2 overall recruit, announced Wednesday on "Recruiting Nation" that he will sign with the Bruins over Kentucky and Duke.

See full story here.

Lazeric Jones was named the MVP for UCLA's basketball team during the team banquet Monday night.

Jones, a senior guard, led the Bruins in scoring (13.5 ppg), assists (4.1 apg), steals (1.8 spg) and in three-point field goals made (48). He was the only player to start all 33 games in the 2011-12 season and was named second-team All Pac-12.

Sophomore guard Tyler Lamb was named the team's outstanding defensive player and guard Norman Powell was named freshman of the year. Powell and sophomore forward Travis Wear were named co-winners of the most improved award and Wear also won the award for team free throw champion after shooting 79.1 percent (68-for-86) on free trows to rank eighth in the Pac-12.

Sophomore forward David Wear also was a two-time winner on the evening, claiming the team rebounding leader award after leading the squad with 202 rebounds and the outstanding team play award.

Junior forward Brendan Lane claimed the Elvin C. "Ducky" Drake Memorial Award for Competitive Spirit, Inspiration and Unselfish Contributions while senior walk-on guard Tyler Trapani earned his second consecutive UCLA Faculty Athletic Representative Award for academic achievement and team contribution.

Complete list of the 2012 UCLA Men's Basketball Awards Banquet Honors:

• Bob "Ace" Calkins Memorial Award/Free Throw Champion
  Travis Wear, So., F
• Elvin C. "Ducky" Drake Memorial Award/Competitive Spirit, Inspiration and Unselfish Contributions
  Brendan Lane, Jr., F
• Bruin Hoopsters J.D. Morgan Memorial Award/Outstanding Team Play
  David Wear, So., F
• UCLA Faculty Athletic Representative Award/Academic Achievement and Team Contribution
  Tyler Trapani, Sr., G
• Seymour Armond Memorial Award/Most Valuable Freshman
  Norman Powell, Fr., G
• Bruin Bench Basketball Award/Most Improvement in All-Around Play and Mental Attitude
  Travis Wear, So., F/Norman Powell, Fr., G
• Irv Pohlmeyer Memorial Award/Outstanding Defensive Player
  Tyler Lamb, So. G
• UCLA Alumni Association Award/Team Assist Leader
  Lazeric Jones, Sr., G
• Gerald A. Finerman Award/Team Rebounding Leader
  David Wear, So., G
• Coach John Wooden Award/Most Valuable Player
  Lazeric Jones, Sr., G

UCLA reserve forward Brendan Lane plans to graduate early and transfer to another school, he said Tuesday.

Lane, a 6-foot-9 junior, will enroll in graduate school at his new destination and therefore will be able to play without sitting out a season under the graduate transfer rule. He will have one year of eligibility remaining. Lane averaged 1.6 points and 1.8 rebounds in 19 games and 6.6 minutes per game this season.

"It's hard," Lane said. "I've been here three years and the coaches have been supportive and my teammates have been supportive. It's been a really tough decision, but I've got to make the decision that is best for me."

Lane will graduate with a degree in economics and has the option of extending his graduation until next year by adding classes toward a minor degree, but said he isn't interested in doing that.

Lane was among the top-20 power forward recruits in the nation out of Rocklin High School, but never quite developed into a top-level player with the Bruins. He averaged 2.4 points in 10 minutes a game as a freshman and three points and 3.1 rebounds in 15 minutes a game last season.

This year, his playing time diminished because of the emergence of David and Travis Wear, twin transfers from North Carolina who play the same position as Lane.

"It's a little bit of an issue, but mostly academics is the most important part right now," Lane said. "I want to focus on graduating and getting somewhere I can go and obviously someplace I can play, too."

Lane said he hadn't yet begun to explore possible schools and that he could stay close to home or "have the experience away from California." Coach Ben Howland said he will do all he can to help Lane find a school and said it would most likely be a "mid-major institution."

"Brendan has been absolutely fantastic in terms of the type of kid he is," Howland said. "He's someone that I will always have great appreciation and affection for. ... We'll try to help him find the possibly situation both academically and that also fits the opportunity where you know that you're going to have a great chance to start and play your last year of college basketball and really have a great experience with that."

UCLA was not among the 32 teams selected for the NIT and the school will not accept an invitation from the CBI or CIT, meaning Bruins' season is over.

UCLA (19-14) was a bubble team for the NIT after finishing fifth in the Pac-12 and then bowing out in the second round of the Pac-12 tournament. Coach Ben Howland said the team would accept an NIT invitation, but UCLA's name did not come up when the bracket was announced Sunday night.

Washington and Arizona were seeded No. 1 while Oregon and Stanford were also selected and seeded No. 3.

Because UCLA will not play in the post season, the college careers of seniors Lazeric Jones and Jerime Anderson have ended.

"It’s going to be tough but we got another part of my life to live," Jones said. "I still have to finish school and hopefully I’ll stay playing basketball on another level after this."

Ben Howland is probably safe for now.

The UCLA basketball team will miss the NCAA tournament this year, violating a cardinal sin among Bruin faithful for the second time in three years, and that in itself is a fireable offense, but Howland won't be fired.

Larry Farmer and Walt Hazzard are the only other UCLA coaches since John Wooden to miss two NCAA tournaments in three years and neither of them lasted much longer after, but Howland isn't going to join that group.

Add in the fact that UCLA is a program under scrutiny because of a recent Sports Illustrated report that alleges Howland's coaching style and recruiting misses are responsible for a program in disarray--not to mention a team that has been absent from the national rankings in all but one week over the past three seasons--and you have a pretty compelling case that many UCLA fans wouldn't shed tears should athletic director Dan Guerrero hand Howland his walking papers.

But don't look for Howland in the unemployment line just yet.

Howland is under contract through 2015 and it would take upwards of $3 million to buy out his contract, so that alone is enough to keep him around. The well-heeled donors and high-powered boosters would have to pony up the cash and there just isn't much of an anti-Howland groundswell among the one percent.

Howland is also set to bring in a top-ranked recruiting class with Kyle Anderson and Jordan Adams already signed and Shabazz Muhammad and Tony Parker considering UCLA. Should Howland go, Muhammad and Parker would definitely be lost and Anderson and Adams would almost certainly ask to be released from their letters of intent.

With UCLA set to unveil a revamped Pauley Pavilion next season, it doesn't make sense to do it with the same team that just finished fifth in the Pac-12 conference plus some recruits they scramble to get after the current class heads elsewhere. And it definitely doesn't make sense to let some coach who has never coached at UCLA re-open the hallowed ground of UCLA hoops.

Guerrero has said he won't evaluate Howland until the season is over and as of now, the Bruins are a bubble team for the NIT and Howland said the team would accept an invitation to play, so Guerrero won't be making any decisions until after that and he will have to consult with chancellor Gene Block before making any decisions.

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LOS ANGELES -- A difficult and sometimes bizarre season took a disappointing turn for the UCLA basketball team in a game that pretty much summed up the way the season went.

The Bruins lost, 66-58, to Arizona Thursday in a Pac-12 tournament quarterfinal that, much like the season, featured UCLA fighting through adversity, looking as if it might turn a corner but could never quite get things rolling in the right direction.

UCLA (19-14) will lament losing the game in a wide-open Pac-12 tournament that was their only possible path to the NCAA tournament, especially after the Bruins' path to the final cleared somewhat with top-seeded Washington's loss earlier in the day, but the inconsistencies that have plagued UCLA all season did so again against Arizona.

The Bruins did not put together a win streak of more than three games in conference play this season and could not put together a stretch of more than five minutes of high-level play Thursday. The Bruins fell into an early hole, climbed back out and made a run, but could not close it out.

"We had our opportunities to win and did not seize the moment," coach Ben Howland said.

The same could be said for UCLA all season. UCLA lost four conference games by three points or fewer and lost four times on the road after taking second-half leads. Those close losses ended up being the difference between making the NCAA tournament and hoping for an NIT invitation.

But so are so many other things.

The Bruins entered this season without two of their top three leading scorers from last year after Malcolm Lee and Tyler Honeycutt left school to enter the NBA draft. UCLA lost the third member of that group when Reeves Nelson was kicked off the team seven games in. The fourth-leading scorer, Joshua Smith, reported for the season grossly out of shape and was hardly a factor most of the season.

The rest of the Bruins tried to keep things together, but simply never built any momentum.

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LOS ANGELES -- UCLA's chances of making the NCAA tournament ended with a 66-58 loss to Arizona in the Pac-12 tournament Thursday at Staples Center, but the Bruins would play in the NIT if invited, coach Ben Howland said.

"If we have the opportunity to play in the postseason in the NIT, we would accept," Howland said. "It's something that I want for our players. So yeah, no question, we would not snub our nose at the opportunity to play in the NIT."

NIT tournament invitations are handed out after the NCAA tournament selections are made Sunday. Conference regular-season champions not invited to the NCAA tournament get an automatic berth in the NIT, which could hinder UCLA's chances.

UCLA last played in the NIT in 1986 and lost to UC Irvine, 80-74, in the first round. They won the NIT in 1985.

The CBI and the CIT are other postseason tournaments that could court UCLA (19-14), but it's not likely the 11-time national champion Bruins would accept an invite to either of those lower-tier events even after missing the NCAA tournament for the second time in three seasons.

"Coach Howland already spoke to us after the game and I don’t know if we would go to any of those other tournaments," said senior guard Jerime Anderson, who said he did not know the names of the other tournaments.

Lazeric Jones, also a senior, said he would welcome the opportunity to extend his college career by playing in the NIT, but has little knowledge of the CBI or CIT.

"I love playing basketball so any basketball game I can play is good with me," Jones said. "To be honest, I don’t know too much about those other tournaments. Whatever coach wants us to do and whatever my teammates want to do, I’m down with that."

LOS ANGELES -- UCLA center Joshua Smith said Thursday that he would be coming back to UCLA.

Smith, a 6-foot-10 sophomore center, had a disappointing season averaging only 10 points and 4.9 rebounds but is thought to have NBA potential because of his size. But after UCLA was knocked out of the Pac-12 tournament with a 66-58 loss to Arizona, Smith said he was not ready to test the NBA waters.

"I’m coming back," Smith said. "I can’t -- there’s no way I’ll ever leave on a note like that. Whenever I leave I want to make sure we go out with a bang and I go out with a bang, nothing like this."

Smith was a major reason why UCLA was ranked No. 17 to start this season and picked as the preseason favorite to win the Pac-12 title. But he reported to school this year grossly out of shape, spent the first half of the season just trying to get back into shape and was an equally major reason why the Bruins failed to live up to those lofty expectations.

He continually found himself in foul trouble throughout the season and averaged only 17.4 minutes a game. As a freshman last year, Smith averaged 10.9 points and 6.3 rebounds in 21.7 minutes per game.

"I’m extremely upset with myself," he said. "I realized in the season with the way I was playing and my numbers compared to what they were when I was a freshman. I was supposed to make that jump and I didn’t.”

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LOS ANGELES -- Joshua Smith has pretty bad timing, so Ben Howland pretty much had no choice.

Smith, UCLA's sophomore center, missed the team bus to Staples Center for a first-round game against USC in the Pac-12 tournament and Howland suspended his 6-foot-10 inside force for the first half of UCLA's 55-40 victory over the Trojans.

The team is staying at the J.W. Marriott at L.A. Live -- just a five-minute walk to Staples, and Smith actually beat the team bus to the arena because the bus had to navigate the one-way streets, traffic signals and downtown L.A. traffic.

But because of all the scrutiny surrounding UCLA basketball in the wake of a Sports Illustrated report that alleged, among other things, a lack of discipline by Howland for transgressions by standout players, Howland had to take action for a seemingly harmless incident.

So as No. 5-seeded UCLA suffered through a miserable first 15 minutes against No. 12 USC, Smith sat planted on the bench unable to help his team get out of an early-game shooting funk all because he was four minutes late for the bus in pretty much the worst possible week he could have been late for any team function.

"It’s just one of those where coach made a decision and I’m not going to fret with the decision he made," Smith said. "I was late and I deserved to be punished and when he told me, I had no problems with it."

Certainly UCLA could have used Smith. The Bruins made only three of their first 20 shots from the field, unable to take advantage of a major size advantage mostly because Smith was not on the floor. USC, a team that won only one conference game all season, led, 17-9 with 6:35 left in the first half.

Still, Howland stuck to his guns even as he watched his team settle for jump shots as USC packed the middle with defense because UCLA did not have Smith in the game establishing a much-needed inside threat. Howland said Smith's tardiness has not been an issue in the past, but it was clear that he had to send a message with the program under so much scrutiny this past week.

"It hasn’t been something that has been a problem with him ever being late to the bus, but I don’t care," Howland said. "This is too big and too important."

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UCLA will join Indiana, Georgetown and Georgia as host schools for the 2012 Legends Classic, a preseason basketball tournament, and will play in the championship rounds at the new Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y.

The format features 12 teams from across the nation competing at the four host sites Nov. 11-15 and the four host schools then meet in New York Nov. 19-20. The four host schools have combined for 17 national championships and 117 NCAA tournament appearances.

It will be the third consecutive year UCLA has played in New York. The Bruins played in the preseason NIT last season and visited St. John's this season.

LOS ANGELES -- Lazeric Jones picked a heck of a season to be UCLA’s captain.

From a floundering 2-5 start to the season, to the dismissal of all-conference forward Reeves Nelson to center Joshua Smith’s ineffectiveness and last week’s Sports Illustrated article portraying the team as a program in disarray, this has been a season filled with one bit of adversity after another for the Bruins.

But to find the Bruins playing their best basketball at the end of such a difficult season is a testament to the heart and character of the players, led by their captain.

Jones, a 6-foot-1 senior guard, has been the steadying influence who helped keep off-court issues off the court. He has been the hard-nosed player who brought a brand of Chicago toughness in a season when the Bruins needed it most.

And he has been the leader on the court, too, coming up with Pac-12 Player of the Week honors last week as UCLA defeated Washington State and conference regular-season champion Washington to give the team momentum heading into the Pac-12 tournament.

The No. 5-seeded Bruins (18-13, 11-7) play No. 12 USC (6-25, 1-17) in a first-round game Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. at Staples Center and must win four games in four days if they want to make the NCAA tournament. To do so, they will look to Jones, their leader on and off the court, to guide the way.

“He’s done a great job for us and has really been a pillar of stability and a very good role model in terms of on and off the floor,” coach Ben Howland said. “He is really, really a good person and a good kid. You can’t say enough about that and that ties into why he is a good player. Very focused. He loves the game.”

Jones leads the Bruins in scoring with 13.4 points per game, assists with 4.2 per game and steals with 1.8 per game. But more than his stats, his leadership and constant presence have been a unifying force for the team. He is the only player who started every game this season and was the only player to start every game last season as well.

Jones also leads the team in minutes with 33.4 per game so he always seems to be involved when UCLA needs him most.

“He’s always talking about staying together and playing for each other as a team,” guard Jerime Anderson said. “That’s something that he really believes in and you can see it out on the court. He’s all about his team and he’s willing to fight for us. That’s the attitude that all teammates and all team members should have.”

It’s an attitude that has come in handy this season, when off-court distraction easily could have crumbled the team. Instead, Jones’ steadying influence helped keep the team focused during trying times and even though the win-loss record might not be as good as expected at UCLA, it’s pretty remarkable considering all the Bruins went through this season.

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