Battle of the Editors: Rookie of the year
Freshman Jose Hernandez powered the Bruin offense this season. The Pac-12 Freshman of the Year scored 11 goals and had four assists, leading the team with 26 points. (Daily Bruin file photo)
Battle of the Editors: Next year’s Daily Bruin Sports editors square off in their first co-publication ever. The new kids at the helm argue who they think should be UCLA’s rookie of the year.
TuAnh Dam: Josh Rosen
Few freshmen come into Westwood with more fanfare than UCLA quarterback Josh Rosen. The Manhattan Beach native started all thirteen games for the Bruins and rewrote the history books en route to All-American honors. The former No.1-rated quarterback per Scout.com mixed jaw-dropping plays – a 70-yard pass against Stanford – with freshman mishaps – a disastrous outing against USC. But with a season’s worth of experience, Rosen enters the 2016 season as a Heisman dark-horse candidate with a chance to build on his 8-5 record and put UCLA in the conversation for a national title.
Michael Hull: Greta Wagner
Redshirt freshman pole vaulter Greta Wagner has – in her first competitive season – already put herself on the UCLA all-time top-10 list. She is a consistent source for points for a women’s track and field team that has in recent years struggled to perform at the Pac-12 championships. Her jump in the Seattle rain was nearly a foot lower than her highest this year, but her six points were the difference between the women finishing fifth and seventh.
Seeded No. 15, Wagner is one of 20 women on the team who will represent the Bruins at the NCAA regionals this weekend. She only needs to move up three places to make the national championship meet – as a freshman.
Grant Sugimura: Micah Ma’a
First-team AVCA All-American, first-team All-MPSF, All-MPSF Tournament team, Off the Block freshman All-American, four time co-national Freshman of the Week by Off the Block, freshman record-holder and NCAA semifinal appearance – what more could you ask for from a first-year student? Hawaii’s own Micah Ma’a is the quintessential rookie of the year. A leader on the floor, Ma’a is a huge reason why things are looking up for men’s volleyball. They made the Final Four this year, one round shy of a national championship berth.
Hanson Wang: Megan and Nicole McNamara
The freshmen twins compete in arguably the most inconspicuous sport at UCLA – beach volleyball – but they have racked up accolades this season. Both were named First Team All-Pac-12, to the Pac-12 All-Freshman Team, 2016 DiG Magazine First Team All-Americans and DiG Magazine Co-Freshmen of the Year.
The pair were also the first-ever all-freshman pair to be named AVCA All-Americans, so we’re talking about a historically dominant team. And not only do the McNamaras represent UCLA, but they also compete for their home country. They captured a bronze medal for Canada at the FIVB U21 World Beach Volleyball Championships this year, so deservingly, the McNamaras should share the rookie of the year award.
TuAnh Dam: Jose Hernandez
UCLA men’s soccer struggled this season but still managed to reach the second round of the NCAA Tournament and finish 11-9-1 this year. A big part of that was Pac-12 Freshman of the Year Jose Hernandez. The midfielder started 20 games for the Bruins, led the team in points during the season and was one goal away from tying the UCLA freshman record for goals in a season.
Hernandez scored the winning goal in a 4-3 overtime comeback against UC Irvine and again in a double-overtime win against Washington. The rising sophomore powered the Bruins’ offense last year and should do so again next season.
