Who are you calling Moose?

  MARY CIECEK/Daily Bruin Senior Staff Not one to be
daunted by a leg injury, Senior Ryan "Moose"
Bailey comes out on top in his collegiate career. His
family will be there when he plays his final home game
Saturday.

By AJ Cadman
Daily Bruin Senior Staff

He dwells in the forest of the UCLA backcourt. But when he makes
his way to the floor through the throng of guards that he shares
playing time with, the crowd beckons him with an animal call.

MOOSE!

“It’s catchy and I don’t mind when the crowd
chants it,” senior point guard Ryan Bailey said. “But
some of my friends come to the games and they (know) me as Ryan. So
they will come see me afterwards and ask why everyone has been
booing me because “˜Moose’ sounds like
“˜Boo.’

“It’s funny and I get a kick out of that.”

But Bailey’s road to Westwood hasn’t been all
smiles.

He has spent his time in the shadows of his older brother Toby.
Playing on the same squad where Toby held court for the Bruins from
1995-98, won a national title his freshman year and is peppered
throughout the school’s record books, few can relate to
Ryan’s situation.

“(Toby) is my best friend,” Ryan said.
“Without him, I wouldn’t be here in terms of him
pushing me since I was four years old. I always played against him
and he was always two years older. Two years stronger. Two years
bigger. He was so talented and amazing.”

Ryan remembers those early years now that he’s in his
final year for the Bruins. He recalls how he got his nickname.

“When I was little, I played on the same organized sports
teams in the 6-8 age group. (Toby) was six years old and I was four
years old playing with all the eight year old kids,” he
said.

“So I am out there and my father is coaching our flag
football team. And my flags are hitting the ground because I am so
little. So my father came up with the nickname “Moose”
to make me feel big when I was out there. And it made me feel
big.”

Ryan became an All-City performer at Loyola High, averaging 24
points and 11 assists his senior season in 1995. But while college
programs were summoning his services, an unfortunate event altered
his career.

“I had stress fractures during my senior year at the same
time I was getting scholarship offers from places like Ohio State
and other mid-major schools. Once I broke my leg, most of my
scholarship offers were gone,” Bailey said.

Enter Michael Holton.

The former Bruin standout was starting his first season as an
assistant coach at the University of Portland. Holton knew he had
to have Bailey, who had grown from 5-foot-11 to 6-2 after the
injury, join the Pilots.

“He stood out right away as someone who played a high
level of basketball,” said Holton, currently a UCLA assistant
coach. “You always look for that in a point guard, a guy who
is unselfish with the dribble, who can penetrate and who can do
some things on the floor. He is a player who stands out right away
and has a presence.”

After a stellar season there, Ryan knew that he had options. But
before moving to a major Division I program, Moose opted for prep
school at Hargrave Military Academy in Virginia.

He led the team, which had 11 eventual Division I players, to
the top of the national prep school rankings in 1996. What he
remembers most about that time, though, is the lifestyle.

“It was hard work,” Bailey recalled. “We had
to wake up at 5:30 every morning and have lights out at 10 p.m.
Rooms had to be clean. Shoes, beds, toothbrushes, deodorant…all
of them had to be lined up a certain way. Your mirror had to be
clean. Trash cans had to dumped over. It was really
strict.”

Bailey went through the recruitment process again, with his
phone ringing from Nebraska, Maryland, USC and Penn State. USC
initially gave him a chance to start, and Bailey signed with USC
and then-Head Coach Charlie Parker.

A month and a half later, Parker was fired and current coach
Henry Bibby hired.

“He tells me that he wants to bring me in with two junior
college point guards as well,” Bailey said. “So there
went my playing time and I decided not to go there.”

As he made this decision late in the signing period, Penn State
was his most attractive prospect because of the promise of
immediate playing time.

Amid everything that had happened to him the last two years,
Bailey grew up fast and made the most of his chance in
Pennsylvania.

“It’s been amazing how he has matured as a (college)
player,” said senior co-captain Earl Watson. “People
don’t know that he started in a tough conference like the Big
Ten as a freshman. He probably would be doing the same thing
I’m doing (had he stayed) and been starting every
game.”

But Ryan had another intention: to play one more time with his
brother Toby.

“I wanted to be closer to my family,” he said.
“But also I wanted to be closer to my brother and get a
chance to see him play his senior year.”

He was behind Baron Davis and Watson in his first season in
Westwood, but Bailey worked hard his second season to prepare for a
senior season that has been nothing short of brilliant.

When Watson is off the floor, UCLA doesn’t miss a beat
with Bailey. Whether it’s his command of the Bruin 1-4
offense or his direction on defense, Moose has put the Bruins in a
position to succeed.

“He’s proven that we can win whether I am running
the point or he is,” Watson said. “That’s why I
am never worried. Moose is as good as anybody. When he comes in, I
just tell him to go to work.”

The Bailey brothers share the distinction of having one of the
most hallowed positions in UCLA men’s basketball: team
captain.

“Being a captain this year, it’s an honor I will
cherish for the rest of my life,” Bailey said.

“He and Toby share a very special bond,” Watson
added, “and I don’t think he would trade it for the
world.”

Toby, his parents, his family and friends will all be there
Saturday in Pauley Pavilion to see Ryan play the final home game of
his collegiate career.

While he won’t be able to help but look over to see if his
brother is there, one thing is certain: Moose will finally be out
from under the shadows.