Two programs. But one name, one city, one goal. The 2026-27 season sees two strikingly different circumstances for No. 22 UCLA men’s and No. 11 women’s basketball. While the latter is coming off of its first-ever NCAA championship, the other hasn’t escaped the second round since 2023 – with its most recent national banner coming when none of its current players were even born yet. Despite these differing circumstances, the upcoming season provides the same opportunity for both squads: to dust off the shelf and further populate what some may deem a rather unfilled trophy case.

Freshman phenom
Jacob Nguyen

UCLA men’s basketball is set to debut its first five-star freshman recruit since 2023, acquiring guard/forward Nikola Kusturica out of FC Barcelona Bàsquet.

At just 17 years old, Kusturica is signed with the Bruins for the next two seasons and is projected to be a top pick in the 2028 NBA Draft. While professional American basketball is soon to be on his radar, the Serbian local has the next two years to make a splash in Westwood, bringing raw athleticism and youthful intangibles to a team looking to make it further than the second round of the NCAA tournament for the first time in three seasons.

Before playing a single official minute of college basketball, Kusturica has been named to the Julius Erving Award watchlist, an annual honor given to the nation’s top small forward. And the recognition isn’t without good reason.

Kusturica joins the Bruins after leading Team Serbia to the silver medal at the FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup this past summer, losing to Team USA. Across the tournament, the Novi Sad, Serbia, local logged a stat line of 24.6/6.9/2.7/2.3/1.7.

His impact doesn’t stop on the stat sheet, either. From the eye test alone, Kusturica brings a long and lanky frame, as well as additional intangibles that don’t grow on trees – especially not for someone who can’t even buy a lottery ticket in the United States.

Kusturica’s length makes him a Swiss Army knife on defense – able to contain faster guards on the perimeter while also rotating off the weak side to contest opposing big men. Such athleticism makes him a nightmare to defend in transition as well, where he routinely contorts around contests or finds teammates for open buckets.

While his perimeter shooting and on-ball shot creation leave a bit to be desired, it’s hard to knock him for that considering how young he is and the simple fact that everything else he excels at just cannot be taught like shot-making can be.

It’s very much an overreaction, but it wouldn’t be crazy to say that he has shades of a certain European NBA MVP that starts with the letter “G” and also has a lot of letters in his name.

Betting on Betts
Sinclair Richman

When people think about former Bruin center Lauren Betts, they think of the long list of accolades to her name.

But her collegiate career did not start in a way indicative of how it ended. During her freshman campaign, she averaged just 5.9 points and 3.5 rebounds per game at Stanford. After her first year, she transferred to UCLA, where she then led the team in points and rebounds for the next three years.

Sophomore forward Sienna Betts, Lauren Betts’ younger sister, could be on a similar wavelength. In her first year with UCLA, Sienna Betts averaged six points and four rebounds per game. Now, with her sister and the other five leading scorers from the 2025-26 season playing professionally, Betts will be given more playing time for her to flourish.

Her dominance was put on full display in high school, where she won three consecutive Gatorade Player of the Year awards in Colorado. Betts’ senior campaign showcased double-doubles in every game, something that will prove vital for a UCLA team that lost its primary interior force.

Looking strictly at the 2026-27 season, coach Cori Close has already shown increased reliance on the sophomore. In UCLA’s first exhibition game against California, Betts recorded a double-double in under 23 minutes played, scoring 11 points while grabbing 12 boards.

In the team’s exhibition loss to Texas, she was held to just eight points and five rebounds before fouling out. But a combined seven blocks through the two games demonstrated improvement in her defensive abilities. Discipline has to accompany defensive prowess, so the second-year Bruin will have to limit her fouling if she wants to continue playing meaningful minutes when called upon.

Expectations of a breakout season are not just limited to the Bruin faithful, as Betts was named to the Lisa Leslie Center of the Year watchlist and the Naismith Player of the Year Watchlist – a list that consists of 50 names expected to be the best player in collegiate basketball.

Should history repeat itself, Betts will have a breakout season and continue to grow for the rest of her career, one that could contain a healthy amount of awards. But even if awards are not part of the package, a standout year with the Bruins could propel her to a leading role, similar to when she was in high school.

The Great Wall of Cronin
Jacob Nguyen

Defense, defense, defense.

When has there ever been a year where coach Mick Cronin’s squad isn’t built around toughness and grit?

Nevertheless, the 2026-27 squad might prove to be one of the head honcho’s best defensive units in recent memory, boasting length and athleticism up and down the roster.

It isn’t just Kusturica, either, having logged five steals and four blocks across two exhibition games.

Every single player on this Bruins squad has both the physical tools and the mental pedigree to buy into a culture of defensive fortitude and maximal effort.

Down low, UCLA is anchored by senior forward/center Xavier Booker, whose 6-foot-11, 250-pound frame makes him a daunting force in the paint. Booker’s first year in Westwood saw him play just 20.1 minutes per game, as Cronin said last season was essentially his first shot at real minutes after two campaigns as a reserve with Michigan State. Nevertheless, the former Spartan recorded 1.2 blocks per game in 2025-26, including four stuffs in the first round of the 2026 NCAA tournament.

Despite both standing at 6-foot-8, freshman guard/forward Joe Philon III and sophomore forward/center Filip Jović have emerged as capable backup bigs who play much larger than their positions or frames suggest, with both of them seeing ample playing time in UCLA’s exhibition games as high-energy glass cleaners and roll men. In the two preseason matches, the duo combined for 29 total rebounds, with 17 on the offensive glass, creating extra points and opportunities for teammates.

Even at the point of attack, guards like sophomore Azavier Robinson bring intense pressure and IQ, effective at getting in passing lanes and getting hands on the ball. In UCLA’s second exhibition game on Oct. 27 against San Diego, the Butler transfer made his presence known, despite not making a single field goal, as Robinson collected four steals and even more deflections.

Altogether, there aren’t many holes in the Bruins’ defense. Expect teams to struggle putting points on the board this year when they come to face the blue and gold.

Impact transfer
Sinclair Richman

Coming into the season as ESPN’s No. 2-ranked transfer, senior forward Addy Brown has high expectations in front of her.

Brown spent the last three years at Iowa State, where she led the team in rebounds per game each year. In her junior campaign, she averaged 11.9 points – her lowest average with the team – and 8.8 rebounds per game through 21 games, having dealt with injury for 11 games.

The Derby, Kansas, local never averaged more than 15.2 points per game through her time with the Cyclones, mainly due to the team’s high-volume reliance on center Audi Crooks. With Crooks – who has averaged 22.8 points per game over the last three years, taking on the brunt of the scoring – Brown made her impact on the boards.

Brown’s ability to get on the glass will be crucial for a team that has lost its leading rebounder over the past three years in Lauren Betts. With that said, Brown will likely be expected to increase her scoring ability as she enters the 2026-27 season as the team’s highest individual scorer last year. She has shot 47% from the field through her career, while also boasting a 36.7% mark from beyond the arc.

Though she may not have performed as well as what might have been expected through the Bruins’ exhibition games, she is still able to prove why she was the No. 2-ranked impact transfer.

In UCLA’s two exhibition games, she combined for just 13 points off the bench on a 6-for-12 performance from the field. This could be due to a new, more guard-centric style of play, instead of the strong post-play style she played in with the Cyclones.

Nonetheless, Brown was named to the Cheryl Miller Small Forward of the Year watchlist and the Naismith Player of the Year watchlist prior to the start of the year.

If Brown is able to step into the role that was left by UCLA’s WNBA draftees, combining her skill set on the glass with increased scoring, she could help the Bruins develop their new rotation of three guards and two forwards, after consistently staying in a four-guard lineup last season.

Baby-faced assassin
Jacob Nguyen

Don’t let the title fool you.

This isn’t talking about NBA legend Stephen Curry, but rather the other starting point guard for a different blue and gold California basketball team with multiple championships to its name – Trent Perry.

Okay, maybe Perry doesn’t come anywhere close to Curry’s skill, status and notoriety. In all fairness, does anyone?

But as far as college basketball goes, Perry returns to Westwood now with the keys to the franchise, much like how Curry has operated in the Bay Area for the greater part of the last 15 years.

After guards Donovan Dent and Skyy Clark both departed from UCLA for LSU, Perry finds himself as the main ball handler and shot creator on a revamped squad with over half new faces. Next to two more veteran guards, Perry saw himself benefiting from others’ elite vision and gravity, where he operated mostly as a spot-up shooter and either a secondary or tertiary option depending on the lineup.

While his first year of collegiate basketball was shaky – averaging just 3.7 points on 36.9% from the field and 34.3% from deep – Perry’s potential has always flashed through, especially as the capacity of his role enhances. Simply put, the former four-star recruit is a sniper, drilling nearly 40% of his 3-pointers last year, paired with an elite basketball IQ and ability to control the game with his pace. His shooting touch is lethal from nearly all levels of the court, and his 6-foot-4 frame makes him a sizable two-way threat as well.

Perry showed glimpses of star potential when Clark was sidelined with injury for just over a month at the start of 2026. In that span, the West Covina, California, local scored double-digit points in all but one game, including a career-high 30 points against Penn State on Jan. 14. As a whole, Perry improved his points, rebounds and assists per game, as well as his shot volume and efficiency from the field and the perimeter from his freshman to sophomore campaign.

And as he enters his third year with the Bruins, the sky is the limit.

What next?
Jacob Nguyen & Sinclair Richman

Despite both programs entering the season ranked in the AP Top 25, the expectations and pressures on the squads seem very different.

Cronin’s side has not won a national championship since the 1994-95 season. In fact, the squad has reached the Final Four just once in the last 18 seasons, when the Bruins went on a Cinderella run in 2020-21. Last season, UCLA entered the season ranked No. 12, but fell out of the polls for the rest of the year in Week 7.

Cronin’s team is coming off a 24-12 season in which it never won more than four consecutive games and ended with an NCAA tournament second-round defeat at the hands of UConn.

Close’s squad, on the other hand, enters this season off the program’s first national championship in the NCAA era. After the title win, though, the Bruins’ only six scorers from the Final Four and national championship games were drafted to the WNBA. This year’s roster consists of five returners, five transfers and two freshmen, but it was still able to enter the preseason polls at the No. 11 slot.

UCLA has made it to at least the Sweet Sixteen each of the past four years, tied for its longest streak reaching that far in the tournament. A key part of this success has been the consistency of the roster, so with a variety of fresh faces in Westwood, it will be interesting to see how the team meshes.

The Bruins play in a competitive conference, and they currently hold back-to-back Big Ten tournament titles. But with three conference rivals ranked ahead of them, including the crosstown Trojans at No. 3, they will have to prove they are up for the challenge.

In a similar vein, men’s basketball lost its two leading scorers and primary playmaker, with guard Donovan Dent transferring to LSU and forward Tyler Bilodeau being drafted to the NBA. The squad welcomes four new transfers, four freshmen and even a student-manager-turned-player, making up a roster with more than half its faces new.

Although the men’s and women’s squads are coming off vastly different endings to last season, both will have to grapple with the consequences of roster turnover and bounce back from so much change.