Maybe the 2026-2027 UCLA Bruins men’s basketball team will be full of surprises? Perhaps it’s possible that this year’s UCLA team can surprise many by being in true contention for a national title? Or at least for a Big Ten Conference championship?
UCLA has an incoming freshman in Nikola Kusturica that could become a star, with the Serbian-born forward coming over after a very impressive FIBA U17 World Cup this summer.
College basketball analyst Jon Rothstein predicted two other stars for the Bruins in his prediction of 15 players that will become stars this season. Rothstein views both Trent Perry and Jaylen Petty as possible stars, giving UCLA a potentially scary backcourt.
“No more Donovan Dent, no more Skyy Clark, but Trent Perry took a major
step forward last year as a sophomore and became an incredibly reliable player for UCLA,” Rothstein said. “Now things change a little bit. Now Trent Perry is going to be expected to be an All-Big Ten player. Now Trent Perry, who averaged about 13 points per game last year as a sophomore, is going to be expected to be a go-to player.”
Perry will certainly have the opportunity to become that player, with the Bruins set to replace a lot of minutes following the departure of Dent and Clark. Rothstein’s second potential star is another guard, this time Texas Tech Jaylen Petty, who UCLA believes can become a tremendous shooter.
“Spending time on the road this summer, chopping it up with different coaches. UCLA’s staff, that has worked under Mick Cronin, thinks that Jaylen Petty could wind up being the best shooter that this program has had since Mick Cronin arrived in Westwood in 2019.” Rothstein said.
We’ll see if either of the Bruins can emerge as a star over the next six months.
This article originally appeared on UCLA Wire: Could Jaylen Petty and Trent Perry take the next step this year?
