Bruins Secure New Center Through Portal

The UCLA Bruins captured a key piece to next year's team with the transfer portal addition of former San Diego center Steven Jamerson II. The Los Angeles native will spend his final collegiate season playing for his hometown school.

Dec 3, 2023; Stanford, California, USA; San Diego Toreros center Steven Jamerson II (24) looks to pass the ball against Stanford Cardinal forward Maxime Raynaud (42) during the second half at Maples Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: Robert Edwards-Imagn Images | Robert Edwards-Imagn Images

The UCLA Bruins are doing their part to shore up a thinning big man room after the recent transfer losses. They have responded with a huge addition, bringing in former San Diego Toreros senior center Steven Jamerson II, per multiple reports.

He will have one year of eligibility remaining when he gets to Westwood.

Jamerson spent the past three seasons playing for the Toreros in the West Coast Conference. He is coming off a junior campaign, averaging 10.0 points on 55.7% shooting with 7.8 rebounds and 1.1 steals. This is exactly the piece that UCLA was in need of and should help in several ways.

As the third-leading scorer on a 6-27 San Diego team, Jamerson was certainly looking for somewhere to make an impact and compete for a conference and national title. He will find that in UCLA as this team is already looking much stronger and more talented than this past season.

As a Los Angeles native, it was somewhat of an obvious choice for Jamerson to transfer over after receiving communication from UCLA. At 6-10, 210 pounds, this is a guy that has shown his rebounding ability while scoring at an efficient clip. He will mold into Mick Cronin's offense very well.

There is big game ability in what Jamerson has already shown to this point in his career. Last season, he posted four double-doubles and scored 20-plus points in three games. If he has the freedom and confidence, this is a player that can average 10 points and eight rebounds at the highest level.

After the departures of both sophomore center Aday Mara and junior forward William Kyle III, the Bruins' post play was looking very thin with the transfer portal starting to wind down. They have since picked up both Jamerson as well as former Michigan State sophomore forward Xavier Booker.

Cronin and his staff are quickly building something. This team lacked the depth and scoring production last year to keep up with the Big Ten's best teams and have added just enough pieces to be one of those teams. Jamerson will be the expected starting center for UCLA next season.

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