UCLA Men's Basketball: International Bruins Stars Get Comfortable on Campus

After over a year of painstakingly recruiting, Mick Cronin finally got his guys into school.

The ever-changing landscape of NIL has led to UCLA opting for more of an international flavor with this massive seven-man 2023 recruiting class. While all of the guys figure to be contributors whether in the short term or in the future, two of the signees stick out in a big way -- both literally and figuratively.

We're talking about 7-foot-3 Spanish center Aday Mara and Turkish combo forward Berke Buyuktuncel.

𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞, 𝐀𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐁𝐞𝐫𝐤𝐞‼️

With fall practices on the horizon for the Bruins, freshmen Aday Mara & Berke Buyuktuncel have moved into Westwood.#GoBruins | #4sUp 🏀 pic.twitter.com/pm6NbbklAW
— UCLA Men’s Basketball (@UCLAMBB) September 11, 2023

Neither player had been enrolled for the summer session of school. The others in the class (Devin Williams, Sebastian Mack, Brandon Williams, Ilane Fibleuil, Jan Vide) have been working with the staff all summer long. This included a trip overseas to Spain.

Both Mara and Buyuktuncel were playing professionally in their home countries. While both were publicly committed, nothing really is 'official' until these players show up on campus. This is particularly the case for two guys who've never visited UCLA in person -- let alone the United States period.

Fortunately for the Bruins, Buyuktuncel and Mara made the move across the pond to Los Angeles. Joined by family members, both have officially enrolled in school -- thus paving the way for them to join the team in workouts this month.

My guess as to the projected starting five:

Andrews
Mack
Stefanovic
Buyuktuncel
Bona

Playing heavy bench minutes: Mara, Vide, Brandon Williams

TBD from there: Nwuba, McClendon, Fiblueil, Devin Williams #UCLA
— Jason Fray (@jasonfrayLA) August 22, 2023

The process of recruiting both players was not easy. Presumably, negotiations had to have taken place in order to free them from their club commitments. This reportedly was especially tricky as it pertained to Mara. From there, English proficiency exams needed to be passed in order to gain admittance to the university.

Cronin and his staff also weren't able to just hop on a plane/into a car and see these recruits at a moment's notice. As such, reportedly there was plenty of energy spent building relationships via the usage of FaceTime and phone calls.

Now that both are officially Bruins, Cronin can work on constructing an essentially brand-new roster. Counting transfer Lazar Stefanovic, there are eight players joining the team this year who weren't in Westwood a season ago.

247Sports ranks Mara as a 5-star (No. 15 prospect in the Top 100). Buyuktuncel is a 4-star, coming in at No. 36 nationally. These two are unsurprisingly the highest-rated recruits in what's considered to be the best class Cronin has brought to UCLA.