Padgett, Wilkes to stay at Kansas
Amid rumors that they might opt to come to UCLA, Kansas recruits Omar Wilkes and David Padgett will be Jayhawks next year after all.
Both players had considered freeing themselves from their scholarships after former Kansas coach Roy Williams left for North Carolina. However with Illinois coach Bill Self accepting the Jayhawk job, Wilkes and Padgett were both happy to be part of the future Kansas program.
UCLA had recruited both players before they committed to the Jayhawks, and the Bruins were thought to be their top choice if either of them had opted to leave Kansas.
Johnson picks up Pac-10 honors
Junior Sheena Johnson was named Pac-10 Women’s Track Athlete of the Week after her strong showing in No. 4 UCLA’s 104-59 victory over No. 5 USC last Saturday at the Katherine B. Loker Stadium.
Johnson won the 100-meter hurdles with a personal best and Pac-10-leading 13.34 seconds (seventh best in UCLA school history). She also won the 400-meter hurdles with a Pac-10 leading time of 57.79 and ran the opening leg of UCLA’s winning 4x100-meter relay.
Water polo recruit commits
Campolindo High School senior Tim Cherry has verbally committed to the UCLA men’s water polo team for next season.
The 6-foot, 6-inch Cherry was named to the All-Contra Costa Times boys water polo team as a two-meter defender.
“I think Tim has a lot of potential,” James Lathrop, Cherry’s coach at Campolindo told the Contra Costa Times. “He’s a late bloomer and in the next couple years he’ll see how good a player he can be. He’s huge, so he has the physical ability to play in college. He just has to adjust his game to the fast-paced game they play in college.”
Briefs compiled by Jeff Eisenberg and Daniel Miller, Daily Bruin Senior Staff.