Many people expected Dan Guerrero’s final exploit before the end of his contract as UCLA’s athletic director would be hiring Mick Cronin as the new men’s basketball coach in April.

Aggressive traps and a stifling attack – that’s how Johnny Den Bleyker said he likes to play chess.
Set to graduate a year early and pursue a master’s degree, the junior long snapper for UCLA football has been playing chess since elementary school.

What a wild ride it’s been.
Imagine being an awkward, quiet 17-year-old Asian boy walking into a crowded office, and the first person you make eye contact with is Matt Cummings.

If UCLA’s 99-day head coach search was an increasingly strenuous workout, then Wednesday’s introductory press conference was a refreshing shower.
How long it takes until the aches and pains set in is still to be determined, but the Bruins’ lengthy search – which included thorough background checks and at least three other reported candidates – is over.

There will be no UCLA men’s basketball coach for the time being.
The Los Angeles Times reported TCU coach Jamie Dixon is no longer in consideration for the Bruins’ coaching vacancy due to the two schools’ inability to reach an agreement on Dixon’s buyout.

Thunder and lightning. Cars and traffic. Peanut butter and jelly.
Many everyday objects come in pairs, intended or unintended.
In a sense, so do people – like Martell Irby and Kazmeir Allen.

Forget for a brief moment the celebrities who were indicted for buying their kids’ admissions to some of the top colleges in the country.
And forget about the numerous qualified high school students from disadvantaged backgrounds who overcame the obstacles in their lives, only to be denied admission in favor of the human equivalent of fool’s gold.

With all its distractions and bright lights seducing people around the clock, Las Vegas is an apt destination to determine UCLA men’s basketball’s postseason fate.
If the Bruins (16-15, 9-9 Pac-12) want to overcome long odds and make their way into the NCAA tournament, they’ll need to focus.

With a good week, UCLA men’s basketball could climb as high as the No. 3 seed for next week’s Pac-12 tournament.
With a bad week, the Bruins are looking at the dreaded four-games-in-four-nights draw starting March 13 in Las Vegas.

Leadership was always going to be a question mark for the Bruins this season.
Aside from two redshirt juniors, UCLA men’s basketball’s rotation consists entirely of freshmen and sophomores.