From Rivals.com:
Until recently, UCLA was not recruiting Sidney. There were major questions as to whether Sidney had enough of a blue-collar mentality to play for Ben Howland. There was also the question of whether Sidney and the Wear twins could coexist. But now that Travis Wear and David Wear have committed to North Carolina, the word out of Westwood is that UCLA is beginning a concerted effort to land Sidney – the No. 1 prospect in the class of 2009. Adding to the intrigue, this looks to be shaping up as a two-school, Pac-10, intra-city battle for Sidney between the Bruins and the Trojans.
UCLA has some ground to make up against USC, which has been vigorously recruiting Sidney. If Sidney’s attendance this past weekend at the UCLA/Washington State game is any indicator, it looks like UCLA is in the process of making up some ground. Is UCLA sold on Sidney and ready to extend an offer? I don’t know, but a courtship has certainly begun.
Sidney is making strides and maturing as a player. His game is similar to Love’s in that both have great physical strength and both are highly skilled with a mature/intelligent game. Neither is an explosive athlete, but each has exceptional body control.
Where they differ is that Love enjoys contact more and has a greater passion for rebounding. Sidney is a more advanced ballhandler who can change directions and create with the dribble. They were a great complement to each other when they played together two summers ago with the SoCal All Stars. Love made a living off Sidney’s skilled play in the high post.
It’s going to be tough recruiting battle for Sidney, but SC has the advantage at the moment. Even though Renardo is listed at 6-10 230lb, he plays more of a face-up game; think Kevin Garnett without the freakish athleticism. We would still need to pick-up a solid big man in the class of ’09 to help with our lack of size in the paint.


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