Expectations were already outsized when Kevin Love walked onto the Westwood campus as the greatest high school player in Oregon history. The 6-10 freshman was the coveted big man the Bruins had been lacking since Lew Alcindor and Bill Walton starred on John Wooden’s teams in the late 1960s and early 1970s, respectively.
“I’ve heard the comparisons. Those are unfair, because they are probably the two best college players of all time,” Love said. “Those are the hardest footsteps ever to follow in college basketball.”
But he’s trying.
Love chose UCLA over North Carolina and quickly won over the Bruins’ demanding fans, dazzling them with old-school outlet passes, 3-point scoring and low-post moves.
He’s kept his cool all the way to the Final Four, where Love wants to give the Bruins a record 12th national championship before he likely heads off to the NBA Draft.
“It’s been the ride of my life,” said Love, a first-team AP All-American.
Love thrives on playing the biggest games under the hottest spotlight, which makes Saturday’s national semifinal against Memphis his ideal situation.
He’s averaging 21.8 points and 11 rebounds per game while shooting 61 percent from the field and 77 percent from 3-point range in the NCAA Tournament. He’s blocked 17 shots - seven in a two-point win over Texas A&M in the second round.
“He came in with so much expectation and hype,” said UCLA coach Ben Howland. “To have all that on your shoulders and not only reach all the expectations and exceed them, he’s been incredible.”
Love has learned to play Howland’s style of hard-nosed defense, something that wasn’t necessary in high school, where he “just sort of stood around and got easy baskets and waited for rebounds,” he said.
The turning point in Love’s memorable first and likely only collegiate season came against Texas in early December. The Bruins were beaten by two points at home, their first loss, and Love played just 24 minutes - nearly 10 minutes less than the other starters.
“I wasn’t doing that great on defense. Lorenzo (Mata-Real) had to step in being a fourth-year guy,” Love said. “From then on, I just tried to study film and listen to my coaches.”
Unlike most of the team, Love has been injury-free throughout the season except for tweaking his back in the Pac-10 Tournament. He’s scored in double figures in all 38 games, including 23 double-doubles, with 16 in the Bruins’ last 22 games.
He stepped into one of the best situations any freshman had in the country. Love has a strong supporting cast, with guards Darren Collison and Russell Westbrook and forwards Luc Richard Mbah a Moute and Josh Shipp already veterans of back-to-back Final Four trips.
“I was still a little bit nervous if I was going to be accepted on the team,” Love said. “They took me in as part of the family, and there was never any mixed emotions or jealousy about it.”
Having most of the attention on him is “a little weird sometimes,” Love said. If he’s on a podium with his teammates, Love will pass a question directed at him to one of them.
“He’s a team player and for a youngster who had so much publicity in high school, the ability to not let it go to his head,” Wooden said. “I’ve been very impressed with him as a player and as a person.”
Love’s signature outlet passes, rarely seen in college anymore, have made countless TV highlights and prompted older UCLA fans to tell him, “I used to see Walton throw that.” Against Xavier in the West Regional final, he stood on the baseline and fired a pinpoint pass the length of the court to Westbrook, who made the easy layin.
“He’s got the arm of Elway. Westbrook sprints like he’s Jerry Rice,” Memphis coach John Calipari said. “There’s potential, and there’s performance. He performs.”
Love honed his passing skills by watching cable replays of Magic Johnson during the Los Angeles Lakers’ “Showtime” era of the 1980s and doing drills with his father, Stan, a former Oregon star who played in the NBA.
“He gets joy like a Magic Johnson or (Larry) Bird from making a great pass,” Howland said.
So does Stan, who takes unabashed pride in his youngest son. Dressed in Bruin blue, he frequently jumps up to cheer and pump his arms in the stands. Wife Karen wears Kevin’s No. 42.
Having Kevin at UCLA has reunited the entire Love family, whose Southern California roots run deep. Kevin was born in Santa Monica before Stan and Karen moved to Lake Oswego, Ore., where he grew up. His uncle Mike Love formed the Beach Boys in the region famous for its beach culture.
The Loves rent an apartment in the complex near campus where Kevin lives with brother Collin. Their teenage sister, Emily, has turned up at games, as has Mike, Stan’s brother.
Kevin Love used to be embarrassed about his uncle’s music. Mike teased him that Love was just worried about losing street cred. “If I listen to it,” Love said, lowering his voice, “what will my friends think?”
Love and his teammates will go for the school’s 99th NCAA Tournament victory against Memphis on Saturday. He figures to be the center of attention again.
“No matter how much press I get, no matter what people say about me, I’m just going to be Kevin, the nice kid that my parents raised me to be,” he said.
Maybe a national champion, too.
