UCLA season preview: Tyler Bilodeau and Donovan Dent are gone

Where last season ended

UCLA finished 24-12 overall and 13-7 in the Big Ten, sixth in the conference. Mick Cronin coached the Bruins. UCLA beat UCF 75-71 in the NCAA Tournament first round, then lost 73-57 to Connecticut in the second round.

Who is gone

Tyler Bilodeau averaged 17.6 points and 5.6 rebounds, and Donovan Dent averaged 13.3 points and 7.6 assists. Neither is on the 2026-27 roster. UCLA's coach bio says Bilodeau was a two-time All-Big Ten selection, third team in 2025 and 2026. Skyy Clark (11.5 points), Jamar Brown (3.8 points) and Steven Jamerson (1.9 points) are also not on the roster. The averages come from Sports-Reference. The sources do not say why any player left.

Who is back

Trent Perry, a junior guard, averaged 12.6 points, 3.0 rebounds and 2.8 assists in 35 games last season, according to UCLA's preseason release. Eric Dailey Jr., a junior forward, averaged 11.6 points and 5.8 rebounds. Xavier Booker, a junior forward, averaged 7.3 points and 3.5 rebounds. Brandon Williams, Eric Freeny and Markell Alston also return to the roster.

Who is new

Four transfers joined: Jaylen Petty (sophomore guard, Texas Tech), Azavier Robinson (sophomore guard, Butler), Sergej Macura (sophomore forward, Mississippi State) and Filip Jović (sophomore forward, Auburn). Previous schools and clubs come from Wikipedia's roster table, and the names match UCLA's official 2026-27 roster.

The freshman class is listed below.

Incoming freshmen

UCLA adds five first-year players, and three of them come from U.S. high schools or prep schools. Only Javonte Floyd and Joe Philon have a 247Sports national rank in the sources checked.

• Javonte Floyd, center, 6-9, from Cedar Grove High School, Ellenwood, Ga. No. 204 in 247Sports national rank.
• Joe Philon III, forward, 6-8, from Montverde Academy, Tampa, Fla. No. 79 in 247Sports national rank.
• Gunārs Grīnvalds, forward, 6-6, from Real Madrid, Jūrmala, Latvia.
• Nikola Kusturica, guard, 6-9, from FC Barcelona Bàsquet B, Novi Sad, Serbia.
• Markell Alston, guard, 6-1, from Christ the King High School, Queensbridge, N.Y.

The number to know

Three-point percentage is made threes divided by attempts. UCLA made 37.9% of its threes in 2025-26, which ranked 20th of 365 teams on Sports-Reference, across 36 games. The figure shows how well the team shot from deep. It does not show how individual players will shoot, and it does not measure defense.

Questions for this season

Who scores the points that Bilodeau and Dent left? The two averaged a combined 30.9 points last season.

Can Perry take a larger role? He averaged 12.6 points and 2.8 assists, and he is one of the few returners with a known scoring average.

How fast do eight newcomers fit into the rotation? Four transfers and four freshmen join a roster that returns Perry, Dailey and Booker.

Our early read

We project UCLA ninth, on the line between our Tournament team (5th-9th) and Middle of the pack (10th-13th) tiers. UCLA loses its two leading scorers from 2025-26, and the returning group has fewer proven scorers than the roster it replaces. The Columbus Dispatch preseason media poll ranked UCLA fourth, and we are lower because the turnover is larger than the poll suggests.