Shabazz Muhammad Commits to UCLA Over Kentucky, Duke

Shabazz Muhammad, the No. 2 high school player in the country according to 247Sports, committed to UCLA on Wednesday night during a live broadcast on ESPNU.

I chose to be a Bruin, Muhammad said.

Muhammad is a 6-foot-6 wing who can score in a variety of ways. He's at his best when he can attack the rim, which could conflict a bit with Ben Howland's preferred offensive style, but he is a huge addition for the Bruins.

You can count on your hands the amount of guys that compete the way he does and go as hard as he does, and all of those guys are playing big time basketball right now, Grant Rice, Muhammad's coach at Bishop Gorman, told Scout.com on Wednesday. He has all the makings of someone that wants to be great.

The McDonald's All-American joins Kyle Anderson, a consensus Top 10 recruit, and Jordan Adams, a Top 100 recruit, at UCLA, making one of the best recruiting classes in the country.

ESPN jumped UCLA from the No. 12 recruiting class in the country to No. 2 after Muhammad's decision.

The addition of Muhammad completely changes the narrative that dominated UCLA's subpar 2012 campaign. An expose by Sports Illustrated described UCLA as a program in disarray under coach Ben Howland, but this recruiting class should help get things back on track in Westwood.

It's a challenge, knowing how bad they were these last two years, he said. There's a lot of bits and pieces to make it a really great team in the future.

With the addition of Muhammad, the Bruins immediately become the favorite to win the Pac-12 next year.