Adem Bona out for team's trip to Spain, expected to be clear for fall practices

The Pac-12’s reigning Freshman of the Year, Adem Bona, and the UCLA Bruins will be off to Spain in August for a foreign tour. But for fans of the program hoping to see Bona in action in Spain, sorry, but you’ll have to wait a little longer. Per head coach Mike Cronin, the Bruins big man will not suit up for the tour.

“UCLA’s Adem Bona (shoulder) will not play during the team’s foreign tour to Spain in August, but is expected to be fully cleared for the start of practice in the fall, per Mick Cronin,” wrote Rothstein via Twitter.

Bona is still recovering from a shoulder injury that knocked him out of UCLA’s 75-56 victory over the Oregon Ducks in the semifinal round of the Pac-12 tournament. The six-foot-10 Nigerian freshman would return for the Bruins down the road during the NCAA championship tournament briefly. Bona played in UCLA’s Round of 32 matchup against Northwestern. Still, he only played about 20 minutes in the game and did not play again for the rest of the tournament.

Despite it being nearly four months since Bona last took the court, the Bruins big man still needs some time to recover. Although fans would love to see him take the court with the rest of his teammates in Spain, Cronin and the rest of his staff are ensuring that their star big man is ready to go for UCLA’s opening game of the 2023-2024 season.

More on Bona

Bona burst onto the scene as a true freshman this past season, winning Pac-12 Freshman of the Year and earning a spot on the Pac-12 All-Defense and All-Freshman teams. He led UCLA with 1.7 blocks per game to help the Bruins become the top defense in the conference.

On the offensive side of things, Bona (over 33 games), finished with 7.7 points per game, 5.3 rebounds per game, 0.7 assists per game, and shot 67.5% from the floor. Bona’s biggest game came at a good time when he scored 11 points, pulled down 10 rebounds, and blocked three shots in the Pac-12 quarterfinal against Colorado for his first career double-double.

As a member of the Class of 2022, Bona was a five-star recruit out of Napa (Calif.) Prolific Prep, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. He was the No. 2 overall prospect in the state, the No. 3 center in the class and the No. 20 overall prospect in the class.

On3’s Nick Kosko contributed to this article