Skip to main content
Join
Team Avatar
UCLA

Will McClendon nearing full strength, close to ditching knee brace

On3-Social-Profile_GRAYby:On3 Staff Report•01/19/23
Will McClendon, UCLA Bruins guard
UCLA guard Will McClendon dribbles in a game on Dec. 14, 2022. (G Fiume / Getty Images)

Freshman guard Will McClendon is nearing full strength and has provided an occasional presence off the bench for No. 5 UCLA.

Still working all the way back from a torn ACL, McClendon has worn a knee brace on his left knee so far this season, a little source of added protection. But that may change soon, with McClendon eager to ditch the brace.

“Oh yeah, super, super close,” McClendon told reporters on Tuesday. “Hopefully this next road trip I can take it off. We’ll see what the doc says, but yeah, really, really close.”

So far this season McClendon has appeared in 10 games and averaged 10.0 minutes per contest. He has averaged 1.1 points, 1.0 assists and 0.6 rebounds per contest.

The Bruins are cruising, having won 13 straight dating back to mid-November.

Nearly full strength again, Will McClendon is just doing his part, offering the Bruins what he can while he continues to recover. With the brace, at least for now.

“I usually warm up without my brace on and then when I go back to the bench I usually put it on when they tell me I have to,” he said. “I’ve played every game with the brace on so far.”

Amari Bailey on the mend for UCLA

While Will McClendon gets to full strength, the Bruins have also been without another guard: Amari Bailey. Bailey is dealing with a stress reaction in his foot that the Bruins are being cautious with.

“He’s doing much better,” coach Mick Cronin told local reporters on Tuesday. “Had an active shooting yesterday, looked good yesterday shooting the ball. Day to day. Day to day.”

The injury Bailey is dealing with is similar to one that sidelined former Bruins guard Johnny Juzang for four games at the start of the 2020-21 season.

Bailey had been a key contributor before his injury, which flared up when Kentucky big man Oscar Tshiebwe landed on his foot in a UCLA win on Dec. 17. The injury was exacerbated a few days later on Dec. 21 when a UC-Davis player landed on it again.

“They call it like a stress reaction,” Cronin explained. “It’s not serious, but it could be if you don’t let it calm down. So it’s just constant bone scans and all that type of stuff.”