UCLA adds Spanish center Aday Mara, a potential NBA draft lottery pick

Aday Mara, a 7-foot-3 center from Spain who is projected as a possible lottery pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, has signed with UCLA, the school announced Thursday.

The announcement came one day after Mara posted on Instagram that he was leaving his Spanish professional team, Casademont Zaragoza.

Mara, 18, should help UCLA’s outlook for next season as the program looks to replace a slew of talent from a team that went 31-6 overall, won the Pac-12 regular-season title at 18-2 and reached the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament. Mara is considered a skilled shot-blocker, lob threat and pick-and-roll finisher with excellent passing skills, great footwork, a good mid-range jumper and the ability to play with his back to the basket.

Mara helped lead Spain to a second-place finish at the FIBA U18 European Championships last month, where he averaged 14 points, 9.1 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 2.7 blocked shots while shooting 61.3% from the field in seven games.

“We are excited to announce the addition of Aday to UCLA,” UCLA coach Mick Cronin said in a statement. “Throughout this process with Aday, he and his family have stood firm on one thing – that they want a great education for Aday, and to see him grow as a young man at UCLA. He has tremendous size and skill and has developed a great understanding of the game of basketball. He’s a humble young man with great parents, and he’s blessed to stand at 7-foot-3 with such talent and a strong work ethic.”

With 6-9 Adem Bona returning for a second college season after his first was cut short because of a shoulder injury, the Bruins now have a pair of imposing big men on their roster. Bona, who is still recovering, is not expected to play on UCLA’s three-game tour of Spain later this month.

Mara is the fourth European player on the Bruins’ roster, joining Jan Vide (Slovenia) and Ilane Fibleuil (France) and Lazar Stefanovic, a Serbian guard who transferred from Utah. UCLA now has a six-man freshman class that also includes former Corona Centennial High forward Devin Williams, forward Brandon Williams (not related) and guard Sebastian Mack as well as Vide and Fibleuil.

UCLA’s only returning players from last season are Bona, point guard Dylan Andrews, shooting guard Will McClendon and backup center Kenneth Nwuba, but they do have two scholarship slots still open.

COACHING STAFF CHANGES

UCLA has promoted Nate Georgeton to an assistant coach spot on Cronin’s staff and added two assistants.

Georgeton has spent the past four seasons at UCLA as video coordinator and the team’s director of student-athlete development. He replaces Ivo Simovic, who left after one year to be an assistant with the NBA’s Toronto Raptors.

Nemanja Jovanovic and Brendyn Taylor were added to the staff.

Jovanovic will serve as both an assistant and director of international recruiting. He has had stints at UT-Arlington, DePaul and SMU.

Taylor spent the last two seasons as a graduate assistant at St. John’s. At UCLA, he will help with player development, scouting and oversee a mentoring program for incoming freshmen. Taylor played basketball at USC and professionally in Germany.

The NCAA in January approved an increase of two basketball coaches who can participate in skill instruction but may not recruit off campus.