Hungarian big man headed out West

THE LIST: Class of 2014 Rivals150

Each year a few guys pop up out of nowhere. Gyorgy Goloman didn't exactly come out of nowhere. But the newest UCLA Bruin was a nice find for Steve Alford and his staff.

A native of Hungary who landed at Weston (Fla.) Sagemont for his senior season in August, Goloman is a thin 6-foot-10 power forward. The Bruins actually found out about him when they came in to watch a four-star prospect from 2015.

"We have a 2015 kid named Prince Ali and they thought he was a good player," Sagemont coach Adam Ross told Rivals.com. "I've known the staff for a little while from when they were at New Mexico and recruited our program. They came in to see Prince and in that process got to see GG and fell in love with him. They are still actively recruiting Prince but focused their efforts early on GG and made him a priority for 2014."

The effort put into making Goloman a priority paid off for Alford and the Bruins. They got the Hungarian and his mother in on a visit over the weekend and came away with his commitment after schooling him on UCLA's history and establishing a level of comfort with him.

"His mom was able to fly in from Hungary for official visit which ended yesterday so that was good," said Ross. "I think that he learned as an international kid he doesn't have the historical perspective that a kid from the States would have. He learned the place in basketball of UCLA and the folklore of UCLA.

"He formed a pretty tight bond in a short period of time with Coach Alfrord and Coach Schilling and felt really comfortable with them."

Goloman was also able to draw on the experience of former Sagemont player Will Sheehey. Sheehey committed to Indiana at time when the Hoosiers were rebuilding and the situation at UCLA is very similar.

"This is coach Alford's first class at UCLA," said Ross. "They did a good job of making GG feel he could be a part of something very unique and very special with bringing UCLA back to the forefront of college basketball and he felt very comfortable about that."

The Bruins first commitment from the class of 2014, Goloman is still a relative unknown to most. But he'll get a chance to show his stuff as a senior and was quickly made a priority because of his skill and upside at the four.

"He's long and lanky and he's a four, not a center," said Ross. "He's a power forward who can do a lot of things and can run. He can step out and shoot the ball to the three point line.

"He's truly ambidextrous and uses both hands exceptionally well. His best skill is as a passer. From the post he can really sling it. We've been very fortunate to have great players here and he falls right in line with those guys."

Eric Bossi is the national basketball recruiting analyst for Rivals.com. You can click here to follow him on Twitter.

Click Here to view this Link.

[rl]