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If there was one person who would be against UCLA’s move to the Big Ten, it would be the champion of the Pac-12 conference – Bill Walton.
Walton, a graduate of UCLA in 1974 and a two-time national champion, ripped the Bruins’ proposed 2024 move to the Big Ten conference in a statement on Tuesday.
Former UCLA and NBA player Bill Walton wears 2020 lighted glasses during his broadcast of the game between the UCLA Bruins and the Arizona Wildcats at Pauley Pavilion on Feb. 29, 2020 in Los Angeles. (Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images)
"I am not in favor of UCLA’s recent announced decision to leave the Pac-12 Conference of Champions," Walton said in a statement to reporter and radio host John Canzano, "nor their desire to join the Big 10, I don’t like this attempted move, I don’t support it, I hope it does not happen …"
USC, UCLA ‘COMMUNITY’ NOT SUPPORTIVE OF MOVE TO BIG TEN, PAC 12 COMMISH ALLEGES
The move to the Big Ten for UCLA, which was announced over the summer, has been more complicated than USC’s decision to depart from the Pac-12 conference.
While USC is a private school and can come and go as they please, UCLA is a public institution and part of the University of California system. Due to this fact, the University of California regents are able to scrutinize UCLA’s move to the Big Ten and its impact on the other California school in the Pac-12 – UC Berkeley.
Former UCLA Bruins great Bill Walton looks on during a college basketball game between the Villanova Wildcats and the UCLA Bruins on Nov. 12, 2021 at Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles. (Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
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In August, the Los Angeles Times reported that there may be a way for the UC regents to block UCLA’s departure from the Pac-12, and Pac-12 commissioner George Kliavkoff has said that the move will not be financially beneficial for UCLA.
"I have spoken to no one, other than the highest-level directors of athletics at UCLA, who think that this proposed move to the Big 10 is a good idea," Walton’s statement continued.
Pac-12 Commissioner George Kliavkoff during the Pac-12 Football Media Day on July 29, 2022 at Novo Theater in Los Angeles. (Jevone Moore/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Walton’s statement on the lack of public support for the move echoes Kliavkoff’s comments at October’s Pac-12 basketball media days.
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"I have yet to talk to anyone in the UCLA and USC community who’s in favor of the move," Kliavkoff said, according to the LA Times. "I will say that I probably hear from folks who are not in favor, not surprisingly."
Walton finished his statement by saying that he hopes to see UCLA’s bid to join the Big Ten Conference "rescinded."