Bruins Sign Two Players Ahead of 25-26 MBB Season

The UCLA Bruins announced Monday that the basketball team is signing graduate transfer forward Anthony Peoples Jr. and incoming freshman point guard Markell Alston ahead of the 2025-26 season.

These two acquisitions are likely the finishing touches to Mick Cronin's star-studded transfer portal where he landed New Mexico guard and Mountain West Player of the Year Donovan Dent along with four-star transfer center Xavier Booker to address the issues that plagued the Bruins down the stretch of last season.

"We are excited to add both Anthony and Markell to the program this summer," Cronin said in a statement released by UCLA Athletics announcing the signings. "Both of these players are going to help our depth and provide an immediate impact in practice. Anthony has played in college for the past three seasons, and he can definitely help us in our frontcourt. He's from the Inland Empire and he was teammates several years ago at Corona Centennial with both Donovan Dent and Eric Freeny. I know that Anthony is excited to be back here in Southern California. Markell comes to us from New York, having played for Coach Joe Arbitello at Christ the King. He's shown versatility at the guard position and we look forward to having him with us in Westwood."

While Peoples Jr. and Alston likely won't crack UCLA's rotation, even though Peoples Jr. has the best chance with one year of eligibility left, as Cronin mentioned, they will provide the Bruins with great reps in practice.

Peoples Jr. spent his last season with North Carolina Central, averaging 5.0 points, 2.4 rebounds and 12.0 minutes per game in eight games.

As a senior last year, Alston played at Christ the King High School in New York and averaged 13.1 points per game. He was named to all-state honors from the New York State Sportswriters Association.

Led by Dent, the Bruins have the 19th-ranked transfer class in the nation. Cronin wasn't shooting for the stars, though, as UCLA bowed out in the second round of the NCAA Tournament to Tennessee and lacked offensive organization. Dent addresses that issue and more, being a dynamic scoring and facilitating guard.

ESPN College Basketball analyst and legendary coach Dick Vitale ranked the Bruins No. 10 on his early top-12 rankings, citing their transfer additions as the main reason for the ranking.