Feb 23, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; UCLA Bruins center Aday Mara (15) during an NCAA basketball game against the Ohio State Buckeyes at Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom. Mandatory Credit: Robert Hanashiro-Imagn Images Robert Hanashiro-Imagn Images

UCLA's Rising Big Man Will Not Return Next Season

Originally posted on UCLA Bruins on SI | By Tom Cavanaugh | Last updated Apr 1, 2025 10:32 AM ET

The UCLA Bruins were met with some made news on Monday night as it was confirmed that rising star, sophomore center Aday Mara, will not be returning to play basketball at UCLA next season, first reported by Bruin Report. Mara will enter the transfer portal with two years of eligibility remaining.

Mara reportedly took a spring break trip to his home country of Spain right after the season concluded with the Round of 32 loss to Tennessee in the NCAA Tournament. There was a strong understanding of a deal being done with the Bruins to return in 2025-26.

Instead, when Mara returned to California, his deal with UCLA had somehow changed which prompted his transfer decision.

Speculation around NIL being a driving force in the negotiations could have impacted his decision and there is a chance that another school was willing to offer Mara more money to be their dominant 7-3 center next season. The Bruins are losing out on a major rising talent.

Halfway through this past season, Mara emerged with a career-high, 22-point performance after receiving very little minutes through the first 17 games of the season. After his breakout performance, Mara would be an integral piece of the lineup and used much more often.

The Zaragoza, Spain native finished his sophomore season averaging 6.4 points with 4.0 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game, leading the team with 53 total blocks in 33 games. He was a strong rim protector while slowly developing into a dominant offensive piece in the paint.

Mara will look for a new destination to play his junior season and the Bruins are going to miss what could have been with the rising star. There was so much potential in Mara's next two seasons as he continued to grow physically and mentally, showing a lot of improvement throughout the year.

UCLA will not have to pivot and attack the transfer portal even harder now. They lost 6-9 junior forward William Kyle III to the portal, last week, and have now learned that their 7-3 center is not coming back either. Size is now the main priority for this Bruins team to build a winning starting five.

On a positive note, the Bruins will have the excess NIL funds from not paying Mara and hopefully will use those to bring another talented big man into the picture. It is unfortunate that Mara was unable to stay at UCLA, but negotiations sometimes fall through and that is becoming the nature of the NCAA.

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This article first appeared on UCLA Bruins on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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