The UCLA Athletic Department is pleased to announce a significant financial contribution from NBA All-Star Kevin Love to its Mo Ostin Basketball Center project – matching the largest donation by a former basketball student-athlete (Westbrook) in school history. In honor of his gift, UCLA's basketball-specific strength and conditioning facility within the state-of-the-art new building will be known moving forward as The Kevin Love Strength and Conditioning Center.



Love, who will be in attendance for the UCLA Olympians reunion and recognition during the Bruins' Saturday, September 24 football game against Stanford at the Rose Bowl, will be honored during the first quarter break on the field for his leadership and philanthropy.



"The impact Kevin has had on our program, both during his time in Westwood and in the years that have followed, is dramatic," said Director of Athletics Dan Guerrero . "Whether you're here one year or five, you are, and always will be, a Bruin. From his selflessness and dedication on the court here in Pauley Pavilion to the thoughtfulness and philanthropy he has exhibited as an NBA star, Kevin is a tremendous ambassador for this university. To see him, still very early in his life journey, give back to the UCLA Basketball program in this way is certainly a testament to the bonds our student-athletes build here. While we are grateful for his generosity, we are even more proud of the remarkable man Kevin has become."



Prior to being selected fifth overall in the 2008 NBA Draft, Love played for UCLA during the 2007-08 season, helping lead the Bruins to the regular season Pac-10 Conference championship, the Pac-10 Conference tournament championship, a No. 1 seed in the 2008 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament and a trip to the Final Four. Named a consensus First-Team All-American, Pac-10 Player of the Year, All-Pac-10 and Pac-10 Freshman of the Year, Love led the Bruins with 17.5 points per game, 10.6 rebounds per game and 23 double-doubles.



"UCLA will always be my home," Love said. "I have such fond memories of my time here from meeting Coach Wooden, to our run to the Final Four. I want to give back to the school and help prepare all the athletes who come through UCLA sports programs for their next steps, just like my time on campus prepared me."



Entering his ninth NBA season, Love, a three-time NBA All-Star (2011, 2012, 2014) and 2016 NBA Champion, is averaging 18.3 points and 11.5 rebounds over 516 career games. A member of the United States Men's Basketball Team that captured the gold medal at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, Love spent his first six NBA seasons with the Minnesota Timberwolves, garnering NBA "Most Improved Player" honors following the 2010-11 campaign and winning the NBA All-Star Three-Point Contest in 2012. Now a member of the reigning NBA Champion Cleveland Cavaliers, Love, owner of the longest double-double streak (53 games) since the NBA/ABA merger in 1975-76, also became the first player to average better than 26 points, 12 rebounds and four assists over a full season (2013-14) since Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Bob McAdoo both accomplished the feat in 1975-76.



"We are extremely fortunate here at UCLA to be home to some of the game's best players," said Head Men's Basketball Coach Steve Alford . "Kevin is a letter winner who is a tremendous example of not being satisfied. Some guys are content to just make it to the next level, but you look at Kevin – the time he has put into both developing his game and body, working to become one of the NBA's best big-men – that's an inspiration to our current guys. Then what he does in the community on top of everything else? He's the definition of a role model, and I'm happy our guys will see his name every day when they are working out and training to become the very best they can be."



In spring 2014, the UCLA Athletic Department announced a campaign to raise private funds for a comprehensive new on-campus basketball training and performance facility that will house the men's and women's basketball programs. Love's gift joins, among others, the $10 million lead gift from legendary music industry executive and philanthropist Morris "Mo" Ostin for whom the building will be named.



The Mo Ostin Basketball Center is currently being constructed near Pauley Pavilion at the south end of the Los Angeles Tennis Center and is on-schedule to open in fall 2017, less than three-and-a-half years after the campaign's launch. The state-of-the-art facility will include separate courts for both the men's and women's programs, locker rooms, athletic training areas, a strength and conditioning facility, coaches' offices, team meeting rooms, equipment rooms and video rooms among various amenities while incorporating several elements paying homage to the rich history of UCLA Basketball.



With his gift, Love joins a list of notable UCLA letter winners to make major gifts during UCLA's $4.2 billion Centennial Campaign that includes Westbrook, Troy Aikman, Eric Byrnes, John Peterson, Gerrit Cole, Marcedes Lewis, Drew Bennett, Donovan Carter, John Sciarra and Kevin Chappell.



The UCLA Athletic Department aims to surpass its $260 million goal by 2019, for which more than $197 million in private philanthropic gifts have already been committed.



Additional naming opportunities for the Mo Ostin Basketball Center remain. For more information or to become involved in the campaign at any philanthropic level, contact the UCLA Athletics Development Office at 310-206-3302, or visit www.UCLABasketballFacility.com.



Tickets for this Saturday's UCLA Football game against Stanford at the Rose Bowl are available at www.uclabruins.com/tickets. In honor of the festivities, the first 10,000 Bruin fans wearing blue to enter the Rose Bowl will receive a commemorative Kevin Love poster.