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Report: UCLA in Contact With Montana State Transfer RaeQuan Battle

The former Washington guard is headed into the portal for the second time, with the Bruins emerging as one of the interested parties.

Sam Connon

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A former Pac-12 reserve could be on his way back to the Conference of Champions with some more experience under his belt.

Montana State guard RaeQuan Battle has already heard from UCLA men's basketball since entering the transfer portal Friday, according to a report from Recruits Zone on Saturday. Alabama, Kansas State, Texas, Oregon, Georgia Tech, Wake Forest, Utah State, South Florida, Oklahoma and Cal have also reportedly been in contact with the 6-foot-5 wing.

Battle started his college career at Washington before heading out to Bozeman, making this his second trip into the portal. The Bobcats' head coach, Danny Sprinkle, recently left for the job at Utah State, opening the door for Battle to once again explore his options for his final year of eligibility.

Battle came out of Marysville Pilchuck (WA) as a four-star recruit in 2019, with his only documented offers coming from Washington and Houston.

Across his two seasons with the Huskies, Battle appeared in 34 games with four starts, averaging 4.8 points in 13.9 minutes per game. Battle shot 45.7% from 2 and 77.8% from the free throw line, but his 24.1% mark from 3 tanked his overall field goal percentage since roughly three quarters of his total attempts came from beyond the arc.

Battle found his shooting stroke when he got to Montana State, shooting 56.1% from 2, 34.9% from deep and 87.5% from the stripe in 2021-2022. Battle averaged 8.5 points in 17.3 minutes per game, winning Big Sky Sixth Man of the Year in his debut campaign with the Bobcats.

Taking an even bigger leap this past season, Battle averaged 17.7 points per game while starting in all 35 of his outings as a senior. Battle flipped the script with his shot selection as well, attempting 18.4 2-pointers, 8.5 3-pointers and 8.2 free throws per 100 possessions after hoisting up 8.5, 13.0 and 4.8 through his first three collegiate seasons.

Battle was named to the All-Big Sky First Team in March, and he followed that up by winning Big Sky Tournament MVP a week later.

Montana State hadn't been to an NCAA tournament since 1996 before Battle arrived, but they made the Big Dance in each of his two seasons in Bozeman. Battle dropped 27 points in a 77-65 loss to No. 3 seed Kansas State on March 17.

UCLA has added one transfer so far this offseason – former Utah guard Lazar Stefanovic. The Bruins notably struck out on former USC guard Reese Dixon-Waters last week, though, watching him go to San Diego State instead.

The Bruins are going to need all the help they can get on the wings, with guard/forward Jaime Jaquez Jr., guard Amari Bailey and guard Jaylen Clark all declaring for the 2023 NBA Draft while guard David Singleton ran out of eligibility.

UCLA's only returning scholarship players who don't run the point or play down low are guard Will McClendon and guard/forward Abramo Canka. That pair combined for just 2.5 points in 14.8 minutes per game last season.

Top-100 recruit Brandon Williams is likely the only high school addition to will be able to contribute on the wing, with four-star guard Sebastian Mack likely filling in as point guard Dylan Andrews' backup and four-star forward Devin Williams fitting in best as a big man. Stefanovic and French shooting guard Ilane Stefanovic – who committed to UCLA on Thursday – stand as the only reinforcements for McClendon and Canka at the moment.

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Sam Connon
SAM CONNON

Sam Connon was the Publisher and Managing Editor at Sports Illustrated and FanNation’s All Bruins from 2021 to 2023. He is now a staff writer at Sports Illustrated and FanNation’s Fastball. He previously covered UCLA football, men's basketball, women's basketball, baseball, men's soccer, cross country and golf for The Daily Bruin from 2017 to 2021, serving as the paper's Sports Editor from 2019 to 2020. Connon has also been a contributor for 247Sports' Bruin Report Online, Rivals' BruinBlitz, Dash Sports TV, SuperWestSports, Prime Time Sports Talk, The Sports Life Blog and Patriots Country, Sports Illustrated and FanNation’s New England Patriots site. His work as a sports columnist has been awarded by the College Media Association and Society of Professional Journalists. Connon graduated from UCLA in June 2021 and is originally from Winchester, Massachusetts.