Josh Smith, Chronically Overweight UCLA Center, Quits the Bruins

Josh Smith, the immensely talented UCLA center who has battled weight problems throughout his career, has quit the UCLA Bruins basketball team, the school announced today.

Hopefully, it isn’t the end of Smith’s career, because this is a kid who has been teeming with potential for years – he was a Top 25 recruit out of high school – but couldn’t control his eating habits. Smith arrived at UCLA allegedly in the 270-pound range; he’s ballooned as high as 350 during his three years, according to various reports.

The jokes will fly about Smith transferring to Jenny Craig University, but he’s also been labeled as lazy, too.

Once everyone spends the obligatory 15 minutes talking about Smith, the real story will become Ben Howland and the Bruins, who have already survived an NCAA investigation into their best player, but now have to rebound from a loss to Cal Poly. If Howland can’t get this group to the NCAA tournament – it’s still early, obviously – will he be able to keep his job?