Genetics suggested that T.J. Leaf might play shooting guard or, maybe if he was an outlier, small forward.
His father stands 6-3 and his mother 5-7. His brother Troy was about 6-1 as a senior guard who starred at Azusa Pacific, an NCAA Division II school. There was another brother who was 5-10 and a sister who was 5-7.
None of which explains how UCLA had a 6-foot-10, 225-pound power forward with “Leaf” stretched across the back of his jersey who dominated top-ranked Kentucky on Saturday at Rupp Arena. He dribbled with the surehandedness of a point guard, shot like a three-point specialist and powered his way toward the basket for dunks like someone 50 pounds heavier.