Brad Leaf, the father of the Bruins freshman power forward, told The Times in an email Thursday that his son hoped to return for his team’s Pac-12 Conference tournament opener on March 9 after spraining his left ankle Wednesday during UCLA’s victory over Washington.
Brad Leaf said his son intended to get back on the court Sunday with a light workout, meaning he would miss the Bruins’ final regular-season home game Saturday against Washington State. TJ Leaf would then try to expand his movements each day leading up to the conference tournament, where UCLA (27-3 overall, 14-3 Pac-12) has a bye into the quarterfinal round.