In Reply to: Re: That was incorrect information? posted by russsmith on December 15, 2025 at 10:30:24
We’re probably around the same age. I met Lloyd during the UCLA AAP summer program before my freshman year. We were in the same cohort, which included a 5'11" kid who walked into class one day wearing a gold chain that said “Pooh.” When we were asked what we wanted to be, he said he wanted to be an NBA player. Students laughed out loud at him. He was immediately ostracized, so I’d sit with him in the back of the class because I thought he was genuinely likable.
Some of the minority women in the program dismissed him as just another ignorant brother with unrealistic dreams. That changed abruptly one day when Lloyd came into class and said that Pooh was playing with Magic Johnson at Pauley. Of course, this was Pooh Richardson—one of the top point guard prospects in the country out of Philadelphia, recruited by Walt Hazzard. Overnight, perceptions shifted, and suddenly people were throwing themselves at him.
Lloyd was a good dude who never shied away from long odds. From what I understood at the time, he didn’t have the grades required to qualify for the presidency, so he was blocked for legitimate reasons if the rumors were true. It’s also worth remembering that the frat system then was openly racist, with their “Sombrero”-themed parties.
That said, I also thought the AAP program was over the top—but in different ways.
Reading Lloyd’s Wikipedia page now, it’s impressive to see where he ended up. It doesn’t surprise me at all, given his decency and his willingness to dream big.
I only knew him for five weeks. After that summer, everyone went their separate ways. Still, I’m glad that during his short life he was able to do meaningful, effective work for his community.
Summer pre-freshman programs are among the most effective interventions for incoming students. They allow students to form friendships in a smaller, supportive environment while learning how to study from graduate students, all while taking a real class. That experience completely transformed my success at UCLA.
There’s no way I could have earned a PhD without what I learned in those five weeks. Whenever parents ask me how they can best support their child’s academic success, my first recommendation is to have them live in the dorms their freshman year. The second is to have them live in the dorms the summer before school starts. The data backs this up.