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The Louisville transfer point guard will return home to California to finish his career with the Bruins. He began at Illinois.

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Offensive line coach Juan Castillo continues to leave an impression on recruits:

He was the only one made available, no players today. But he spoke for 17 1/2 minutes.

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Right here:

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USC junior wing Kobe Johnson will remain close after announcing his transfer commitment to UCLA just a few minutes ago. The 6-foot-6 small forward is considered a top-30 transfer by Rivals after averaging 10.9 points and 4.6 rebounds this season with the Trojans.

Will be starting my drive to campus soon. Word is OC Eric Bieniemy could be made available to talk today.

From the sound of it, Thursdays could be a designated day to get an assistant coach for media availability throughout spring camp (unless their schedule dictates otherwise).

It looks like Collin Schlee has put his name in the TP. Not a great passer but he was exciting to watch

Reserves Will McClendon and Logan Cremonesi are leaving Westwood

This was on the front page when the news broke while I was out at football practice, but forgot to put it on here that Ilane Fibleuil is leaving UCLA after one season.

The story:

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Three-star 2025 Phoenix (Ariz.) Mountain Pointe safety Rylon Dillard-Allen announced today that UCLA will get an official visit May 17-19

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Jadyn Hudson, who initially picked up an offer from UCLA in October 2023, has the Bruins in his top four, according to On3.

Also making the cut were USC, Tennessee and Ohio State.

He will be on an official to UCLA at the end of May.

With no practice today, a write-up on the Bruins getting a key player back from the portal this offseason:

I'm seeing dividends already from Foster's recruiting. Chip Kelly NEVER would have offered players beyond their current class. He's recruiting more 4 or 5-stars national players and he's increased the number of offers beyond what CCK would offer.

After practice, James Williams of Southern California News Group and myself ran down the list and collaborated on making note of all the players who changed numbers since the end of last season:

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Things get underway at 8:30 a.m. DeShaun Foster and select players (the typical one or two) will speak afterward.

As it always is with the spring, I’ll provide updates periodically during practice when there’s a lull (given the no photo/video/phone usage rule while facing the field atop the parking garage).

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Next Monday (April 8), former UCLA edge rusher Laiatu Latu will be highlighted as part of the “Hey Rookie, Welcome to the NFL” feature.

No time was mentioned.

An NFL Films crew was present throughout the on-campus pro day and following Latu, so I’m not sure if some of that footage will be part of it.

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Just exchanged messages with him on this busy day. Here’s a Q&A format to make it quicker (won’t do a formal story until tomorrow morning probably).

1) What did you think about UCLA’s practice today? And about how the cornerbacks are taught?

“Practice was fast paced overall. Great energy, coaches are very vocal and you can tell they are teaching. Coach (Whitfield) got the corners moving great and getting to the ball. I love the scheme.”

2) Who on staff have you connected with the most and what do you like about the coaching staff?

“First coach Foster and I had a long conversation just about life and just connecting and we connected great. And coach Whit, just talking the position and life and what we can get from football was awesome. Coach Stace (Stacey Ford, director of player personnel) and I connected great along with (assistant general manager) Chris Carter and showed me the most love.”

3) As a USC commit, how does UCLA’s practice compare to what you’ve seen at USC?

“Practice-wise I would say the pace is similar but I feel energy-wise USC has the edge.”

4) What does it mean to you to pick up not just an offer, but an offer from the rival school?

“It means the world that they love me enough to try and take from a rival school, and it also shows they believe they can out recruit anyone and I like that.”

5) Being a 2026 recruit, are you still keeping your options open as far as hearing from other schools? Have plans to go on other visits scheduled?

“It’s still early but I have heard from Oklahoma, Texas A&M and Oregon but right now just a visit to USC on April 4th.”

6) How firm is your USC commitment?

“Right now I am still committed but a lot of things can change and I’m just keeping it open to schools reaching out to me and UCLA showed hella love.”

Head coach DeShaun Foster:

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WR Logan Loya:

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Move on to Sweet 16.

A snapshot of one of the deeper groups:

The start of the new era with Deshaun Foster at the helm. Looking forward to seeing the new coaches especially EB. Will there be any surprises?

There will be for sure a new kicker, punter, long snapper and primary kick returner this year. Some of the options are clear, others like the kick return game (and maybe punt returns) to still be sorted out:

Whether any competition emerges at the tackle positions and Sam Yoon likely taking over at center are among the things to watch along the offensive line this spring: