Login to view embedded media
Local Corona-Centennial guard Eric Freeny is beginning an official visit with UCLA today as he squeezes in the trip between two big high school events. He just helped Centennial earn a championship in its division at the California Live event down in OC, and this weekend he will head out to Arizona for the Section 7 event. UCLA watched him last weekend and will have coaches in attendance this week in Arizona as well.

The Bruins are clearly a leader for Freeny, but he says he plans to hold off on announcing a commitment until December. We'll see if that holds, but regardless UCLA heads into the official visit in a good spot. Cal and Colorado State are two other programs pushing for visits while he already took an official visit to UNLV this spring.

Hit the link for a look ahead to his official visit as it gets underway and he discusses why UCLA has emerged as a top contender in his recruitment.

UCLA obviously signed Devin Williams from Centennial for the 2023 class, so there is a connection there plus Rod Palmer is one of the founders of Freeny's travel ball program, Compton Magic. Those relationships have certainly been influential. He has also grown to get to know Mick Cronin, who is someone he feels a connection with already.

"He reminds me of coach [Josh] Giles a little bit," Freeny said comparing the UCLA head coach to his current coach at Centennial. "I feel like they run a system just like Centennial does. I feel like it's good to fit into."

Login to view embedded media

Can UCLA be followng their example??

According to ESPN, 6-foot-7 guard Jan Vide from Slovenia has committed to UCLA

Login to view embedded media

Both Matt and myself have spoken to Marcelles Williams since he visited UCLA during the final week of spring camp.

He sees a big difference in the connection between the current coaches on defense compared to how they recruited him last season.

It’s essentially down to UCLA and Stanford for 2024 QB Elijah Brown, who is going to the Elite 11 camp that starts tomorrow.

The most recent news is Brown decided against taking an official to USC after this past weekend’s OV to Stanford.

That leaves UCLA and Stanford as the only true contenders. He’s said that he is open to the idea of coming in and learning behind a QB, so the depth chart is not something that scares him off.

Big Ten just put out a release saying the 2024-25 football scheduling model, as well as home and away opponents, will be unveiled Thursday at 1:30 p.m. PT on the FOX Sports app and the Big Ten Network’s social platforms.

According to The Athletic, a “flex protect” model will be used to protect rivalries and there will be no divisions.

Login to view embedded media
Terry Donahue, the winningest football coach in UCLA and Pac-12 Conference history, will be celebrated with a statue that will be unveiled at the Rose Bowl Stadium on Oct. 27, the day before the program’s Homecoming contest against Colorado.

The dedication event is open to the public and will take place at 3 p.m. in Pasadena.

The statue of Donahue includes 151 bronze roses to commemorate each of his school- and conference-record coaching victories.

The statue will be the fourth addition to the Rose Bowl, joining Jackie Robinson, the 1999 U.S. women’s World Cup championship team and legendary broadcaster Keith Jackson. It will be the first statue located inside the stadium’s gates near the Gate A main entrance.

He was among the many talented tight ends who put on an impressive performance this past weekend.

Las Vegas has us at 8.5 on over/under.
The schedule is somewhat favorable because we don’t play Oregon or Washington.
But we do have to play at Utah and Oregon State and, of course, sc with its Heisman winner.
We should be favored in our other 9 games.
If we can pull off one upset, 10 wins is possible.
Eight is our likely final win total, but I think we get 9.

Cam Spencer, who played one season at Rutgers, started his career at with three years at Loyola University Maryland.

Spencer played for current UCLA assistant Ivo Simovic.

Today, Stadium’s Jeff Goodman is reporting that Spencer is down to four visits: Connecticut, Miami, Oklahoma and UCLA.

ILBs coach Ken Norton Jr. has made a strong impression on Yelm (Wash.) linebacker Brayden Platt, who is HS teammates with recent UCLA commit Isaiah Patterson.

According to Brett McMurphy, the Holiday Bowl filed a lawsuit in Superior Court in the county of San Diego Tuesday, claiming it lost more than $3 million with the cancellation of the 2021 game after UCLA had a COVID-19 just before kickoff.

To offset the losses, the Holiday Bowl did not pay the Pac-12 for Oregon State’s appearance in the 2022 game.

Login to view embedded media
As a refresher, here’s what he said after his official:

He informed the team earlier in the day, according to the club.

UCLA is hosting a camp Saturday for 2026, 2025 and 2024 HS players who have not signed NIL agreements, as well as JUCO and four-year college players in the transfer portal.

A few of the participants who have publicized their invite (will update accordingly as I come across more):

2024

Jacob Simpson, TE
Login to view embedded media
Enzo Hall, OL
Login to view embedded media
John Rogers, TE (committed to Virginia)
Login to view embedded media
Hayden Eligon II, WR
Login to view embedded media
Bennett Anderson, OL
Login to view embedded media
Termaine Givens III, safety
Login to view embedded media
Dalen Huston, QB
Login to view embedded media
Jason “J.R.” Kirkwood, LB (cousin of Devin Kirkwood)
Login to view embedded media
Triston Ward, WR
Login to view embedded media
Titus Bordeaux, athlete
LB Poly HS
6-1, 171 lbs.

Jason Hong, RB
South Pasadena HS
5-9, 185 lbs.

2025

T’Andre Waverly, TE
Login to view embedded media
Kaleb Edwards, TE

Drew Glymph, CB
Login to view embedded media
Christopher Solis-Lumar, DB
Login to view embedded media
Addisson Lovett-Williams, athlete
Pickerington (Ohio) Pickerington North HS
6-2, 165 lbs.

Mekhi Freeman, DB
La Verne (Calif). Damien HS
5-8, 140 lbs.

Yanick Parker, CB/WR
Rancho Cucamonga HS
6-0, 163 lbs.

2026

Ashton Pannell, QB

Sept. 2 vs. Coastal Carolina - 7:30 p.m. (ESPN)
Sept. 9 at San Diego State – 4:30 p.m. (CBS)
Sept. 16 vs. North Carolina Central – 2 p.m. (Pac-12 Network)

UCLA continues its trend of hosting May official visits, and the Bruins will bring another wave of priority targets on campus. Top-55 edge rusher Elijah Rushing highlights the group as he will be making his first visit of the process. He has a ton of offers so being the first one to get him on campus for an OV is a big deal. He will make the trek out with his Tucson (Ariz.) Salpointe teammate and fellow defensive lineman Keona Wilhite. The Bruins previously added OL Bruno Fina from their high school, so there are some connections there for the program. Three local recruits round out the list of four-star visitors led by St. John Bosco running back Cameron Jones, Birmingham WR/ATH Peyton Waters and Sierra Canyon WR Kwazi Gilmer. All three rank inside the top 31 prospects in California according to Rivals.

Login to view embedded media
Login to view embedded media
Login to view embedded media
Login to view embedded media
Login to view embedded media
Login to view embedded media

Login to view embedded media
Login to view embedded media
Login to view embedded media
Login to view embedded media
Login to view embedded media
Login to view embedded media

Earlier this week, I spoke with incoming freshman safety RJ Jones on the phone to see how he’s preparing for his June 24 report date:


Not included in the story are his thoughts on some of the current players he expects to lean on:

“For sure I will lean on Kenny Churchwell. I’ve seen him in meetings and he asks a lot of questions, knows what’s going on. Kamari Ramsey, as well, he knows what’s going on and asks a lot of questions. Guys who ask a lot of questions are eager to learn and eager to be on that field to know exactly where they need to be and what needs to be done. Those two guys in safeties room I, for sure, will lean on.”

And his thoughts on four-star RB and Bosco teammate Cameron Jones, who officially visited UCLA:

“I’m in his ear a lot. He’s a physical back who has that breakaway speed. I’ve seen what coach Foster has done with guys like Zach Charbonnet and those big running backs UCLA has had in the past. I feel like he can be something special at UCLA, if he makes that decision, as well. I always tell him to go where home is, to not be pressured by anybody to make a decision.”

Adam Gorney caught up with him after his official visit and Gilmer gave a glowing review:

Login to view embedded media
Login to view embedded media
UCLA's international recruiting continues to have success, and the latest commitment for the Bruins comes from France as INSEP standout 2023 wing Ilane Fibleuil has announced his pledge to play for Mick Cronin over Gonzaga and professional options including the NBA G League Ignite squad.

He visited both UCLA and Gonzaga during the season. The biggest thing he is going to add to the roster is a scoring punch. He does his best work on offense and should be an above average defender as well as soon as he steps on campus.

Login to view embedded media
Login to view embedded media

According to ESPN:

Login to view embedded media

UCLA WRs coach Jerry Neuheisel had a busy Tuesday, sending offers to Talyn Taylor of Geneva HS in Illinois and Raiden Vines-Bright of Tempe (Ariz.) Corona del Sol.

Taylor is ranked a four-star prospect while Vines-Bright is unranked.

Meanwhile, three-star DE Hayden Lowe of Westlake Village (Calif.) Oaks Christian picked up an offer from OLB/D-line coach Ikaika Malloe.

Login to view embedded media
Login to view embedded media
Login to view embedded media
Login to view embedded media
Login to view embedded media
Login to view embedded media
Login to view embedded media
Login to view embedded media
Login to view embedded media

Bill McGovern, UCLA’s previous defensive coordinator, died Tuesday morning at his California home surrounded by family, following a bout with cancer. He was 60.

Login to view embedded media
Login to view embedded media
Login to view embedded media