Momma Mique: 'I am a huge UCLA fan'
I went out to Mique Juarez's Army All-American ceremony last week (full interview with the five-star prospect is here) and I had the chance to speak with Momma Mique for a good amount of time while we waited for the ceremony to begin.
The thing I took away from our talk? She really, really likes UCLA.
"I am a huge UCLA fan," Nathasha Juarez said. "Growing up, I just always wanted to go there. My family, they brought me up being UCLA fans."
Nathasha said Mique grew up in the Bruin blue and gold too. She joked that she's still trying to figure out what went wrong.
"He just turned," she said with a laugh. "He did a whole 180 on us. It was like, 'Woah!' He grew up a UCLA fan. I guess the recruiters did a really good job getting him to look past what he's come to be with."
She reiterated, though, that it is far from over for the five-star prospect. While he is still committed to USC, Nathasha said the Juarezes are taking a long look at everybody as the charge to Signing Day continues.
"We're just letting him figure it out for himself," she said. "We're just taking advantage of going to the local schools as much as we can so he can experience it, feel it out and then hopefully be able to go to his scheduled official visits."
If she had it her way, however, UCLA would be the pick.
"If I had my choice, of course I'd be like, 'No, you're going to UCLA and that's it,'" she said with a laugh.
But all kidding aside, it's fairly easy to see in a 10-minute conversation that she would genuinely prefer Mique go to UCLA and not USC, and not just because she grew up a Bruin fan.
Momma Juarez said her relationship with Scott White is tremendous. So is the one that the linebackers coach has with her son.
"Scott White, he is awesome," she said. "I really like him. Everybody is like, 'Oh, you're biased because that's your school.' But he's really great. Like I can see the chemistry between him and Mique. He reaches out to us whenever he can and whenever he's allowed to. He's just - I honestly feel really comfortable with him."
Both Blair Angulo and I had the opportunity to do two separate interviews with Mique last week. We both came away with the feel that he was leaning toward flipping to the Bruins. With his mom clearly in UCLA's corner as well, don't be surprised if he's putting on a Bruin cap at the Army game in January.
Theo may pop
The West's best receiver, Theo Howard, had a monster game against Compton Dominguez last Friday night, and he did it wearing UCLA gloves too (photo via The Daily News).
Afterward, he hinted that catching passes in UCLA attire might become the norm for him the next four years.
He's slated to visit Westwood for his first official visit this weekend. And while USC is considered the only other school that's remotely still in the race for his commitment, he said he won't give the Trojans an official. So it seems pretty clear the Bruins have a stranglehold on this one.
Here were some of the notable quotes he gave us about his recruiting process Friday night:
On why he's still taking visits (Texas A&M for the Alabama game, no date yet for Notre Dame) when he decommitted from Oregon in order to be closer to home:
"Just make sure I'm not making the wrong decision and just make sure I can explore every option."
On why he's using an official on a local school:
"It's different than just going to the game. With the official, obviously you get to be with the team and involved with the week and see what it's actually like. I just want to see what it'd be like to be close to home."
On if he could end his process this weekend on his UCLA visit:
"No, I don't think so. I think I'll still take all my visits."
On what Josh Rosen does for UCLA:
"It just makes it more comfortable just knowing that you have a quarterback that can get the ball there and when I come in, he can show me how to do stuff and how things are run, so it's great."
On why he's visiting UCLA but not USC:
"I think I've been to USC a lot more than UCLA. So I just want to see what it's like."
On when he'll make a decision:
"After I take all my visits. I might probably just do (the announcement on) Twitter. After I take my visit with Texas A&M against Alabama, toward the end of October."
On if he's the West's best wideout:
"I feel like it. Yeah. I definitely feel like it."
Short Shots
-After being involved in a dirty play scandal - one in which he was accused of rubbing Icy Hot in a player's eyes - 2017 UCLA linebacker commit Rahyme Johnson returned to the field this past Friday night. He had eight tackles and a sack against Bakersfield.
-Four-star slot receiver Damian Alloway told Adam Gorney his top three are ASU, UCLA and Notre Dame. He said he'll visit Notre Dame in November and likely ASU and UCLA after the season. Which means his decision could drag all the way into the winter.
-UCLA has fought hard to get back in the mix for four-star TE Devin Asiasi, but after his visit to Alabama this past weekend, it sure sounds like it's currently the school to beat.
-Michigan appears to be the favorite for four-star DE Carlo Kemp. But he's still looking to set up an official visit to UCLA for this fall. His other two favorites are Colorado and Notre Dame.
-Four-star receiver Dylan Crawford told Rivals.com this week: "I'm probably going to decide sooner rather than later. Sometime in the near future just because I'm on track to be an early enrollee wherever I go." It really doesn't sound like he has too many other options other than UCLA. If he does decide soon, and UCLA does want him, I think you'd have to give the Bruins a pretty good chance to get him.
I went out to Mique Juarez's Army All-American ceremony last week (full interview with the five-star prospect is here) and I had the chance to speak with Momma Mique for a good amount of time while we waited for the ceremony to begin.
The thing I took away from our talk? She really, really likes UCLA.
"I am a huge UCLA fan," Nathasha Juarez said. "Growing up, I just always wanted to go there. My family, they brought me up being UCLA fans."
Nathasha said Mique grew up in the Bruin blue and gold too. She joked that she's still trying to figure out what went wrong.
"He just turned," she said with a laugh. "He did a whole 180 on us. It was like, 'Woah!' He grew up a UCLA fan. I guess the recruiters did a really good job getting him to look past what he's come to be with."
She reiterated, though, that it is far from over for the five-star prospect. While he is still committed to USC, Nathasha said the Juarezes are taking a long look at everybody as the charge to Signing Day continues.
"We're just letting him figure it out for himself," she said. "We're just taking advantage of going to the local schools as much as we can so he can experience it, feel it out and then hopefully be able to go to his scheduled official visits."
If she had it her way, however, UCLA would be the pick.
"If I had my choice, of course I'd be like, 'No, you're going to UCLA and that's it,'" she said with a laugh.
But all kidding aside, it's fairly easy to see in a 10-minute conversation that she would genuinely prefer Mique go to UCLA and not USC, and not just because she grew up a Bruin fan.
Momma Juarez said her relationship with Scott White is tremendous. So is the one that the linebackers coach has with her son.
"Scott White, he is awesome," she said. "I really like him. Everybody is like, 'Oh, you're biased because that's your school.' But he's really great. Like I can see the chemistry between him and Mique. He reaches out to us whenever he can and whenever he's allowed to. He's just - I honestly feel really comfortable with him."
Both Blair Angulo and I had the opportunity to do two separate interviews with Mique last week. We both came away with the feel that he was leaning toward flipping to the Bruins. With his mom clearly in UCLA's corner as well, don't be surprised if he's putting on a Bruin cap at the Army game in January.
Theo may pop
The West's best receiver, Theo Howard, had a monster game against Compton Dominguez last Friday night, and he did it wearing UCLA gloves too (photo via The Daily News).
Afterward, he hinted that catching passes in UCLA attire might become the norm for him the next four years.
He's slated to visit Westwood for his first official visit this weekend. And while USC is considered the only other school that's remotely still in the race for his commitment, he said he won't give the Trojans an official. So it seems pretty clear the Bruins have a stranglehold on this one.
Here were some of the notable quotes he gave us about his recruiting process Friday night:
On why he's still taking visits (Texas A&M for the Alabama game, no date yet for Notre Dame) when he decommitted from Oregon in order to be closer to home:
"Just make sure I'm not making the wrong decision and just make sure I can explore every option."
On why he's using an official on a local school:
"It's different than just going to the game. With the official, obviously you get to be with the team and involved with the week and see what it's actually like. I just want to see what it'd be like to be close to home."
On if he could end his process this weekend on his UCLA visit:
"No, I don't think so. I think I'll still take all my visits."
On what Josh Rosen does for UCLA:
"It just makes it more comfortable just knowing that you have a quarterback that can get the ball there and when I come in, he can show me how to do stuff and how things are run, so it's great."
On why he's visiting UCLA but not USC:
"I think I've been to USC a lot more than UCLA. So I just want to see what it's like."
On when he'll make a decision:
"After I take all my visits. I might probably just do (the announcement on) Twitter. After I take my visit with Texas A&M against Alabama, toward the end of October."
On if he's the West's best wideout:
"I feel like it. Yeah. I definitely feel like it."
Short Shots
-After being involved in a dirty play scandal - one in which he was accused of rubbing Icy Hot in a player's eyes - 2017 UCLA linebacker commit Rahyme Johnson returned to the field this past Friday night. He had eight tackles and a sack against Bakersfield.
-Four-star slot receiver Damian Alloway told Adam Gorney his top three are ASU, UCLA and Notre Dame. He said he'll visit Notre Dame in November and likely ASU and UCLA after the season. Which means his decision could drag all the way into the winter.
-UCLA has fought hard to get back in the mix for four-star TE Devin Asiasi, but after his visit to Alabama this past weekend, it sure sounds like it's currently the school to beat.
-Michigan appears to be the favorite for four-star DE Carlo Kemp. But he's still looking to set up an official visit to UCLA for this fall. His other two favorites are Colorado and Notre Dame.
-Four-star receiver Dylan Crawford told Rivals.com this week: "I'm probably going to decide sooner rather than later. Sometime in the near future just because I'm on track to be an early enrollee wherever I go." It really doesn't sound like he has too many other options other than UCLA. If he does decide soon, and UCLA does want him, I think you'd have to give the Bruins a pretty good chance to get him.
