Still a chance?
UCLA didn't have too many notable, uncommitted 2016 recruits in attendance for its stomping of Virginia Saturday. But David Long was in attendance, and that raised more than a few eyebrows.
The four-star corner has been committed to Stanford for weeks, and he's always been considered a firm commitment since he made that pledge earlier this summer.
While Long said UCLA is purely a backup option and a "just in case" he doesn't get admitted into Stanford, the four-star sure seemed impressed with what he saw at the Rose Bowl.
"I've been in close contact with UCLA still as well as some Loyola guys at UCLA," Long said. "I did want to see the defense and what not so that's why I came by to touch bases."
Still, Long reiterated he's all Stanford for now: "I'm firm in my commitment, but until I'm accepted, I'm keeping my options open."
Parker's weird recruitment gets weirder
Jordan Parker's recruitment has been wild. First, he surprisingly committed to UCLA out of nowhere on an unofficial visit in the spring, and then 24 hours later, he essentially said he was still wide open to the recruiting process.
He then decommitted from UCLA a few months later, and everyone around him said it was because he wanted to go to Oregon or perhaps be a package deal with four-star safety Shurod Thompson somewhere else. As it turns out, Oregon didn't want Parker, and Thompson is going to have a very difficult time qualifying at any power five school.
So we had heard Parker was starting to rekindle the magic with UCLA. He even set up an official visit for the day before his announcement date of Nov. 1.
But then, in another surprising twist, we heard Parker actually told UCLA coaches he was not looking to play in the Pac-12 anymore. Naturally, the Bruins told him he couldn't visit anymore after that conversation. So that's the story of how his newfound interest in UCLA was squashed again. Strange one, huh?
Honor Bowl updates
Corona Centennial played Serra Saturday night at the Honor Bowl, and three big UCLA targets were in attendance: Wole Betiku, Brandon Burton and Javon McKinley. Here's the inside scoop we gathered from being out there this weekend:
-Betiku is going to take his official visits, specifically mentioning Texas A&M, Florida, Florida State and Notre Dame. He's a firm commitment, he has an incredible relationship with Angus McClure, and we've continuously heard he loves L.A. too much to leave it for college. Now, with that being said, Betiku cannot stand playing inside on the D-line. He was borderline furious after the Centennial game when Serra coaches forced him to play on top of the guard, saying he's an edge rusher and that's that. So if another school can really convince him that they'll use him as a better edge player than UCLA will, this one might be one to watch.
-The buzz with Burton has always been Florida State and UCLA, and for a while in the spring, it looked like FSU was the leader. Now, however, we're hearing he's very much leaning toward UCLA and it'd be tough to envision him leaving L.A. for school.
-I think if UCLA wanted him, it could have McKinley. A lot of the schools that were on him early, like USC and Ohio State for example, have backed off and there's a tremendous feeling around his recruitment that he'd rather not leave L.A. He'll officially visit UCLA sometime next month (he wasn't sure of the date, but it sounds like it'll be the Colorado game). The problem for UCLA here is it's probably getting Theo Howard and Damian Alloway, and it leads for Steffon McKnight and maybe even Dylan Crawford as well. Add those to Demetric Felton, Darian Owens and Dymond Lee, and that's a whole lot of scholarships to give to one position. So it'll be interesting to see if the Bruins even want his commitment when all this is said and done.
Down to three
Four-star pass-rusher Bryson Young, who I think is arguably the most underrated player in California this year, told Rivals.com he's down to three: Tennessee, Oregon and UCLA.
He'll officially visit both Tennessee and Oregon this fall, and will likely be back in Westwood for a trip as well. It'd be very surprising to see him commit to a school not named UCLA at this point.
Blair's back
Blair Angulo made a big trip out to Colorado last weekend, seeing several UCLA targets. First and foremost, he saw Matt Lynch, who remains a very firm pledge despite the Bruins taking Dymond Lee and their interest in grabbing one more QB in the class.
Other players Blair saw on his trip:
-2017 QB Dylan McCaffery - "The vibe I got on McCaffrey is that Michigan is probably the program that has shown the most interest. He camped with Stanford but they didn't offer and he wouldn't fit their system anyway. He visited UCLA, but as you know, it's probably Tua Tagovailoa and Ryan Kelley ahead of him for 2017. So right now, it sounds like Bruins are doing an OK job of keeping him warm in case they whiff on their priority guys."
-Four-star DE Carlo Kemp - "UCLA is probably running third for Carlo Kemp behind Michigan and Notre Dame. He could visit for the ASU weekend but he hasn't scheduled that. He loves Jim Harbaugh and said he wants a tough coach at the next level. His grandmother is a huge Notre Dame fan who used to dress him up in Irish gear, so once they offered, they catapulted up there for him. While head coaches have gotten involved at ND and Michigan, it's only really been Taylor Embree and Taylor Mazzone for UCLA, so you have to wonder how much they really want him."
-2017 LB Santino Marchiol - "He absolutely loves UCLA but right now he's gushing about every national program. He's probably a four star based on what I saw in practice so he's definitely a take. Interestingly enough he said he's had a longstanding relationship with Noel Mazzone, who used to bring him along for pro workouts with Tim Tebow, Philip Rivers and those guys. He loves Scott white and the vibe he got from some of the players like Myles Jack and Kenny Young, but it's still way early for him. Right now, it's shaping up like a UCLA-Ohio state battle but that obviously means nothing at this point."
Short Shots
-Four-star S Lamar Jackson cancelled his Notre Dame official visit and is now looking to replace it with a trip to either UCLA or USC. You'd have to imagine the L.A. school that he officially visits is the one he has more interest in and is the one he'll probably end up at.
-Keep an eye on new Auburn decommitment Stephen Davis Jr. The son of NFL RB Stephen Davis, who played with DeShaun Foster for many years in the league, could give UCLA a serious look now that he's backed off his Tiger pledge.
-Two Texas prospects, Dee Anderson and Marvin Terry, told Rivals.com this week they're looking to officially visit UCLA this fall.
UCLA didn't have too many notable, uncommitted 2016 recruits in attendance for its stomping of Virginia Saturday. But David Long was in attendance, and that raised more than a few eyebrows.
The four-star corner has been committed to Stanford for weeks, and he's always been considered a firm commitment since he made that pledge earlier this summer.
While Long said UCLA is purely a backup option and a "just in case" he doesn't get admitted into Stanford, the four-star sure seemed impressed with what he saw at the Rose Bowl.
"I've been in close contact with UCLA still as well as some Loyola guys at UCLA," Long said. "I did want to see the defense and what not so that's why I came by to touch bases."
Still, Long reiterated he's all Stanford for now: "I'm firm in my commitment, but until I'm accepted, I'm keeping my options open."
Parker's weird recruitment gets weirder
Jordan Parker's recruitment has been wild. First, he surprisingly committed to UCLA out of nowhere on an unofficial visit in the spring, and then 24 hours later, he essentially said he was still wide open to the recruiting process.
He then decommitted from UCLA a few months later, and everyone around him said it was because he wanted to go to Oregon or perhaps be a package deal with four-star safety Shurod Thompson somewhere else. As it turns out, Oregon didn't want Parker, and Thompson is going to have a very difficult time qualifying at any power five school.
So we had heard Parker was starting to rekindle the magic with UCLA. He even set up an official visit for the day before his announcement date of Nov. 1.
But then, in another surprising twist, we heard Parker actually told UCLA coaches he was not looking to play in the Pac-12 anymore. Naturally, the Bruins told him he couldn't visit anymore after that conversation. So that's the story of how his newfound interest in UCLA was squashed again. Strange one, huh?
Honor Bowl updates
Corona Centennial played Serra Saturday night at the Honor Bowl, and three big UCLA targets were in attendance: Wole Betiku, Brandon Burton and Javon McKinley. Here's the inside scoop we gathered from being out there this weekend:
-Betiku is going to take his official visits, specifically mentioning Texas A&M, Florida, Florida State and Notre Dame. He's a firm commitment, he has an incredible relationship with Angus McClure, and we've continuously heard he loves L.A. too much to leave it for college. Now, with that being said, Betiku cannot stand playing inside on the D-line. He was borderline furious after the Centennial game when Serra coaches forced him to play on top of the guard, saying he's an edge rusher and that's that. So if another school can really convince him that they'll use him as a better edge player than UCLA will, this one might be one to watch.
-The buzz with Burton has always been Florida State and UCLA, and for a while in the spring, it looked like FSU was the leader. Now, however, we're hearing he's very much leaning toward UCLA and it'd be tough to envision him leaving L.A. for school.
-I think if UCLA wanted him, it could have McKinley. A lot of the schools that were on him early, like USC and Ohio State for example, have backed off and there's a tremendous feeling around his recruitment that he'd rather not leave L.A. He'll officially visit UCLA sometime next month (he wasn't sure of the date, but it sounds like it'll be the Colorado game). The problem for UCLA here is it's probably getting Theo Howard and Damian Alloway, and it leads for Steffon McKnight and maybe even Dylan Crawford as well. Add those to Demetric Felton, Darian Owens and Dymond Lee, and that's a whole lot of scholarships to give to one position. So it'll be interesting to see if the Bruins even want his commitment when all this is said and done.
Down to three
Four-star pass-rusher Bryson Young, who I think is arguably the most underrated player in California this year, told Rivals.com he's down to three: Tennessee, Oregon and UCLA.
He'll officially visit both Tennessee and Oregon this fall, and will likely be back in Westwood for a trip as well. It'd be very surprising to see him commit to a school not named UCLA at this point.
Blair's back
Blair Angulo made a big trip out to Colorado last weekend, seeing several UCLA targets. First and foremost, he saw Matt Lynch, who remains a very firm pledge despite the Bruins taking Dymond Lee and their interest in grabbing one more QB in the class.
Other players Blair saw on his trip:
-2017 QB Dylan McCaffery - "The vibe I got on McCaffrey is that Michigan is probably the program that has shown the most interest. He camped with Stanford but they didn't offer and he wouldn't fit their system anyway. He visited UCLA, but as you know, it's probably Tua Tagovailoa and Ryan Kelley ahead of him for 2017. So right now, it sounds like Bruins are doing an OK job of keeping him warm in case they whiff on their priority guys."
-Four-star DE Carlo Kemp - "UCLA is probably running third for Carlo Kemp behind Michigan and Notre Dame. He could visit for the ASU weekend but he hasn't scheduled that. He loves Jim Harbaugh and said he wants a tough coach at the next level. His grandmother is a huge Notre Dame fan who used to dress him up in Irish gear, so once they offered, they catapulted up there for him. While head coaches have gotten involved at ND and Michigan, it's only really been Taylor Embree and Taylor Mazzone for UCLA, so you have to wonder how much they really want him."
-2017 LB Santino Marchiol - "He absolutely loves UCLA but right now he's gushing about every national program. He's probably a four star based on what I saw in practice so he's definitely a take. Interestingly enough he said he's had a longstanding relationship with Noel Mazzone, who used to bring him along for pro workouts with Tim Tebow, Philip Rivers and those guys. He loves Scott white and the vibe he got from some of the players like Myles Jack and Kenny Young, but it's still way early for him. Right now, it's shaping up like a UCLA-Ohio state battle but that obviously means nothing at this point."
Short Shots
-Four-star S Lamar Jackson cancelled his Notre Dame official visit and is now looking to replace it with a trip to either UCLA or USC. You'd have to imagine the L.A. school that he officially visits is the one he has more interest in and is the one he'll probably end up at.
-Keep an eye on new Auburn decommitment Stephen Davis Jr. The son of NFL RB Stephen Davis, who played with DeShaun Foster for many years in the league, could give UCLA a serious look now that he's backed off his Tiger pledge.
-Two Texas prospects, Dee Anderson and Marvin Terry, told Rivals.com this week they're looking to officially visit UCLA this fall.
