Spaulding Roundup: Bright Future

Let’s go through some quick football notes before refocusing on Ben Ball game night. It looks like Bruins had a rocking night in recruiting front in both sports. Not only we reeled in MM, CRN got a jump start for the class of 2010, by securing a commitment from one of the best WR in West coast. Brandon Huffman from Bruin Report Online reported the commitment from Paul Richardson, a 6-1, 175-pound wide receiver prospect from Los Alamitos (Calif.) High, who is “considered one of the best at his position in the west.” For more details on the subscription based article go here.

While CRN and his staff have been shoring up commitments for future classes, they are also keeping a close eye on and developing the talented underclassmen who have been redshirting this season. Dohn published CRN’s assessment of some of our cubs who have been coming along in our scout team this year.

The bye week gives UCLA a chance to look at its future, and the end of Wednesday's practice was highlighted by a spirited scrimmage between scout teams.

In a brief reprieve from this season, Rick Neuheisel could look forward to 2009.

"It was fun to watch Milton Knox and Jonathan Franklin," Neuheisel said. "Connor Bradford's showing he's going to be a good player on the offensive line. Kevin Prince has come on as the quarterback in that deal, and Jerry Johnson as a wide receiver. Defensively, Damien Holmes, E.J. Woods, Andrew Abbott have been impressive and Donovan Carter and (Patrick) Larimore have impressed.

"We've got a nice group of guys on both sides of the ball. It's fun to watch them compete."

It will be fun to watch these guys next year.

As for the group he is currently working with, Lance Pugmire (hey, what happened to Chris Foster?) from the LAT provided some interesting comments from Scott Glicksberg re. the constant shuffle in our current OL:

Glicksberg bounced from starter to reserve to being suspended a week for violating athletic department rules. Now he has a shot at returning to the starting lineup after replacing an injured Darius Savage early in last week's game at Washington.

"It's been up and down," he said, "playing next to somebody new all the time."

The fifth-year senior said it helps that the players trust offensive line coach Bob Palcic, who gave them a simple instruction in training camp: Whoever plays hardest in practice during the week gets to start on Saturday.

"Coach Palcic is just trying to find the best combination of five that he can," Glicksberg said. "Nobody feels like it's anything personal or anything where he's not giving people a fair chance."

That is good to know. It’s not surprising I guess. It’s easier for players to buy into what coaches are preaching when they come in with the credibility and track record of someone like Palcic. It bodes well for the guys we have and the ones coaches are developing and bringing in for the future. 

GO BRUINS.