UCLA Football Gets New Recruit & Possibly More?

So couple of fanshots up on BN tonight with news of more talent coming into Rick Neuheisel's program. So let's put them together in one post. First, hicalliber fanshotted about Bruins picking up a new LB recruit Erick Kendricks from Fresno. Kendricks Dad - Marv - played for the Bruins in the 1970s. And unfortunately for the Bruins, his older brother had a pretty glorious moment as a Cal Bear just two weekends ago at the Rose Bowl. From Jon Gold:

With offers from Washington State, Nevada and Fresno State, Kendricks told Scout.com's Brandon Huffman that he was just waiting on UCLA - where his father, Marv, played in the '70s.

"I have been wanting a UCLA offer for a while," Kendricks told Scout.com. "I went to their camp this summer so they could see me. They said they just wanted to watch me a little more this year. Then they offered me last Wednesday."
The 6-foot-1, 213-pound middle linebacker said UCLA coaches wanted him to play either linebacker spot, like his older brother Mychal, who plays for Cal and had a 68-yard interception return for touchdown against the Bruins this year.
"They want me as a linebacker, but they'll figure outside or inside later," Kendricks told Scout.com.

For more on Erick check out his bio on Bruin Report Online (Gold should be linking to Huffman when mentioning him in a blogpost). Meanwhile, our colleagues from Ralphie Report - SBN's CU blog - fanshotted about the possibility of Darrell Scott, a CU running back (who was one of the most highly sought after prep star couple of years ago) might be thinking about transferring to UCLA.

We actually heard about this possiblity back on October 7th when one of our loyal readers alerted us that Scott had sent out a text message indicating that he was thinking about transferring to UCLA in "winter quarter." We sat on the scoop because we had no interest in publishing scoops like that without getting verified from the actual source. Anyway, now the story is out. A big reason UCLA is in the mix is because his uncle Josh Smith has already transferred to UCLA from CU. Plus we also have former CU transfer Kai Maiava in the team. From the Denver Post via Ralphie Report:

"I'd been thinking about it for a couple of months," Scott told The Denver Post today in a telephone interview.

Scott said he hoped to get a release from CU to UCLA, so he could join his uncle, former Buffs wideout Josh Smith, with the Bruins. Smith, a wide receiver, transferred to UCLA during the summer and is sitting out this season under NCAA transfer rules.

"That's the plan," Scott said about joining Smith

There's really nothing to say, other than 'Sorry to Buff nation,' " Scott said.

Per the Post report Scott has been banged this season:

Scott's best game this season came Sept. 11 against Toledo, when he netted 85 yards on 12 carries. However, he banged up a knee in that game and ultimately underwent arthroscopic surgery on Oct. 22. CU medical personnel were hoping Scott could make it back for this Saturday's home game against Texas A&M, although the Nov. 14 road game against Iowa State might have been more likely.

Again, note this kid was the number 2 over all recruit in the nation behind Terrell Pryor back in 2008. From the comments on Ralphie Report, looks like folks are pretty bummed out to lose him, which could be a good sign.

Guess we will see how it all plays out. Kids can change their mind plus there is also the matter of clearing UCLA's academics officials who apparently have pretty stringent standards for transfers (See Willie Mobley's efforts to transfer to UCLA).

I know we are pretty stacked at RBs. At the same time though given how much we need speed and athleticism on our offense, we can always make room for an athlete such as Scott. Anyway, I am sure we will hear more about this in the coming months as the story will be developing for a while.

GO BRUINS.