Let's start this Thursday with a little QB transferring chatter courtesy of Brian Dohn:

wrote a while back that Nebraska transfer Patrick Witt was considering UCLA, but he is not coming to Westwood. He recently committed to Yale.
UCLA didn't offer him a scholarship, and from what I understand, the plan was to wait and see what transpired in the spring before making a decision. The coaching staff was comfortable with what it say from Kevin Prince and Richard Brehaut, so Witt was not offered a scholarship.
As for Marve, the Bruins looked at him but there were some non-football issues that scared the staff away.

Hmm. I wonder what kind non-football issues Dohn is referring to? The hint I could find was the following post from "Truth & Rumors" section of SI.com's "FanNation":

Robert Marve's father, Eugene Marve, said Oklahoma State told Eugene it stopped recruiting Marve because of negative feedback from Miami. (UM denies criticizing Marve.) ''Robert was very hurt,'' Eugene said, adding that his son will choose among Michigan, UCLA, Oklahoma, Purdue, Texas Tech and USF.

Interestingly though he might be walking on to a school that is not in that list: Tennessee. Per bsmithinc on Rocky Top Talk Marve is considering walking on at UT. RTT's Joel is not exactly jumping up and down at the idea pointing to this post from Purdue blogger BoilerTMill at Hammer & Rails. BoilerTMill has an insider perspective on the Miami situation becasuse of family connections and he hasn't been impressed:

Personally, I don't want Marve. There are way too many red flags from his time at Miami that makes me want him as our quarterback. To me, he clearly does not handle himself well in off-the-field situations. His dad has too much influence on decisions he should be making. He has shown that neither academics nor following the rules is a priority. Maturity is something that is often overlooked in this day and age. We would be hasty to overlook a number of red flags and compromise values if we accepted Marve unless he shows that he has grown more mature. We have had worse egos (Garrett Bushong comes to mind), but at some point you have to value character. Marve has not demonstrated high character yet, and it is my hope we will continue to hold him to high character, just as Randy Shannon did, should he come to Purdue. If he becomes a Boilermaker, I will welcome and support him, but he must prove that he is a different person than he has shown before. He is not a recruit that will make or break us, so we will be fine either way.

Maturity is something that is often overlooked in this day and age. We would be hasty to overlook a number of red flags and compromise values if we accepted Marve unless he shows that he has grown more mature. That is the standard I am going to hold him to if he chooses to come to Purdue. We have had worse egos (Garrett Bushong comes to mind), but at some point you have to value character. Marve has not demonstrated high character yet, and it is my hope we will continue to hold him to high character, just as Randy Shannon did, should he come to Purdue.

Hmm. If nothing else it sounds like a lot of drama and at this point of time as our football program is going through a brutal rebuilding process, it's wise I think to minimize drama as much as possible.

Also on another transferring note, Dominique Johnson is looking at options such as Portland State. He is looking at a playoff (!) sub-division one school because transferring to that level will require him to sit out only for couple of games instead of an entire season.

Moving on from football, our women's golf team as rye noted in his toplines our women's golf team is competing in the NCAA Championships this Tuesday-Friday in Columbus, Ohio. Maria Jose Uribe is the Bruins' favorite in the NCAA Individual competition. Both the team and Maria are doing just fine as of today. From the Daily News:

UCLA's Maria Jose Uribe shot a 6-under 66 on Wednesday to take a two-stroke lead in the NCAA Division I Women's Golf Championships and help the Bruins open a stroke-shot advantage in the team competition in Owings Mills, Md.

Uribe, the Colombian star who won the 2007 U.S. Women's Amateur, had a 3-under 141 total on the Caves Valley course. Wake Forest's Nanette Hill (71), Denver's Stephanie Sherlock (73) and Pepperdine's Lisa McCloskey (69) were 1under with two rounds left.

"It's a pretty tough course," Uribe said. "If you're not in the fairway, it's going to be tough. If you have a good round, numbers like 66 and 67 are very reachable. I love to play courses like this." [...]

UCLA topped the team standing at 13-over 589, seven strokes ahead of second-place USC. Pepperdine was tied for 13th at 34-over 610.

Let's hope they can keep it up and bring home Bru-105.

Also, another squad that is gunning for Bru-105 team is the women's softball team which is taking on on Missouri this weekend for a spot in the Women's College World Series. WWL's Garland Cooper checked out the Bruins this past weekend's regional and came out ... uhm ... impressed:

Without a doubt, this was one of the toughest regionals in the country.

UCLA played Long Beach State their first game, a team the Bruins had lost to earlier in the season. In that first game, which is always the toughest, it was tied up in the third and remained tied until the sixth when the Bruins scored to take the lead.

In the first game against Fresno State, the game was tied from the second inning until the sixth inning. In the second game against the Bulldogs, the Bruins were trailing in the first but were able to come back in the second and score seven runs. Even in the end of that game, Fresno was putting pressure on UCLA by plating a run in the fourth and fifth inning.

While UCLA proved to be the best of the regional's four, the other teams were very evenly matched. Long Beach State and UNLV played a 13-inning game, and UNLV lost 2-1 to Fresno State.

None of the games UCLA played were easy wins, and several of the regional games were close decisions. It wasn't easy to win out, but the Bruins did, proving they have what it takes to go all the way.

That's right, I said it. This team could win a championship. The Bruins have the talent, the experience and the guts to play for a title and this just might be the year they put another mural on their outfield fence.

Fingers crossed.

GO BRUINS.