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Football Recruiting Heats Up: Neuheisel/Chow Gets Their Quarterback

Little more than couple weeks ago Brian Dohn put up a post on his "Inside UCLA" blog with the title "waiting for commitments" showing how UCLA had 0 commitments from this year's recruiting class. Although Brian didn't come out and concern troll out right in his post, the way he laid it out the hint of concern trolling (OMG what's wrong here?!! Neuheisel has no commitments!!!!) was fairly clear (predictably it set of a panicked discussion on message boards). We noted it in the background and laughed out loud a bit thinking how silly that post was going to look in the coming weeks. Well it is certainly looking kind of dumb today after Neuheisel and co. pulled off a solid day of recruiting this week.

First of all it looks like Rick Neuheisel and Norm Chow have hauled in another big time high school quarterback. (HT to BruinFanBaby) from the Bay Area. Just hours after getting an offer from UCLA, Brett Nottingham from Monte Vista High School, called CRN to let him know that he was ready to be Bruin. From the Contra Costa Times:

"I talked about it with my parents for a couple hours and talked to some of my uncles and my grandmother before deciding," Nottingham said. "I called Coach Neuheisel to tell him, and he was really excited. He told me he sees a lot of success down the road."

Nottingham was at UCLA for a two-day camp where he threw in front of the UCLA coaches and participated in a white-board session with Neuheisel and offensive coordinator Norm Chow. In a phone conversation after the workout, Neuheisel offered the scholarship to the Mustangs' prized quarterback.

"I was always leaning toward UCLA," he said. "We've had a lot of family go there, and it's such a well-rounded university. When they came around (with the offer) there was no way I could say no."

His oldest sister, Megan, just graduated from UCLA, and his other sister, Ali, will be a senior there in the fall.

As a junior, Nottingham threw for 3,164 yards and 39 touchdowns while leading the East Bay's top-ranked offense.

Nottingham, who carries a 4.0 GPA and plans to major in economics, also seriously considered Colorado and Stanford.

Brett's Dad also went to UCLA Medical School. Brett becomes the first big time Bay Area QB (aplogies to the Law Firm for not considering him as a blue chip QB) to become a Bruin since Drew Olson (whose Dad also BTW went to UCLA for graduate (law) school). I like this pickuop for couple of reasons. First let's look at some of the highlights:

Brett Nottingham Football 2010 (via mvqb4life10)

At 6-4, 210 he certainly looks the part. Furthermore, I think Brett sounds like the perfect recruit who Coach Chow will be able to groom for few years before he is ready to take the reigns from the current rotation of Prince, Brehaut (and maybe Crissman). Brett will have the luxury to come in and red shirt right away and get at least 2-3 years to familiarize himself with Chow's offense. I think by the time he will be competing for the starting job he will be a redshirt sophomore. In terms of building out depth at QB, it couldn't be working out any better for UCLA IMHO. Anyway, a huge welcome to Brett from Bruins Nation.

But wait ... there is more. Brett was not the only recruit to commit to Neuheisel yesterday. He picked up yet another committment - defensive lineman Wesley Flowers - from Fresno's Edison High School to followup the committment of Tevin McDonald. From Tracy Pierson at Bruin Report Online (article not under subscription firewall):

Wesley Flowers, the 6-4, 255-pound defensive lineman from Fresno (Calif.) Edison, verbally committed to UCLA this morning.

Flowers finished his junior season with 50 tackles, 16 tackles for loss, six sacks and two fumbles caused. He says he can bench 305-pounds and squats 350.

He has a good, wide frame, and it's believed he'll grow into a defensive tackle.

Before the UCLA scholarship offer, he had offers from Washington and Fresno State.

And guess who is excited about it: former Trojan/Niner great Edison High's head coach Tim McDonald:

The coach at Edison, Tim McDonald, who is also the father of Tevin, said: "Wesley committed to UCLA today. I am excited about my two Bruins. I had a good conversation with with Coach (Rick) Neuheisel today. They are both firm commits."

Works for us. Go over to BRO and read the whole story which also has a great interview Scout.com did with Flowers during a recent camp in LA. With Flowers and Nottingham's commitments UCLA now has 4 recruits from the class of 2010 and you can bet that the coaches are just getting warmed up.

GO BRUINS.

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Comments

Display:

While 4 & 5 star recruits are what every program wants, these seem to be solid player who will develop. I am excited to see this coaching staff do this summer and over the next year with this year’s class and the growing class of 2010!

by impaulv on Jun 24, 2009 6:18 AM PDT reply actions   0 recs

A note to the naysayers

I was reading on Dohn’s blog a lot of criticism that we are not picking up 4 and 5 star players. Most of these guys won’t be seriously evaluated until their senior seasons. Let’s wait and see how they play their senior year before making judgements….

"when you've seen how big the world is, how can you make due with this?"

by silverlakebruin on Jun 24, 2009 6:42 AM PDT reply actions   0 recs

I believe I also read that both commits are solid academically.

Thought I saw that Nottingham was a 4.0 and Flowers was a 3.7 (or maybe 3.1). Either way, it is good to know that these guys appear to be true student athletes and should not be casualties due to grades (either before enrollment or during their tenure at UCLA, unlike a cross-town, much-heralded QB transfer who appears to not making the cut despite all cakewalk curriculum).

GO BRUINS!

by orlandobruin on Jun 24, 2009 7:07 AM PDT reply actions   0 recs

Forget the Quarterback

who’s the receiver in #4, I think it’s #4, I can’t make it out.

by brewnz on Jun 24, 2009 7:13 AM PDT reply actions   0 recs

to me, it looks like

No. 4 in the corners, No. 3 on the long bombs, and a tightrope-walker dancing down the sidelines, whose # I can’t read, either, but he’s exciting.

No. 4 had a cool one-handed catch he ran in, too.

(High school football has certainly changed a lot since I was a kid.)

Love My Bruins

by Bruingirl83 on Jun 24, 2009 7:59 AM PDT up reply actions   0 recs

So...Dohn Ends Up Sounding Dumb

Again. (Yawn.)

We’ve got a terrific, “True-Blue”-blooded, 4.0 QB, and a wickedly smart, motivated, big tackle with a background of superb coaching behind him.

This is getting very, very exciting.

Love My Bruins

by Bruingirl83 on Jun 24, 2009 7:44 AM PDT reply actions   0 recs

P.S.,

Thanks, N.

(And…THANKS, CRN.)

Love My Bruins

by Bruingirl83 on Jun 24, 2009 7:45 AM PDT reply actions   0 recs

hmmmm.

I can’t help but think we are beginning to get overloaded at the QB position. With Prince, Brehaut, and Crissman already in there, I would hate for this to become another example of students transferring out when they become dissatisfied with the amount of playing time.

Also, until the problem has been completely rectified, I want to hear more Linemen and Recievers are signing on.

Just my 2 cents.

A coach is someone who can give correction without causing resentment. John Wooden

by MexiBruin on Jun 24, 2009 8:32 AM PDT reply actions   0 recs

Not Really

I wish we could RS Brehaut but this is probably wishful thinking. Prince will start with Brehaut as his backup and KC 3rd string. I read before that Crissman was having problems with his shoulder and he needed to work on his throwing motion. Just in case Crissman is not able to provide depth, I think we needed a viable option at QB in this class. If Brehaut is not RS’d, then we’ve got 3 guys in the same class with KC set to exhaust his eligibility after this season.

The QB class was considered down this year in CA. I’m sure CRN and Chow will be looking to ink at least 1 big timer in the 2011 class.

by BlueReign on Jun 24, 2009 8:46 AM PDT up reply actions   0 recs

Thumbs up

Some people put too much credence on the Star rankings. They are important to a point but not the end all. Projecting these kids at the college level is not an exact science.

Hijacked this link from another poster on Flowers at a camp:
http://rivals.yahoo.com/video/recruiting-football/Army-Jr-Combine-OL-vs-DL-Part-2-43333

Utah and TCU focus their recruiting attention on getting kids with athleticism and speed. A lot of their kids don’t end up playing the same position they did in HS. TCU’s AA DE, Hughes, played some other position which escapes me. I think Flowers has potential. Moore could be like a kid we neglected and ended up having a very good career at suc and is in the NFL.

by BlueReign on Jun 24, 2009 8:34 AM PDT reply actions   0 recs

I don't think

Dohn was concern trolling. He went out of his way in the QA posts to say that he was NOT concerned about the recruiting class, but rather that it was a deliberate strategy by Neuheisel and Chow to slow play their recruiting efforts this year. The story was being covered by other media at the same time, so he probably felt compelled to write something on it.

by captainqtp on Jun 24, 2009 9:23 AM PDT reply actions   0 recs

Then why didn't he provide the context up top?

Instead of hiding his explanation in a Q&A he should have provided that context when he put up that post. Why didn’t he provide the context up to iInstead of taking his cue from all the other idiots in traditional media? By your account he was still concern trolling.

by Nestor on Jun 24, 2009 9:27 AM PDT up reply actions   0 recs

I wonder if Doh! would still put up a Q and A if no one sent him any Q's.

Nah. He would never send himself questions so he could dazzle the world with an answer. That couldn’t possibly happen.

by Fox 71 on Jun 24, 2009 2:23 PM PDT up reply actions   0 recs

That's a good Q...

I know he prefers to use his normal blog posts as news only. Perhaps it was simply an opinion of his at the time that the strategy was intentional… not really sure. In any case it was interesting to see all of the recruiting rankings, regardless of whether or not they actually mean something at this point in the year.

by captainqtp on Jun 24, 2009 9:43 AM PDT reply actions   0 recs

I'm new to the Bruin Fanpost

so be nice, but anything seems like an upgrade to last season’s quarterback, whom I’m glad I’ve forgotten his name currently. He was a disaster from SD State.

Mike Smith on Eric Gordon: "The Clippers may have found their go to scorer."
On a second note, I want Novak back!

by JackduhSun on Jun 24, 2009 1:39 PM PDT reply actions   0 recs

I'll be nice

but you have to be nice, too.

It was Kevin Craft and yes, pretty much anyone will be an improvement at QB over him. But the guy took a beating game after game after game and never complained to my knowledge. And he was a part of the victory over Tennessee which was a big win.

So I agree with your assessment but I cannot bring myself to bash the kid. I do believe he tried his best.

by Barnes2JJ on Jun 24, 2009 2:24 PM PDT up reply actions   0 recs

You can question his arm, but not his heart

Craft was a warrior and will always have my respect.

"when you've seen how big the world is, how can you make due with this?"

by silverlakebruin on Jun 24, 2009 4:10 PM PDT up reply actions   0 recs

Kevin Craft

was absolutely fearless, dedicated, and a true team player. He got knocked on his ass more than any QB I’ve ever seen. He popped up like one of those blow-up punching bag dolls I can’t remember the name of, and he never, ever whined or quit. He has the heart of a lion.

I will always remember KC, and I will always look up to him for his heart and spirit. He’s a true blue Bruin.

Love My Bruins

by Bruingirl83 on Jun 24, 2009 7:28 PM PDT up reply actions   0 recs

JackduhSun

Another consideration, for those of us who have been around UCLA fb, we have had so many QB’s injured that it seems like every one gets a chance during the year. Don’t know abut next year, but KC could be much improved with some sort of OL in front of him. The whole offense was a disaster last year, and there are so many examples, it hurts me to rethink the time. It is also remarkable that KC took as many hits as he did, and still came back for more. I liked his attitude, questioned his judgment, and comfort with the system. Remember Drew Olson wasn’t so hot before his senior year as well.
Bill

BillSouthBay

by Mensgym on Jun 24, 2009 3:39 PM PDT reply actions   0 recs

Of course

the kid had heart. I was actually one of the people who screamed injuries to USC fans also, but I guess I wasn’t too fond of Craft throwing the ball right into the opponents hands.

Mike Smith on Eric Gordon: "The Clippers may have found their go to scorer."
On a second note, I want Novak back!

by JackduhSun on Jun 26, 2009 1:23 PM PDT up reply actions   0 recs

Hope is is like Bay Area QB...

and my hero growing up, Gary Beban!

by ucla7477 on Jun 24, 2009 7:27 PM PDT reply actions   0 recs

My dad tells me he

intercepted Beban in flag football in the late 70s or early 80s. At that point he must have been getting up in years since is NFL career was over in 1970. That was the big sports moment of his life I think. lol.

by captainqtp on Jun 24, 2009 9:55 PM PDT up reply actions   0 recs

Beban was on the Bruin freshman team in '64.

Your dad is a bit off. (Don’t all kids think there parents are a bit off?) But it doesn’t matter – he intercepted The Great One, and he should have kept the football.

by Fox 71 on Jun 25, 2009 5:07 AM PDT reply actions   0 recs

hehe

notice i said it was flag football… this was welll after Beban’s playing days hehe.

by captainqtp on Jun 25, 2009 7:39 AM PDT up reply actions   0 recs

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