[Update x 10] Signing Day Roundup For UCLA: Good Morning Westwood
by Nestor on Feb 3, 2010 5:44 AM PST
in Recruiting
191 comments
All right. Here we go folks. At this point I think we have set up the stage pretty well for another signing day of festivities in Westwood. Jon Gold from the Daily News has a pretty good piece up today about Rick Neuheisel changing the culture of "national signing day" in Westwood. This day wasn't that big of a deal during the reign of previous head coach. Even during the Bob Toledo era, signing day reached its peak in 1999 when UCLA signed it's last top-5 class in the country. That has changed a lot in just last couple of years.
Last year it was absolutely amazing when the Bruins closed on a glorious note. It is going to be very interesting to see how it all shapes up today. Interestingly just like last year, the Bruins are beginning the day with the news of a LB target going elsewhere. Last year it was Manti Te'o heading to Notre Dame, this year it is Hayes Pullard pulling the trigger for Hello Kiffin's Southern Cal. It is all good though considering the class CRN has already lined up and the other recruits we are going to be waiting to hear from today. From the Daily News:
The Bruins have strong verbal commitments from top prospects including Oaks Christian of Westlake Village's Malcolm Jones and Loyola of Los Angeles' Anthony Barr, but closing strong hadn't been a hallmark until recently. Now, in addition to Riley, Jefferson and Heimuli, UCLA is waiting on word from St. Bonaventure of Ventura center Giovanni Di Poalo, Edison of Huntington Beach linebacker Jordan Zumwalt and Crenshaw linebacker Hayes Pullard.
That was from Gold, who quoting Brandon Huffman from Bruin Report Online, noted how the recruiting tide for UCLA shifted after the signing of class of 2008:
That class landed All-American Rahim Moore, starting quarterback Kevin Prince and nine others in the two-deep rotation as underclassmen.
"Really the class of '08 would be the one that you would say that," Huffman said. "You've got your starting quarterback from there, Nelson Rosario, Cory Harkey, Jeff Baca, Rahim Moore, eight or nine starters. This is a byproduct of the last two classes. Elite players can and will pick UCLA. If they can land Owa and five of these guys (today), then this class, defensively is as good a class as they've ever had."
The Owa he refers to is Douglass High of Portland, Ore., defensive end Owamagbe Odighizuwa, Scout.com's eighth-rated defensive end. Odighizuwa said late last week he was completely torn between UCLA, Oregon State and Nebraska.
He would be considered a major coup for the coaching staff, which covets his speed-rush capabilities, although they've been working diligently on him for months.
"Things have changed dramatically in terms of players, the talent level and the aggressiveness in which they're recruiting them," Huffman said. "It really shifted. They offered Akeem Ayers and Brian Price, and that was UCLA's first victory.
Well we will see if the coaches can reel in Owa. It is going to be tough. Once again here are our remaining targets including Owa:
- Ricky Heimuli (DT)- 9:30 am PST, ESPNU
- Owamagbe Odighizuwa (DE)- 11:30 am, ESPNU
- Anthony Jefferson (ATH)- 12:00 pm, FS Prime Ticket
- Dietrich Riley (ATH)- 1:30 pm, ESPNU
Giovanni Di Poalo (C) - Via Fax- Jordan Zumwalt (LB) - (announced for Bruins at 8:00 am press conference) Via Fax
Personally I will be ecstatic if we can get from the remaining targets a combination of Owa or Heimuli and couple of more.
It looks like we are not going to be the only ones waiting on pins and needles for today's announcements. Ramona Shellburne has a great piece on Malcolm Jones - the Gatorade National POY - who has been methodically helping out UCLA's recruiting efforts from his standpoint:
"I talk to all the guys," he said of other recruits. "We talk to each other on Facebook, text, call. I don't want to force people to come, I just let them know what a great opportunity it is."
So far, Jones said, he has met, talked to and helped persuade to become Bruins: offensive lineman Chris Ward (Santa Ana, Calif./Mater Dei); defensive back Shaquille Richardson (Los Alamitos, Calif./Los Alamitos); running back Jordon James (Corona, Calif./Corona); and his own Oaks Christian teammate, defensive tackle Cassius Marsh.
Jones says he's still working on prized, still-uncommitted recruits such as defensive back Dietrich Riley (La Canada, Calif./St. Francis) and defensive tackle Owamagbe Odighizuwa (Portland, Ore./Douglas).
"I'm just looking out, calling them, seeing how strong their interest is and telling them some solid facts," Jones said. "Because once I decided to go there, I never thought twice about it."
Hopefully Jones' s effort works today on few of the remaining guys still on board.
As for today goes, as mentioned yesterday Morgan Center is going to be sending out lot of info via their official site and twitter accounts. Over here, Ryan will be throwing up a post around 9:00 am PST, which will serve as an open thread heading into first announcement (Heimuli) of the day. From there on we will be updating that post or start new ones as necessary. Don't forget Ryan and P are going to be doing a podcast later tonight which should also be a ton of fun.
Just think about the fun and excitement Rick Neuheisel has injected into UCLA football in just two years. On a day like this it might worth it just pause for a minute and reflect on that to have a total perspective as the micro events fold throughout the day. On that note, let's get this party started.
GO BRUINS.
UPDATE (N): Per the OCR Zumwalt is going to announce around 8:00 am PST. GO BRUINS.
UPDATE II (N): 7 LOIs are already in per UCLA Athletics:
LB Aremide Olaniyan, DL Derrick Bryant, OL Kody Innes, RB Malcolm Jones, K Kip S, LB Eric Kendricks and DB Shaquille Richardson
Welcome to Westwood boys. GO BRUINS.
UPDATE III (N): CRN showing up to work this am:
Get it done coach! GO BRUINS.
UPDATE IV (N): First bomb explodes for the Bruins. Jordan Zumwalt is a Bruin!!!! GO BRUINS.
UPDATE V (N): The number of LOI is now at 10 with Jordon James, Anthony Barr and Chris Ward. Welcome boys. GO BRUINS.
UPDATE VI (N). Now conflicting reports coming out re. Zumwalt. GO BRUINS.
UPDATE VII (N): Looks like Zumwalt is indeed a Bruin. If this holds up the OC Register "Blog" reporter should get canned for his epic FAIL. GO BRUINS.
UPDATE VIII (N): The clowns from the OC Register have backtracked. They should be assigned to the "Classified" beat ir something. Zumwalt is a Bruin. We can all celebrate again.
UPDATE IX (N): More LOIs are in. DL Cassius Marsh and DL Wesley Flowers are Bruins. OL Wade Yandall has signed a grant-in-aid. He will enroll this Spring and participate in Spring Practice. Again welcome to Westwood boys. GO BRUINS.
UPDATE X (N): Giovanni sticks with Southern Cal. Good luck to him. Zumwalt is officially a Bruin. GO BRUINS.
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It is truly amazing what CRN has done since he has been in Westwood. He inherited a depleted roster and had a rough first year. That still did not stop him from getting a top class. In year 2 he nearly doubled the wins despite key injuries to one of the youngest teams UCLA football has had in recent memory. I firmly believe in the power of will and CRN has got it, when it comes to Bruins football he simply cares to much to see them fail. This is just another stop on the climb up the mountain but CRN has us moving quickly to the top
Tough call
Agreed. Hard to imagine Cowan or Olson staying healthy with that offensive line. Their collective good health and that team’s starting o-line seem almost mutually exclusive.
Good question
I wonder if anyone could haver performed better than Craft under the circumstances. He made some horrible decisions, but he was hit nearly every time he dropped back, and the pass rush usually got there before he had time to go through his reads.
Olson was very talented, but he was slow in reading defenses, had zero mobility, and I doubt that he could have pulled himself off the turf as much as Craft did. I’m not sure if there would be any improvement.
Cowan was basically a rich mans version of Craft. He didn’t have the best arm either, but it was substantially better than Crafts. His team always played hard for him, but it didn’t seem that was a problem for Craft. It is hard to quantify, but I think the team would have been better to some degree. That said, even marginal improvement from the QB might have made a big difference that year considering some of the losses that year.
by AllHailMightyBruins on Feb 3, 2010 7:37 AM PST up reply actions
I don’t no how much it would have mattered. That line was atrocious, though we def win that. Asu game and maybe the Fresno st game… Which I suppose would have gotten us to a bowl game
Yeah, probably right
I think we would have gotten to 6 wins which was around our pre-season expectations heading into that year based on the assumption that we’d get at least Olson back (and he got hurt again during fall practice).
Anyone catch MJD on Rome on Monday?
At the end of his interview, as Rome was wrapping up off, MJD added, “Shout out to UCLA. Slick Rick, I know you’re gonna do it. I appreciate it.”.
I would have FanShotted this, but the replay is by subscription, so I thought I’d just stick it near the top of today’s thread for the good MoJo – literally.
greg in denver - UCLA guy for life
To me, he'll still be Capt. Kirk.
But then again, I’m just a ridiculous geek.
"In this program your passion bucket must be full to play SC." -- CRN, to Dan Patrick, 1/2008
You know
If MJD says it, and wants to blow up the haters’ use of slick as greasy and slimy, and spin it into smooth, sweet, and sophisticated, I’ll take it. Either way, gotta love the love!
greg in denver - UCLA guy for life
Hmm
Just retweeted by Rob Mosely Duck Football who seems to have a good beat on Oregon CFB scene:
TonyDiFrancisco
Sounds like 5* Portland DE Owa to UCLA. That makes very little sense, kids these days need better advice IMO
I am not going to say anything until I hear from Owa.
Whoa, whoa, whoa...
… go outside, turn around three times, and spit. Can’t jinx it — there’s a half-life on these sorts of things.
"In this program your passion bucket must be full to play SC." -- CRN, to Dan Patrick, 1/2008
I picked the wrong day to have a home inspection...
… just went into escrow 2 days ago.
"In this program your passion bucket must be full to play SC." -- CRN, to Dan Patrick, 1/2008
Congrats on the new house!
Great time to buy!
I picked the wrong day to stop sniffing glue
Sorry, couldn’t pass up a potential Airplane reference.
Thanks, and thank you ves for pitching in a lot the past couple of weeks.
Great to have you on board.
"In this program your passion bucket must be full to play SC." -- CRN, to Dan Patrick, 1/2008
Inconveniences!
I’m stuck in the CO State Tax Office. Thank goodness for the iPhone!
And second the congrats on the home.
greg in denver - UCLA guy for life
Great to hear
I wonder if anyone has a beat on when those faxes start rolling in?
"I don't forget very much" Rick Neuheisel, 11/28/09
Bad Omen for suc
Sean Parker commits to Udub over suc. Huffman had that one wrong.
I don't need all of $C verbals to come to us...
… just as long as a whole boatload decide to go somewhere else, too.
"In this program your passion bucket must be full to play SC." -- CRN, to Dan Patrick, 1/2008
Maaaan.....
I’m off to school. I’m in class solid from 9-3. Have fun y’all. I’ll be checking in with my phone (when the professors aren’t looking hehe). Gonna be hard to concentrate today.
GO COLTS!!!!!
Twitter announced LOI received
Free Brandon Wood!
Oops
Sorry N – didnt see you updated the front page.
Free Brandon Wood!
OK, got 7 of our longtime commits in -- GOOD START!
"In this program your passion bucket must be full to play SC." -- CRN, to Dan Patrick, 1/2008
Woooooooooooooo Hoooooooooo
Hey who went back to Westwood with Z? Not trying to get ahead of ourselves, just saying.
Lest we forget
whatever happens today, I still believe that CRN’s most important recruit was CNC.
He’s a man of great character and a solid recruiter.
sjh
Riley??
Sean Parker, who was supposed to be a UCLA lean, signed with Washington this morning. Does that push Riley to USC??
yeah i haven't heard his name connected to UCLA
in months. i gave up on him early
Has there ever been a player better than Detlef Schrempf?
by bucknellbruin on Feb 3, 2010 8:07 AM PST up reply actions
CRN Video of him arriving today for NSD
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zf-4wH039Qo
Too excited or half asleep that he almost fell. :D
I am going to bill about 2.5 hours today.
by AllHailMightyBruins on Feb 3, 2010 8:05 AM PST reply actions
huffman has backtracked as well
Has there ever been a player better than Detlef Schrempf?
by bucknellbruin on Feb 3, 2010 8:11 AM PST up reply actions
well...
it is for us. lol
Has there ever been a player better than Detlef Schrempf?
by bucknellbruin on Feb 3, 2010 8:13 AM PST up reply actions
couldn't open the link
formerly Westwood78
Radio
Local radio here in Nebraska just said that Owa told the Husker coaching staff that he would not be attending the University of Nebraska.
Go UCLA!
10 signed so far
according to UCLA Athletics twitter feed, Jordan James and Anthony Barr signed.
Also reports of Yandall signing, but i dunno if thats already in the count
GO BRUINS!!! CHEER LIKE CHAMPIONS!!!
Owa tracking
didn’t I read somewhere that Owa was going to make a decision at 8 PST, or am I mistaken?
formerly Westwood78
11:30 am PST i believe
on ESPNU
Has there ever been a player better than Detlef Schrempf?
by bucknellbruin on Feb 3, 2010 8:14 AM PST up reply actions
Stuck at work
Where is everyone doing their online tracking? ESPN.com?
formerly Westwood78
I'm tracking right here from work
I know you guys are all over it
This is probably the best place to track from.
It’s got more up-to-date Bruin news aggregated from all news sources.
It’s a bit of a rollercoaster though. If you can take it.
Go Bruins!
haha huffman is so confused right now
OK,now we’re hearing again, that Zumwalt is going to UCLA…Good lord, who knows!
And he’s wearing a UCLA hat at Edison…Welcome to Signing Day, lol!
Has there ever been a player better than Detlef Schrempf?
by bucknellbruin on Feb 3, 2010 8:17 AM PST up reply actions
Pierson
reports that zumwalt is wearing a ucla hat and has sent his loi
I hope Pierson
is really at Edison High in person and not just relying on a text message from her niece.
i did, did pullard jump them up that high?
by inhowlandwetrust on Feb 3, 2010 8:18 AM PST up reply actions
Ted Miller thinks that they will
Has there ever been a player better than Detlef Schrempf?
by bucknellbruin on Feb 3, 2010 8:20 AM PST up reply actions
it's based on espn...
i think they use different ranking system
Markeith Ambles mostly
Has there ever been a player better than Detlef Schrempf?
by bucknellbruin on Feb 3, 2010 8:18 AM PST up reply actions
don't be delusional
just$c is putting together a great class and could still get better. I’m encouraged by how much we’ve been able to battle for California recruits. Out of state recruits still buy into the just$c hype because the national media still fawns over them. It’s only a matter of time before those elite out of state prospects stay home.
front page of scout.com says Zumwalt to furd
by inhowlandwetrust on Feb 3, 2010 8:18 AM PST reply actions
alright mr. jordon james, let's see that LOI
by inhowlandwetrust on Feb 3, 2010 8:20 AM PST reply actions
Zumwalt just changed to UCLA on scoutf front page!
by inhowlandwetrust on Feb 3, 2010 8:22 AM PST reply actions
Why am I not surprised it's the Register that fucked up?
The only paper in town more biased towards SUC than the SUC Times
UCLA tie-in to Airplane
Tell your old man to drag Walton and Lanier up and down the court for 48 minutes.
contacts
Some wide receiver who signed with $UC said he had talked to Orgeron last night-now was he really meaning Sunday night as I thought Mon and Tues were dead times but I could be wrong
We got him, we lost him, and we got him
I don’t know if my heart can take this!
"I don't forget very much" Rick Neuheisel, 11/28/09
UCLA moved up the class rankings
We are at # 12
i'm sure i can find it somewhere...
… but does anybody remember off the top of their heads where we finished in the various recruitment rankings last year?
Go Bruins!
per scout
Has there ever been a player better than Detlef Schrempf?
by bucknellbruin on Feb 3, 2010 8:31 AM PST up reply actions
read his question again :)
Has there ever been a player better than Detlef Schrempf?
by bucknellbruin on Feb 3, 2010 8:32 AM PST up reply actions
The Z saga
I won’t be content until we receive that LOI. Too many retractions from “reputable” news sources.
What I'm still trying to figure out
Is how Kiffin is able to recruit anybody. Doesn’t he have douche/incompentent written all over him? I mean – I know we’re talking about 17/18 year old kids here – but even my dog can sense a bad guy. Perhaps I don’t know the real Kiff – or is it the Ogre doing it all? Frankly, I don’t see what he offers either. Maybe it’s just the USC brand…
Absolutely
Never in the history of sports has someone done so astoundingly little to earn so much.
Well, I don’t know if you’d consider captaining a sinking ship “much,” but the MSM seems to think it is.
It's called "Failing Upward"
See Isiah Thomas for reference.
Well
Lot of these kids probably just can’t fathom the idea of NCAA coming down. They see NCAA as a joke. So easy for them to get persuaded by Lamey’s pitch. Now if the NCAA does come down, the long term damage in the prep scene for SC is going to last.
They have already felt the effect of losing Carroll
They lost out on Powell, Jeffcoat and Parker.
Kiffin went after Zumwalt really hard but whiffed. Then he targeted Pullard and got him.
It can all crumble on his @$$
He still hasn’t shown any ability to coach or groom young, talented players and balance out PT for everyone. That’s something that Cheatey was able to do. He filled his stable with stud players and still managed to keep most of them happy with PT. Will Lame be able to do that? I personally don’t think so. Pair that with (hopefully) NCAA sanctions on the horizon and players could bolt from Fig Tech before the end of the season.
If we make the assumption that the NCAA will do nothing
Which is a completely valid assumption, then I’m slightly worried. If he starts off with strong recruits, he can win despite being a terrible coach. That’s the nature of this sport. And once you start winning with pure talent, you get more talent, etc… Let’s hope he’s exposed
What is the difference between a grantin-aid
and a LOI? Wada Yandall has signed a Grant-in-Aid per the UCLA twitter feed
It probably has to do
with enrolling early. Isn’t he meant to start in the Spring? Or is he already enrolled?
by SuperBruinMan on Feb 3, 2010 8:33 AM PST up reply actions
Marsh and Wes Flowers
sent their LOI’s in…YESSSSS
I had to work at home
This is just too exciting! Man what a roller coaster! GO BRUINS!!!
"The entire world that bleeds blue and gold ... they have been dying for this." - Coach Rick Neuheisel
I read through this thread
and am still confused. Is Zumwalt 100% UC:LA and a done deal????
"The entire world that bleeds blue and gold ... they have been dying for this." - Coach Rick Neuheisel
Yes
Pretty done as far as verbals are concerned. He was wearing a UCLA hat at his press conference (check the links on the post). Waiting for his LOI.
I think my computer is behind!
I didn’t see those updates! Thanks, N! GO BRUINS!!!
"The entire world that bleeds blue and gold ... they have been dying for this." - Coach Rick Neuheisel
When in doubt, check the updates
I was confused too
by AllHailMightyBruins on Feb 3, 2010 8:43 AM PST up reply actions
Well I saw the updates
but it was back and forth and I just wanted to be sure before I celebrate! I LOVE THIS!!!
"The entire world that bleeds blue and gold ... they have been dying for this." - Coach Rick Neuheisel
Di Poala
Rivals has his LOI in to SUC. Gold was told last night he was going to
UCLA
Also guys (wrt to a comment I just deleted)
Please don’t reference anything from BRO premium message board unless you have a link publicly corroborating that info. Otherwise I will delete it. Thanks.
I just still
can’t understand the appeal of lamey and the trOJan program right now. It’s gotta be the cash.
"The entire world that bleeds blue and gold ... they have been dying for this." - Coach Rick Neuheisel
Went up ~ 25 minutes ago
Think I just missed your last update when I entered the thread
formerly bruinhoo
Yeah, no worries man
Do any of you have a link re. Giovanni sending his LOI to Southern Cal. If that’s true, just want to cross him off on the top page.
OMG
I am behond a bit on TIVO so many of you may have heard this. An ESPNU analyst called Lame “The Paris Hilton of Coaching. Famous for being famous” since he has never actually done anything. LOL!!!
"The entire world that bleeds blue and gold ... they have been dying for this." - Coach Rick Neuheisel
So
now Heimuli is not announcing on TV? Scout’s blog says it is a private ceremony at 9:30PST.
"The entire world that bleeds blue and gold ... they have been dying for this." - Coach Rick Neuheisel
Wow
Cal got a 5 star safety (Keenan Allen).
Also DT Ferguson to LSU
It never looked like he was interested in us anyway.
Cal, UW, Oregon all putting together nice classes also
The Pac 10 is tough
by 84 on Feb 3, 2010 9:05 AM PST up reply actions
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