Wanted to share with you a quick round up of the news about UCLA’s signing day. Dohn is impressed with the small but a "quality" class:
UCLA's recruiting class barely registers on the national radar, but that did not dampen the spirit of Bruins football coach Karl Dorrell.
Not when, top to bottom, he signed arguably his best of five classes Wednesday on national letter of intent signing day.
What kept UCLA from joining the elite ranks was the size of the class. The Bruins lost only eight scholarship seniors, and two other players to medical issues, so they signed just 10 players, matching the lowest number in the nation and the fewest for a BCS conference.
"This class is going to (have) the quality playmakers that are going to be differences in our program in the future," Dorrell said. "This class has been our best class so far, since I've been here. It's about quality."
The group is led by Crenshaw defensive tackle Brian Price and tailback Raymond Carter, both of whom should play significant roles in the upcoming season.
More from White in the LA Times why this class is so small:
Not when, top to bottom, he signed arguably his best of five classes Wednesday on national letter of intent signing day.
What kept UCLA from joining the elite ranks was the size of the class. The Bruins lost only eight scholarship seniors, and two other players to medical issues, so they signed just 10 players, matching the lowest number in the nation and the fewest for a BCS conference.
"This class is going to (have) the quality playmakers that are going to be differences in our program in the future," Dorrell said. "This class has been our best class so far, since I've been here. It's about quality."
The group is led by Crenshaw defensive tackle Brian Price and tailback Raymond Carter, both of whom should play significant roles in the upcoming season.
UCLA had eight seniors last season and had two extra scholarships available because defensive back Robert Kibble (multiple sclerosis) and defensive lineman Chris Johnson (shoulder) left the program for medical reasons.
And Dorrell (from the same LAT report) on the quality of this small class:
"This class will be the type of class that will fill in the gaps, help us sustain a level of play," said Dorrell, whose Bruins were 7-6 last season. "It's my best class to date. We've gotten better each and every year."
Well, I actually think this is a pretty decent class. But, as I mentioned yesterday, its still troubling to me that, after five recruiting classes in Westwood, KD still hasn’t been able to sign one five star WR recruit. I also think the reason why we had so few scholarships to give out this season is because Dorrell and his staff gave out a little too many to "projects," "diamond in the rough," 2-3 star recruits in the last four years in Westwood.In any event, we will take KD at his word that this his "best class" ever. And since last year’s team was his "best" and "deepest" team ever, he should have no excuses for not winning the Pac-10 next season when you combine his "best class" ever with the 20 returning starters from his best/deepest team ever.
No one should be in the mood for excuses and clichés should Dorrell fail to win the Pac-10 next season.
GO BRUINS.