Jon Gold from the Daily News has a little bit more on UCLA's latest football commit - Raymond Nelson - the younger brother of sophomore hoops player Reeves Nelson:
Scout.com is reporting that Modesto Christian tight end Raymond Nelson - profile here - verbally committed to Rick Neuheisel last night. Nelson, the younger brother of UCLA rising sophomore basketball player Reeves Nelson, had an explosive camp in late June and came away with an offer, and all indications were that he was heavily leaning toward UCLA.
Nelson has been one of the fastest rising tight ends in the country, and it looks like a good get for, well, both the football and basketball program, as now both brothers have someone to lean on. I've said multiple times that I don't think the book is closed on Junior Pomee, who de-committed after a trip to Florida but has not verbally committed anywhere again, but I think this really shuts the door on Austin Seferian-Jenkins, who seems to be enamored with Texas.
That seems to make sense. The Pomee story is nowhere close to being over. Knowing the tenacity of CRN, I feel pretty good about UCLA having a good shot in this race. As for Seferian-Jenkins, I think he is pretty much set for Texas. I could be wrong but that's the vibe I get from reading his comments in various recruiting sites.
Going back to Nelson, he is a 3 star recruit, but he sure was coveted as he had offers from 7 other Pac-10 schools. He is now the seventh commit of our class. Although he is being recruited as a TE, given his athleticism and frame (6'5, 237), it will not be a surprise if he also emerges as a DE prospect in college.
One of the schools that Nelson turned down happened to be University of Washington. It looks like Steve Sarkasian is engaging in very predictable spin during this recruiting season. Bob Condotta from the Seattle Times wrote this nugget yesterday:
[T]he swift manner in which Sarkisian axed Kavario Middleton from the team yesterday --- for indiscretions no one outside the team really knew about --- indicates Sarkisian is running a much tighter ship, and maybe is exhibiting the firmest hand at UW since the Don James era.
Middleton obviously wasn't just some third-teamer who is easy to sacrifice to make a point. He was potentially the best UW tight end since Jerramy Stevens (a player whose UW career helps illustrate the differing manner in which the program appears to be being run now), and potentially a first-day NFL Draft pick.
Uh huh. Yeah, Okay. Whatever you say Bob. Note, how convenient it was for him not to mention how Sarkasian came in and swooped in another recruit, who had been arrested for allegedly stealing another student's bag pack at UCLA.
We had a feeling Sarkasian and his cronies would be using the Middleton story to spin the Seattle media hard about him being such a tough disciplinarian making them forget the irony of pouncing on a recruit who was kicked out by Neuheisel for disciplinarian reason. Looks like Condotta fell for that BS hook, line and sinker. Predictable but still pretty pathetic.
GO BRUINS.