Call me a Bruin.
U.C.L.A. and Coach Jim Mora scored a major coup today with the verbal commitment of Ishamel Adams, a 4-star cornerback from football power Oaks Christian. He is ranked by Scout.com as the #10 cornerback in the country.
This huge pickup was first tweeted by Brandon Huffman:
@BrandonHuffman
Brandon Huffman
Westlake Village (Calif.) Oaks Christian four-star cornerback Ishmael Adams has committed to UCLA... (@IshmaelLAdams)
It has also been confirmed by the LA Times, and HT to themichael21 for fanposting it, too.
Here are some video highlights of our newest Bruin (note he also plays RB for Oaks Christian).
Ishmael Adams Oaks Christian 2010 Junior Year Highlights (via ALLSTARAPPROACH)
Check out the beautiful example at 1:20 in the video of what this kid can do in press coverage. I would love to see a lot of that in the upcoming years.
This is a huge get for several reasons...
First, this kid was considered a very solid commit to Cal before he announced his decision today.
from Greg Biggins via twitter:
@GregBiggins
Greg Biggins
Ishmael Adams to #UCLA is one of the biggest recruiting surprises of the year, he has been close to a #Cal lock since the summer
This commitment shows the recruiting prowess of new DB coach and recruiting ace Demetrice Martin. For Coach Martin and Coach Mora to swing a solid from a rival school in the midst of the chaos that has surrounded our football program of late shows that our coaching staff is making a great pitch and is presenting a good vision for the future.
This last point is reinforced by the very interesting comments from Adams' on why he finally chose U.C.L.A. Again from Biggins via twitter:
@GregBiggins
Greg Biggins
"I wanted to commit now, instead of Army game, to try and influence other players to come and help change the program with me," IshAdams
This sounds like the kind of leader we need to have on the field - one who is going to effect positive changes in the program and who will encourage other recruits to make those changes with him. I really like what this says about this young man's character, and makes me think of a young Brian Price, who passed on other options to take the tougher path. This is a young man who is not afraid of a challenge but embraces it.
An additional key to this recruit is Mora's continued recognition of the need to defense the spread and other high powered offenses in the Pac-12, where a good secondary is an absolute must. Coupled with Mora's first commit, cornerback Marcus Rios, we have an outstanding pair of CB's headed to Westwood, and this will help shore up a position that was problematic for the Bruin defense last season. Now, hopefully Coach Mora and Coach Martin will let these guys play tough physical press coverage at the line, so we won't have to watch opposing receivers running around all by themselves for the first 10 yards from the line of scrimmage. With Andrew Abbott, Aaron Hester, and Sheldon Price returning next season, the cornerback position just got a whole lot better looking for the Bruins.
Let's all welcome Ishamel to Westwood. Go Bruins!