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BOOM! After recruiting him hard a couple of years ago, Takkarist McKinley has committed to UCLA, where he will apparently enroll immediately and play this fall. Here is the tweet from Greg Biggins:
San Pablo (Calif.) Contra Costa J.C DL Takkarist McKinley has committed to #UCLA, will enroll next week, immediately eligible to play
— Greg Biggins (@GregBiggins) September 11, 2014
Some of you may remember McKinley from his original recruitment when he starred at Kennedy High, but he will bring uber athleticism to the defense. At 6'3 235 lbs., McKinley ran a 10.58 100 meter dash in high school. Given that our defense has only managed one sack this season and McKinley won't have much time learn the system, I suspect that if he plays this year he'll have one role: unleash that athleticism on the quarterback.
McKinley originally committed to Cal but apparently failed to qualify due to the fact that two summer school courses that he took were not counted. He then spent a year at Contra Costa JC, where he got back on track academically. Coincidentally, those two uncounted summer school courses are why he is eligible to transfer immediately to UCLA. DOH!
McKinley is up to 250 lbs., and ranked the #2 JC DE recruit in the country by 247sports. He had offers from Texas, Oklahoma, Oregon, and SUC among others, but he'll be suiting up for the Bruins this fall.
Welcome to Westwood!