Benjamin Roy, the nation’s No. 14-ranked center, commits to UCLA

The UCLA Bruins have been hot on the recruiting trail ever since the dead period was extended through the end of May, but particularly so since voluntary athletic activities have been allowed to return on June 1.

Chip Kelly and Co. have secured two commitments over the past five days, and while we went in depth on Tyler Kiehne, we missed the news of Benjamin Roy pulling the trigger on his UCLA commitment.

Roy is a three-star center prospect from Liberty High School in Henderson, Nevada. He’s ranked as the 14th-best center in the country and the fourth-best player in Nevada. While he had at least 15 scholarship offers, the 6’3, 275-pounder chose UCLA and committed to coach Justin Frye, Kelly and the Bruins on May 20.

He’s the first commitment along the offensive line for the class of 2021 and should be immediately thought of as a player who can play either spots inside on the offensive line at UCLA. He was also the first out-of-state commitment for this class as he had fortunately been able to visit UCLA a few times before the coronavirus pandemic shut down visits.

Roy mentioned to 247Sports that the education mixed with athletics is the reason he chose UCLA.

“With UCLA, the education I’ll be receiving there is close to unmatched,” Roy said. “They are the No. 1 public institution in the country and getting a diploma from UCLA is really meaningful. That’s a very important part in my decision. On top of that, it’s Power Five, Pac-12 football and I get a chance to compete at the highest level which is something I’ve always wanted. I had a really good relationship with coach Justin Frye. We talked on Zoom and FaceTime. I had a Zoom call with the entire UCLA staff as well and I really enjoyed that. Given all the opportunities that UCLA provides on and off the field, it was really to hard beat that. LA is close to home, Westwood is beautiful and everything lined up. I wanted to seal the deal and it’s definitely where I want to continue to play football and study.”

Though he can likely play all the positions on the interior of the offensive line, Roy mentioned as well that they see him fitting in at center and quarterbacking the offensive line in the future.

“The coaches see me fitting in at center there in a crucial role along the offensive line where I’ll basically be the quarterback of the group,” Roy said. “They want to keep the running backs clean and the quarterback untouched, so a lot of the responsibility they are going to put on me is to make those calls and be the head of the offense to execute everything the way it’s supposed to be.”

No matter how it works out, we want to welcome you to Westwood, Benjamin! Have a great senior season and let’s get to work!