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BOOM! It's good to hear that sound!
T.J. Simmons, one of the top running backs in the nation and a player who compares his game to Bruin great DeShaun Foster, gave a verbal commitment to Jim Mora and the Bruins today.
I am taking my talents to university. Of California Los Angeles !! #Westwood #UCLA commit
— Speedie Simmons #3 (@tjsimmons4) June 30, 2014
Simmons is 6'0 and 195, and is a 4 star running back from Lakeland Christian High School in Lakeland Florida (near Tampa). As one of the top RB prospects in the country, he currently has over 20 offers, but today he picked U.C.L.A. over some other notable places including Ohio St, Florida, and Notre Dame. Good call, T.J.!
UCLA is the only school where T.J. has already scheduled an official visit (Oct 3, the Bruins will play Utah the next day) but he attended a football camp in Westwood last week, clearly liked what he saw, and gave his commitment to the Bruins today.
Yahoo! ranks him as the #21 RB in the country and lists Taylor Mazzone as his lead recruiter, adding to the substantial talent that the younger Mazzone has won over. In fact, Simmons has been in touch with some of those guys already.
I've been in contact with their No. 1 commit, Josh Rosen, and we already became good friends through just texting and phone calls," Simmons said. "And me and some of the other commits have been talking too, so, you know.
Check out some of T.J.'s highlights on his Hudl page here and his 2013 high school highlight video here.
Zoom! Oh yes.
It seems appropriate that as we celebrate Johnathan Franklin's career (and future) this week that we welcome in some more of the young talent that will try to fill the enormous shoes of greats like Franklin and Foster and Maurice Jones-Drew and the numerous other great Bruin RBs. Simmons already comes with his own nickname, "Speedie", and that sounds like a good way to chase down a great one named Jet Ski.
We know it's a long way to go until signing day in Feb 2015 and the Bruins staff will have to keep working on Simmons through the fall to make sure he's stays good with switching coasts, but it's great to see some of the nation's top stars continuing to look out west at this time.
Welcome to UCLA, TJ!
GO BRUINS!