National Signing Day 2017: UCLA Football Lands 4-Star Offensive Tackle Stephan Zabie

Editor’s note (7:49 am): This article was updated to add Stephan Zabie’s tweet announcing his commitment.

Offensive Tackle Stephan Zabie did not play his senior year in high school, yet had offers from 15 colleges. After a series of moves that included one to the Ivory Coast, Zabie was deemed ineligible to play his senior year for Westlake High School in Austin, Texas due to the “four year rule”, which is defined by University Interscholastic League as players who “initially enrolled in the 9th grade not more than 4 years ago nor in the 10th grade not more than 3 years ago”. He appealed but was still not allowed to play.

His junior year was the only season he played at Westlake, but his skills were enough to garner offers from the likes of Texas, Oklahoma, LSU, and of course, UCLA. He was an anchor to one of the most prolific offenses in the state of Texas and, according to his head coach Todd Dodge in an interview with Hook Em, “He grew on the field as much as any player we had that season. I always knew he’d make a great pass blocker because of his athleticism, but he plays the game with passion and aggression. When I saw the way he mentally approached his position, I knew we had a special player”.

Zabie’s frame is ideal for an offensive tackle, and his athletic skills at 6’5”, 290 pounds are the best they could be at this point. He has enormous potential that any offensive coordinator would love to get ahold of.

Here are his junior highlights, courtesy of Hudl:

Here is Stephan’s tweet announcing his decision:

And, the image of the full text:

@StephanZabie79

Welcome to Westwood, Stephan!

Go Bruins!