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UCLA added another defensive recruit this evening when 4-star defensive end Elijah Wade from Arbor View High School in Las Vegas announced his commitment to UCLA.
Wade will join his former high school teammate Greg Rogers in Westwood.
Wade announced his commitment on Twitter this evening.
120% Committed to THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES #4sUp #8clap For you Mama pic.twitter.com/5MZBK8uBcN
— Elijah (@Elijah_Wade_) January 29, 2018
Wade is 6’5” tall and weighs 240 pounds. What I find most impressive about Wade are his overall quickness and his ability to make the play. That comes in the form of being able to shed blocks, but it also comes in his ability to avoid getting blocked in the first place. Wade is frequently so quick that opposing linemen are just unable to get their block on him because, by the time they try to block him, Wade is already past the blocker and into the backfield to make a play. His junior season highlights from Hudl.com show this rather consistently.
After watching Wade’s reel, I’m really excited to see what Coach Kelly and staff are able to do with Wade, Rogers and Jaelan Phillips all on the defensive side of the ball for us. I think it gives us quite the potential upfront defensively to wreck havoc on opposing offenses and that’s something we’ve certainly been missing during the Mora years. Sure, we had Takkarist McKinley and Eddie Vanderdoes, but we just haven’t had a very strong pass rush and I think we have some building blocks in place to do that now.
Wade is the 18th recruit to commit to UCLA’s 2018 recruiting class and he’s the sixth commit since last Sunday and the fifth defender since then.
Here’s the updated list of the 2018 UCLA Football recruiting class.
2018 UCLA Football Recruiting Class
| Recruit Name | Position | Current School | Composite Rating | NLI Submitted? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Recruit Name | Position | Current School | Composite Rating | NLI Submitted? |
| Bryan Addison | ATH | Junipero Serra (Gardena, CA) | 4-Star | Yes |
| Stephan Blaylock | S | St. John Bosco (Bellflower, CA) | 4-Star | Yes |
| Bo Calvert | LB | Oaks Christian (Westlake Village, CA) | 4-Star | Yes |
| Chase Cota | WR | South Medford (Medford, OR) | 4-Star | Yes |
| Kyle Philips | WR | San Marcos (San Marcos, CA) | 4-Star | Yes |
| Kazmeir Allen | RB | Tulare Union (Tulare, CA) | 3-Star | Yes |
| Alec Anderson | OT | Etiwanda (Rancho Cucamonga, CA) | 3-Star | Yes |
| Atonio Mafi | DT | Junipero Serra (San Mateo, CA) | 3-Star | Yes |
| Tyler Manoa | DT | St. Francis (Mountain View, CA) | 4-Star | No |
| Chris Murray | OL | Mater Dei (Santa Ana, CA) | 4-Star | No |
| Dorian Thompson-Robinson | QB | Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas, NV) | 4-Star | No |
| Elijah Wade | DE | Arbor View (Las Vegas, NV) | 4-Star | No |
| Matt Alaimo | TE | St. Joseph Regional (Montvale, NJ) | 3-Star | No |
| Je'Vari Anderson | LB/DB | Laney College (Oakland, CA) | 3-Star | No |
| Baraka Beckett | OL | Palisades (Pacific Palisades, CA) | 3-Star | No |
| Kenny Churchwell | S | Mountain Pointe (Phoenix, AZ) | 3-Star | No |
| Elisha Guidry | DB | Vista Murrieta (Murrieta, CA) | 3-Star | No |
| Delon Hurt | WR | Servite (Anaheim, CA) | 3-Star | No |
| Patrick Jolly, Jr. | ATH | Newsome (Lithia, FL) | 3-Star | No |
| Steven Mason | DE | Southwestern College (Chula Vista, CA) | 3-Star | No |
| CJ Parks | WR | Mater Dei (Santa Ana, CA) | 3-Star | No |
| David Priebe | TE | Midway (Waco, TX) | 3-Star | No |
| Tyree Thompson | LB | LA Valley College (Los Angeles, CA) | 3-Star | No |
Welcome to Westwood, Elijah!
Go Bruins!!!