This afternoon, Oakland HS defensive tackle Siale Like announced his college decision in a ceremony at his school. He had narrowed his decision to Oregon State, UC Berkeley and UCLA. He picked the right hat.
#Oakland High School student announces he’ll be playing for @UCLAFootball next year. #NationalSigningDay @abc7newsbayarea #abc7now pic.twitter.com/OehCUG5xfp
— Carlos Saucedo (@Carlos_Saucedo) December 19, 2018
According to 247Sports.com’s Brandon Huffman, the UCLA Bruins were originally recruiting Liku as an offensive lineman, but, Huffman writes, “[i]n recent weeks, though, UCLA told Liku he would come in as a defensive tackle and that gave the Bruins a chance.”
Liku’s Hudl profile lists him at 6’3” tall and weighing 324 pounds. He can bench press 315 lbs. while deadlifting 475 lbs. and squatting 455.
Liku will certainly give the Bruins more depth on the defensive line. Here are his junior season highlights from Hudl.
,
Personally, I wasn’t overly impressed by the video, but they are his junior year highlights and not his senior year highlights. He does seem to get pushed around more easily than a 300-lb. defensive lineman should be. Hopefully, the strength and conditioning staff will be able to take his size and turn him into a finely tuned machine because he’s going to need to work on that if he’s going to be a force to be reckoned with in the Pac-12.
Welcome to Westwood, Siale.
Go Bruins!