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Elijah Wade, the nation’s No. 17-ranked defensive end, signed his National Letter of Intent today. Wade, a 6-5, 245-pound DE from Las Vegas (Nev.) Arbor View, chose UCLA over Vanderbilt, Cal, Nebraska and USC. Wade made official today what he committed to on January 28th via Twitter.
UCLA Football’s Twitter account made announced that his NLI has been received.
Vegas ➡️ Westwood! @Elijah_Wade_#4sIp | #NSD18 pic.twitter.com/9IGqrnuHhs
— UCLA Football (@UCLAFootball) February 7, 2018
Elijah Wade was long a target of the Bruins, and even with the coaching change, Coach Kelly and Coach Pellum continued their pursuit.
The pursuit of Wade sure was not hampered by the Bruins signing four-star defensive tackle Greg Rogers last year. Rogers heavily recruited Wade to join him in Westwood, and Rogers could not contain his excitement that his former partner on Arbor View’s defensive front in 2016 is now joining him at UCLA.
Man. We built a friend in less than a week when I got to THEVIEW and have kept it real with each other ever since. You my Brother. You been through so much and deserve it all. Love you bro and glad we get to do it all over again. Let’s ride. #TAOS #4SUP pic.twitter.com/9PtmWaYP2y
— Greg Rogers (@CityBoyGreg) January 29, 2018
The one thing that seems to stand out with Wade, outside of his huge frame, is the work ethic that he was known for with teammates at Arbor View. In an article by Sam Gordon of the Las Vegas Review Journal, senior running back Jaquari Hannie had high praise for Wade, “I’ve never seen somebody work as hard as him before”, said Hannie. “After weight training, goes straight home, works out. Not just two hours. Like four or five hours.” Wade already bench presses 360 pounds and has the school record for pull-ups for his weight class.
Many project Wade to play linebacker for UCLA, but with the frame that Wade has, that might change after some time has passed and UCLA strength Coach Frank Wintrich gets a hold of somebody with Wade’s work ethic in the weight room.
247Sports says the following about Wade:
Wade is a four-star prospect and rated the No. 285 player nationally in the 247Sports Composite. He’s a kid with a big upside and has an NFL frame that he easily can grow in to.
He’s all of 6-5, 240 pounds and could easily pack on as much additional weight as needed. He plays with a nice motor and edge to his game and shows natural pass rushing ability as well.
Welcome to Westwood, Elijah!
Go Bruins!