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The running back position needed a bit of shoring up as well.
After watching
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Going into this off-season, I knew right away that among the UCLA Bruins’ most pressing neesds were at linebacker and on the defensive line, as five players out of the defensive front seven had moved on.
The running back position needed a bit of shoring up as well.
After watching Fox Sports Prime Ticket’s Signing Day Special last night, it’s safe to say that coach Rick Neuheisel filled those needs, as he and his Bruin coaching staff put together a very strong recruiting class, one that Scout.com has rated as #6 in the country.
Plus for the second straight year, UCLA’s class ranked higher than USC’s which despite signing Seantrel Henderson, who at 6′8″ and 330 ponds was the top offensive line prospect in the nation, landed at #7.
Among the Bruins’ top signings were…
1. Malcolm Jones, the running back from Oaks Christian who was named the Gatorade State Player of the Year,
2. Jordan Zumwalt, the standout linebacker from Huntington Beach Edison who fills a need and could see immediate playing time,
3. Owamagbe Odighizuwa, a defensive lineman from Portland, OR who is considered one of the best from that region, and…
4. Cassius March, a 270-lb. defensive lineman and Jones’ teammate at Oaks Christian who UCLA desperately needed.
Two other top defensive recruits, safety Dietrich Riley from La Canada St. Francis and linebacker Josh Shirley from Fontana Kaiser, were considered locks for USC but chose to sign with the Bruins; Shirley made his choice on the signing day show, which gave me a thrill.
As did Cathedral’s Anthony Jefferson, a cornerback who also put on a UCLA cap on camera with several members of his family watching.
Though the Bruins could have added a few more offensive linemen, Chris Ward (Santa Ana Mater Dei), Wade Yandall (Carson), and Kody Innes (Scottsdale, AZ Saguaro) were very good pickups who have a chance to contribute right away.
Which is what Neuheisel was aiming for as he continues to rebuild the program.
As for these new members of Bruin Nation, if I could say anything to them it would be this:
Congratulations and thank you so much for deciding to sign with not only a great program that’s on the rise, but also with a school considered to be among the nation’s all-around best in academics as well as athletics, if not the best.
However, now the real work begins. If the Bruins are to achieve superiority in the Pac-10 and to unseat USC as Los Angeles’ elite college football team, your dedication and hard work is needed and expected. This rebuilding cannot be done without you – that’s why coach Neuheisel brought you here.
I and all the members of the UCLA Bruin Nation wish you nothing but the best of luck and success as you begin your days in Westwood.
I don’t think I can put it better than that.
The next step now is Spring practice, which is coming up in a couple of months. That will give me a good idea as to who will step up and how our 2010 season may go.
I’m looking forward to seeing what happens then.
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