Yahoo Sports UCLA tries to fend off Ohio State, keep its recruiting class intact as signing day nears
Kuron Jabari Jr. was the original believer.
Back in early March, before DeShaun Foster had concocted his first spring practice plan or devised a tentative depth chart, Jabari became the first high school prospect to give the new UCLA coach a verbal commitment.
The cornerback from Corona Centennial was drawn by a budding culture rooted in what Foster had done when he starred for the Bruins more than two decades earlier.
“He’s a great,” Jabari said last weekend while standing on the Rose Bowl sideline before UCLA’s 20-13 victory over Fresno State, “so he knows what it takes to be great.”
As the early signing period for high school players arrives Wednesday, Foster is about to get a much better sense of who else is with him.
Read more: UCLA and USC football transfer portal tracker: Who's in and who's out?
The likely departures of running back T.J. Harden and quarterback Justyn Martin through the transfer portal after they were expected to be major contributors essentially planted a massive “Help wanted” sign outside the Bruins’ practice facility.
While most replacements for the team’s 14 departed starters (and counting) will come from the transfer portal and the current roster, a few also be could found in a recruiting class that Foster and his staff largely salvaged after their hiring in February.
If all goes well, the biggest save would come Wednesday.
Epi Sitanilei, a four-star edge rusher from St. John Bosco who is the highest-rated prospect among the 18 high school players verbally committed to UCLA, visited Ohio State last weekend and is believed to be strongly considering the Buckeyes.
Of course, Ohio State didn't help its cause by losing the rivalry game to Michigan and having a postgame melee break out on its home field.
“For UCLA, if he was going to go to a game, that was probably the game to go to,” said Greg Biggins, a national recruiting analyst for 247Sports, “but I still think Ohio State is a tough place to say no to.”
Keeping Sitanilei would preserve the headliner in a recruiting class that’s heavy on edge rushers and includes a quartet of four-star prospects in Sitanilei, quarterback Madden Iamaleava (Long Beach Poly), edge rusher Cole Cogshell (Muir) and running back Karson Cox (Oak Hills).
As currently constructed, the class is ranked No. 35 nationally by 247Sports and No. 11 among the 18 Big Ten teams.
“It doesn’t have the star power at the top of the board that gets a lot of people excited, but it’s got some quality depth at key positions, namely edge,” Biggins said. “All the guys they got are pretty solid with some upside.”
There could be two late additions to the class. LaRue Zamorano, a three-star cornerback from Corona Centennial, decommitted from Michigan State as part of a possible move to Westwood. Demetrice Martin, the Spartans defensive backs coach who was a big part of Zamorano’s commitment, could bring the prospect with him to UCLA as part of Martin’s expected return to the school as an assistant coach working with the secondary.
UCLA also is expected to be the leader for Lucien Holland after the three-star edge rusher from Inglewood High decommitted from Boise State this week.
Biggins listed Sitanilei, Cogshell and Cox as candidates to play as freshmen. Harden’s presumed departure means there should be plenty of carries available for the running backs, including Cox.
“He’s a tough kid, runs well, super instinctive and a natural athlete,” Biggins said of Cox. “He’s kind of what you call a box-checker — he checks everything you want to see in a running back.”
Read more: Who will be UCLA's starting quarterback in 2025? Five questions facing the Bruins
Foster has said he wanted to get UCLA's high school recruiting rolling like it was back when he played for the Bruins and they vied for the top class in the nation every year. UCLA’s 2026 class, which includes four players in its infancy, is ranked No. 14 nationally by 247Sports.
“Once we can get some more talent, we have a chance to be top-five,” said Foster, who has emphasized the need to keep the best California players home instead of losing them to other schools in the Big Ten and Southeastern conferences. “We want to show how recruiting is gonna go around here in the future.”
Jabari said he’s part of a text group chat with several fellow recruits in the 2025 class, everyone eager to help Foster and the Bruins build on winning four of their last six games this season.
“Every time after a big win,” Jabari said, “we go in the group chat and get hyped.”
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
