UCLA football lands promising recruits on National Signing Day

It’s not about how many athletes, but how many stars.

That’s how UCLA football coach Jim Mora broke down his 2014 recruit class, which reached the top 10 nationally in average star rankings of both Rivals.com and Scout.com, after all had been said, done, faxed and electronically signed on Wednesday’s National Signing Day.

Including Malcolm Bunche, an offensive lineman transfer from Miami, UCLA added 20 football recruits to the class of 2014 for a Rivals.com ranking of No. 18.

“It’s an outstanding class and it fills a lot of holes for us. We have egos just like anybody else, so we look at the rankings,” Mora said. “We did get to fill some areas of concern or areas of specific need on this football team.”

One of those biggest concerns as National Signing Day neared was a fresh corps of linebackers to soften the blow caused by the departures of seniors Anthony Barr and Jordan Zumwalt, both of whom should be taken in the 2014 NFL Draft.

While it doesn’t appear there will be any miraculous fullback-to-linebacker transitions “à la Barr” within the class of 2014, four-star recruit Zach Whitley as well as four-star recruit Kenny Young highlight a group of linebackers that could contribute on defense and special teams as early as next season.

Whitley was initially a verbal commit to Alabama before flipping to UCLA in early January, on the eve of the U.S. Army All-America Bowl. Whitley is now enrolled at UCLA and working his way through strength and conditioning coordinator Sal Alosi’s winter conditioning program.

“Me and my dad had a long discussion about what’s best for me as a player and as a student. I just felt more comfortable coming here instead of Alabama,” Whitley said of the decision. “It was a big jump for me. It took a lot of thought. I wanted to have a better opportunity to play my freshman year and get ahead on bookwork and school.”

Whitley, of North Shore High School in Galena Park, Texas, is joined in the class of 2014 by teammate and fellow UCLA recruit, offensive lineman NaJee Toran. Whitley said having a teammate sign on with the Bruins along with him helped ease the transition.

“It was a great help,” Whitley said of Toran’s signing. “I have a brother from home that’s here. Me and NaJee grew up together. It’s going to be nice here playing ball with him in high school and college.”

Other class of 2014 Rivals.com four-star recruits for UCLA include defensive end Matt Dickerson, offensive lineman Kolton Miller, defensive back Adarius Pickett, wide receiver Austin Roberts, defensive tackle Ainuu Taua, defensive end Jacob Tuioti-Mariner, wide receiver Alex Van Dyke and defensive back Jaleel Wadood.

Whitley is joined as an early enrollee by defensive back Ron Robinson from Corona, as well as Mossi Johnson, a class of 2013 recruit who grayshirted last season and is now enrolled at UCLA. For the new Bruins who are now enrolled, the understanding is that with just six scholarship seniors on the roster, there will be early opportunities.

“A successful class is one that produces when it’s thrown in the fire,” Robinson said. “Supposedly, we’re ranked preseason No. 7. Those are expectations for all of us, for seniors down to the freshmen.”

Big fish

In the third recruiting year for Mora and his staff, the goal was bigger, better and higher-profile recruits.

And while the Bruins filled plenty of team needs on National Signing Day, highly publicized announcements on Wednesday largely gave UCLA a feeling of disappointment.

Around 5 a.m. local time, four-star defensive end Solomon Thomas committed to Stanford. In just a matter of hours, the Bruins watched as five-star linebacker Rashaan Evans committed to Alabama, five-star wide receiver Malachi Dupre signed with Louisiana State, and five-star defensive backs John “JuJu” Smith and Adoree’ Jackson committed to USC.

“When you turned on the TV today, with a lot of those big announcements, boy, they were talking about UCLA,” Mora said. “We didn’t get them all, but that’s OK. That’s OK. We’re going to get ourselves on the map, and we’re going to keep fighting for those guys like always.”

More than anything, Mora said, UCLA’s goal is to continue to build legitimacy in recruiting circles across the country.

“We were the bridesmaids,” Mora said. “Heck, we might’ve even been the ring girl on a couple of guys today. But we were in the wedding. We were in the church. That’s our goal.”