Recently in UCLA Category

UCLA fullback Jayson Allmond, a Bloomington High School graduate, is transferring to Northern Arizona according to Jon Gold's UCLA blog. A Q&A with Allmond, who just completed his redshirt freshman season for the Bruins, can be accessed here.

In a reaction to his arrest along with two other players for suspicion of felony theft by UCLA police last week, the school dismissed former Kaiser linebacker Josh Shirley from the football team today. Shirley, a two-time first-team all-Sun player, was arrested along with Gardena Serra wide receiver Paul Richardson and Los Alamitos defensive back Shaquille Richardson.

Jon Gold's UCLA blog detailing the dismissal can be accessed here. Apparently there is a possibility for Shirley to return in January according to the blog.

According to a blog by the Daily News' UCLA beat writer Jon Gold, former Kaiser linebacker Josh Shirley was among three incoming freshman UCLA football players arrested for felony theft on campus. Gold's blog detailing the situation can be read here .

The other two Bruins involved, Gardena Serra wide receiver Paul Richardson and Los Alamitos cornerback Shaquille Richardson, were released on $20,000 bail while Shirley was released without bail according to this blog by KTLA.

Would have done this by yesterday, but a nasty cold threw me for a loss. I'm ready to go again though. With that, here's a complete breakdown of local Division I FBS (I-A) and FCS (I-AA) signees.

By school
1. Redlands 4; 2 tie. Colony 3, Colton 3, Los Osos 3, Rancho Cucamonga 3, Redlands East Valley 3; 7 tie. Arroyo Valley 2, Don Lugo 2, Hesperia 2, Kaiser 2, Serrano 2, Upland 2; 13 tie. Aquinas 1, Cajon 1, Chaffey 1, Granite Hills 1, Miller 1, Sultana 1.

Redlands was the surprising winner in this category, as three Terriers - OL Justin Corrales (Bryant University), LB Cole Gridley (Valparaiso) and K/P Shaun McClain (Weber State) were able to parlay strong senior seasons into FCS scholarships. LB Jordan Thomas (San Diego State) was the only FBS scholarship to Redlands, but the Terriers get props for getting their successful kids scholarships.

The teams with three scholarship players are among the usual suspects when it comes to getting kids to Division I scholarships, as REV, Colton, Colony, Rancho Cucamonga and Los Osos have seen an army of players get to the next level recently. REV, Colton and Los Osos all sent their players to FBS school, with each having at least one kid sign with a Pac-10 school. Rancho also had a Pac-10 kid in TE Randall Telfer (USC), while Colony had a Big 12 kid in DB Jered Bell (Colorado).

No real shocks in the 2 and 1 scholarship crowd except maybe Serrano, which had two FBS kids. The Diamondbacks are known for doing more with less, so its no shock that they made a CIF final with two FBS seniors on the roster.

By college:
1. San Diego State 4. 2 tie. Fresno State 3, Oregon 3, USC 3; 5 tie. Montana State 2, Sacramento State 2, San Jose State 2, UNLV 2, Utah 2, UTEP 2; 11 tie. Army 1, Bryant 1, Colorado 1, Iowa State 1, Kansas State 1, Nevada 1, Portland State 1, Prairie View A&M 1, San Diego 1, UCLA 1, Valparaiso 1, Washington 1, Washington State 1, Weber State 1.

On the non-BCS level, San Diego State and Fresno State continue to do work in the county. When Aztecs coach Brady Hoke was hired last year, he told recruits that he was going to put an emphasis on Inland Empire athletes. He's done exactly that, signing 3 SAL kids last year and four county kids this year in Thomas, Serrano DE Everett Beed, Hesperia WR Jay Waddell and Granite Hills TE Bryce Quigley. A fifth, Serrano RB Dionza Bradford, verbally committed to San Diego State before backing out and going with UNLV. So Hoke is getting things done.

Pat Hill has consistently brought local talent into the fold and this year is no different, with Los Osos WR Sean Alston, Arroyo Valley LB Ofa Fifita and Rancho Cucamonga QB Greg Watson all inking with the Bulldogs. Montana State also was a big player in the FCS ranks, getting guys with FBS interest in Don Lugo DB Steve Bethley and Miller RB David Dash.

As far as the Pac-10 goes, 2010 saw a reversal from 2009. Last year, it was UCLA and Oregon State that cleaned up, while this year saw their rivals have success. The Trojans, despite a coaching change, got Kaiser RB/DB Anthony Brown, Telfer and the county's highest-ranked recruit, Don Lugo DT George Uko, to sign. Only an 11th-hour stunner by Kaiser LB Josh Shirley kept UCLA from being swept out of the county.

As for the Oregon schools, the Ducks got two extremely productive defensive players in Los Osos DE Tony Washington and Colton DB Derrick Malone and stole Colton K Alejandro Maldonado from Washington on the last weekend. Last year, it was Oregon State that did damage, with Freshman All-American OL Michael Philipp from Arroyo Valley being the crown jewel.

As far as out-of-region teams, I guess the big winner would be the Big 12 North. Colorado (Colony DB Jered Bell), Iowa State (Hesperia/Chaffey College TE Ricky Howard) and Kansas State (Sultana/Mt. SAC OL Manase Foketi) all signed area players while Nebraska courted several local players as well.

If football doesn't work out for Josh Shirley, poker should be his call. After rampant speculation of a final four of USC, Miami (Fla), Arizona and Washington, Shirley threw a curveball and picked UCLA - a school he didn't take an official visit to.

"There were ups and downs, I'm not going to lie, but in the end, UCLA was where I wanted to be," Shirley said. "It was between UCLA and Washington and I felt most comfortable in blue and gold."

This flies in the face of the conventional wisdom of every recruiting service, my article in the Sun this morning and my blog entry from just over an hour ago. Even Shirley was a litte bit surprised.

"Two days ago I wasn't even thinking about UCLA," Shirley said. "I probably surprised a lot of people with that decision. I was looking for reasons to not go to every school on my list and UCLA had the least amount of reasons."

While I was shocked at the announcement, a couple of things, in retrospect, should have tipped me off. When I saw Shirley in the lobby of the building where the studio was located, he had a UCLA letter of intent on top of a stack of papers. And a UCLA hat was surprisingly in the stack of caps brought into the studio, not to mention the fact that Shirley insisted on another UCLA hat after the original Bruin hat the station brought out didn't fit.

After over an hour of pacing around and being nervous, Shirley was relaxed after the annoucement, signing his letter of intent in the Prime Ticket break room with a smile on his face. And afterwards, he somewhat marveled at his decision.

"That was a surprise," Shirley said right before his contingent of family and friends left for a hearty meal at Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles.

Kaiser pitcher Alyssia Palomino will sign a letter of intent to play softball at Auburn on Thursday, according to an e-mail sent a few minutes ago by Kaiser softball coach John Stevens. The signing will be at 9 a.m. Wednesday in the principal's conference room at the high school. Wednesday is the first day of the Fall National Signing Period.

Other softball players expected to sign Wednesday are Aquinas pitcher Stevie Goldstein (Loyola Marymount), Chino Hills second baseman Talee Snow (UCLA) and Ayala pitcher Jessica Hall (UCLA). E-mail me at tj.berka@inlandnewspapers.com or comment on this blog if you know of any other signings going down this week.

With the fall signing period coming up next month, basketball recruiting is starting to pick up. Three county players have made verbal commitments to Division I schools.

Ayala senior Rhema Gardner verbally committed to UCLA earlier this week according to ESPN.com, joining her older sister and former All-Sun first-team selection Rebekah Gardner. The 6-foot-2 Gardner averaged 12.9 points and 11.1 rebounds for the Bulldogs last season.

Chino Hills guard Derek Brown also made his choice according to Scout.com and picked San Jose State after an official visit last month. Brown, a 6-foot-2 senior, won Sierra League MVP honors by averaging 16.6 points and 5.7 rebounds per game.

But it wasn't just seniors who committed this week. Etiwanda junior swingman Byron Wesley, an all-Sun first-team selection at Cajon last year, committed to USC according to Rivals.com. The 6-foot-5 Wesley averaged 18.7 points and 7.4 rebounds as a sophomore.

According to Scout.com, Kaiser LB Josh Shirley, Don Lugo DT George Uko and Summit junior WR Devon Blackmon are at the UCLA-Kansas State game on unofficial visits. I'm at the Rose Bowl right now, so I'll see if I can somehow spot those guys - along with seeing how much freshman QB Richard Brehaut - a Los Osos graduate - will play tonight.

Kaiser defensive end Josh Shirley, a first-team all-Sun player last year, has added offers from Arizona and UCLA to the three other offers he's already received. Shirley - the younger brother of Cincinnati Bengals defensive tackle and Kaiser graduate Jason Shirley - was offered by Arizona today and UCLA over the weekend according to this article by Rivals.com.

Shirley has also been offered by San Diego State, Fresno State and Stanford. As a junior, the 6-foot-3, 220-pound defensive end had 17 sacks, leading the county in that category.

Today's version of my bracket breakdown goes into the East and South. I wish I had more to introduce, but I don't. Sue me.

Overall theme:
Physicality vs. free-flowing offense. This region brings some teams that like to throw down. No. 1 seed Pittsburgh, with bruising forward DeJuan Blair, will elbow you in the face and smack you down with some brass knuckles. No. 12 Wisconsin is fortunate to get to the 60-point mark but has a tendency to hold its opponents below that number. No. 6 UCLA has been to three straight Final Fours thanks to lockdown defense and No. 7 Texas likes to bang with Damion James, Gary Johnson and 295-pound Dexter Pittman.

On the other end of the spectrum, No. 2 Duke shoots threes all day and has junior Gerald Henderson slash to the bucket, No. 3 Villanova has a bevy of guards named Corey and talented junior point Scottie Reynolds while No. 5 Florida State has a dynamic scorer in senior Toney Douglas. None of those teams have much of a post presence, so it will be interesting to see how they match up with the bruisers, and vice versa.

Watch out for: Villanova
The Wildcats have perhaps the best setup of any team in the tournament during the first two rounds, as they get to play in their hometown of Philadelphia in an arena (The Wachovia Center) where they host games from time to time. How Nova got that prime setup is beyond me, but it allows them a nice passage into the Sweet 16.

From that point on, the Wildcats will likely have a No. 2-seeded Duke that they match up with athletically and might even be superior to inside thanks to Dante Cunningham. Then they'd have a good shot at Big East rival Pittsburgh. Jay Wright has coached teams with less talent and less diversity to the Sweet 16, so there's no reason Villanova can't make a run.

Stay away from: UCLA
The Bruins have had a ton of success in the tournament recently, making it to the Final Four three years in a row. But No. 6 UCLA hasn't been able to turn it on for an extended period of time - either falling into shooting lapses or defensive lapses. It hasn't found a replacement for Kevin Love in the post and freshman guard Jrue Holiday hasn't been the scoring threat that the Bruins expected him to be.

Add that in with a tough No. 11 VCU team that knocked out Duke in the first round two years ago and a virtual road game with Villanova if it survives that and it's foolish to be taking UCLA anywhere.

High risk, high reward: Florida State
The No. 5 Seminoles have two things that typically make for good tournament teams - lots of athleticism and a go-to scorer in Douglas. Douglas averages over 20 points per game and has the complete offensive package - allowing him to take over games and giving the Seminoles an ability to take out any team in the bracket - even No. 1 Pittsburgh - who they'd meet in the Sweet 16 more than likely.

With that being said, No. 12 Wisconsin is a terrible matchup for them in the first round. The Badgers are very adept at taking away a team's best offensive option and forcing its opposition to play at a slow pace. If FSU is sucked into that, it could be bye, bye Noles.

Upset special: No. 12 Wisconsin over No. 5 Florida State, first round
Yes, its kind of a copout after the previous category, but it was either this or VCU over UCLA. Expounding on what I was saying about Florida State, if Wisconsin can take away Douglas, there's no other Seminole that averages double-figure points. Wisconsin has good guard play in Trevon Hughes and Jason Bohannon and several bigs that can come at the Seminoles in waves. The last time Florida State played a slow-paced Big Ten team it was whipped 73-59 to Northwestern in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge. I wouldn't be shocked to see that happen again.

Lead-pipe lock: Some team is getting a monkey off its back
That team will likely be top-seeded Pittsburgh - which has fallen in the Sweet 16 four times since 2002 and has never beaten a team seeded No. 5 or higher in its history. The Panthers set up like Kansas did last year - a talented, well-rounded team with a good coach that has had issues getting over the hump. Don't be surprised if Pitt wins it all.

Of course, Duke might have something to say about it. Say what you will about Coach K and his three titles, but barring a 2004 run to the Final Four, Duke has been fairly ordinary in the tournament in the 2000s, crapping out in the Sweet 16 six times and losing in the first and second round, respectively, the last two seasons. The Blue Devils did win the ACC tourney title though, perhaps serving as a sign of better things to come.

Here is the complete breakdown of Division I-A and Division I-AA signees per high school and per college.

By High School:
1. Upland 4; 2 tie. Cajon 3; Colony 3; 4 tie. Arroyo Valley 2; Diamond Ranch 2; Etiwanda 2; Los Osos 2; Rancho Cucamonga 2; Redlands 2; Redlands East Valley 2; 11 tie. Aquinas 1; Ayala 1; Bloomington 1; Colton 1; Diamond Bar 1; Eisenhower 1; Kaiser 1; Norco 1; Pomona 1; Roosevelt 1; San Bernardino 1; San Dimas 1; Yucaipa 1.

Obviously Upland was the big winner individually, especially since they had two Pac-10 guys (Josh Nunes and Osahon Irabor) and a Big Ten guy (Davion Fleming). But the city of San Bernardino had seven players (Aarein Booker, Chris Bradford, Daron Griffin, Walter Kazee, Michael Philipp, Marlon Pollard and J.P. Ragan) sign, with Colton's Nat Berhe giving the SAL another signee.

By University
1. UCLA 5; 2 tie. Oregon State 3; San Diego State 3; 4 tie. Fresno State 2; Idaho 2; New Mexico State 2; Northwestern 2; 8 tie. Air Force 1; Arizona State 1; Cal Poly SLO 1; Colorado State 1; Columbia 1; Louisville 1; Montana 1; Navy 1; New Mexico 1; Northern Arizona 1; South Florida 1; Southern Utah 1; Stanford 1; SUNY Stony Brook 1; UNLV 1; Utah 1; UTEP 1; Washington State 1.

A couple things stand out to me. The first one is the dominance of UCLA. Rick Neuheisel seems to recognize the growth of the Inland Empire and made great efforts out here, signing Marlon Pollard, Jayson Allmond, Richard Brehaut, Jared Koster and Brandon Sermons. San Diego State, who "hasn't been out here in years" according to Cajon coach Kim Battin seems to be making an IE effort under new coach Brady Hoke. Oregon State had a big year, while Fresno State continues its steady haul of local talent.

A couple of oddities exist as you go further. One is Northwestern, which picked off Fleming and Arby Fields from the Baseline League despite its location in suburban Chicago. Another is SUNY Stony Brook, who signed Taj Johnson from Upland this year, took Dominick Reyes from Hesperia last year and was in on Daron Griffin. Seems like this Long Island school is a player.

Also, look out for New Mexico State and Eastern Michigan in the future. The Aggies are now coached by former UCLA defensive coordinator DeWayne Walker - who is well-versed in the area - while Eastern Michigan is now being coached by Ganesha graduate Ron English. English recruited Southern California well for Michigan while on Lloyd Carr's staff and pulled Titus Teague from Pomona for Louisville while serving as defensive coordinator there this past season. Don't be surprised if the Eagles start coming up in conversation among 2010 recruits.

Cajon defensive back Marlon Pollard verbally committed to UCLA after visiting the school on Jan. 10, decommitting from Notre Dame in the process. But that hasn't stopped the Fighting Irish from pursuing Pollard, a four-star recruit according to Rivals.com and Scout.com.

Notre Dame defensive coordinator Corwin Brown stopped by the Pollard household last Wednesday to meet with the 6-foot-1, 170-pound all-CIF and all-County first-team selection and will have an in-home with the Pollard family Wednesday night according to Marlon's mother, Rachael Pollard.

"We have a great deal of respect for Corwin and a great deal of appreciation for how Notre Dame has approached their recruitment of Marlon," Pollard said. "We believe in not closing doors and getting all the information possible. Corwin has been up front with Marlon throughout this entire process and wants to put all the information he has out on the table."

Rachael Pollard reiteriated that her son is 100 percent committed to UCLA, with whom Marlon committed to prior to his junior year at Valencia before decommitting after Karl Dorrell's firing for Notre Dame, citing the bond Marlon had with the players and UCLA head coach Rick Neuheisel.

"Marlon has a bond with the UCLA players and really wants to stay home and play in front of his family and friends," Rachael said. "That's the reason why we moved back to the Inland Empire to begin with. Our family is out here and Marlon was born in Pomona and played youth football in Rancho Cucamonga. He wanted to come back to where he was from.

"He wants to play in Southern California for coach Neuheisel. (Neuheisel) was very upfront about mistakes he made in his past and very honest about it, which is something we appreciate."

Marlon Pollard had already decided that he was going to come back to UCLA, with whom he had originally verbally committed to before decommitting to Notre Dame, during his official visit on Saturday.

But before the Cajon senior cornerback officially announced that, he had another comeback to take care of first.

"I was playing pool with (UCLA freshman defensive back) Rahim Moore and the stakes were that if I lost, I had to commit right away," Pollard said. "I didn't make any off the break and then he sunk five balls in a row. I thought I was going to lose for sure."

Pollard ended up making the miraculous billiards comeback, allowing him to keep his intentions quiet. But that's not something that Pollard could do for along as Bruin players, recruits, coaches and parents gathered together at head coach Rick Neuheisel's house.

"One of the other guys, I forgot his name, got up and announced his commitment 15 or 20 minutes later and I was like 'What about me, coach? What about me?'" Pollard said. "The coaches let me announce the commitment and everyone was happy."

Most importantly, Pollard is happy with being a Bruin, ending a nearly two-year recruiting saga. The 6-foot-1, 160-pound defensive back committed to UCLA coach Karl Dorrell before his junior year, only to decommit after Dorrell was fired. He then committed to Notre Dame over the summer, but UCLA kept up their pursuit. Stanford also joined in late.

"UCLA has been recruiting Marlon for over two years," said Marlon's mother, Rachael Pollard. "He was the youngest player ever to commit to UCLA. We just felt really comfortable with the players and coaches. We felt it was one big family. I'm very thankful to Stanford and Notre Dame for the interest they showed in Marlon."

Rachael Pollard also cited the job security, or lack thereof, of Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis as a factor. But ultimately, it was where Marlon felt comfortable that won out in her mind.

"It definitely helped that coach Neuheisel is going to be there 3-4 years at the very least," Pollard said. "But if there's one thing I've learned in this process, it's that at the end of the day, it's his decision. As a parent, you have your opinions, but it's needs to be his decision. And Marlon is really happy about UCLA and I'm happy for him. It's a comfortable, family environment with great education opportunities."

With Pollard, UCLA has a big Inland Empire contingent, as he joins Los Osos quarterback Richard Brehaut, Bloomington fullback Jayson Allmond and Diamond Ranch cornerback Brandon Sermons as Bruin committs. That connection, plus bonds he made with other players in the class, was important.

"Richard and I talk a lot," Pollard said. "I also have a pretty good relationship with (Carson TE) Morrell Presley and (La Puente Bishop Amat CB) Sheldon Price. I can't wait to play with all those guys."

As I mentioned in earlier posts, I covered the Inland Empire All-Star Football Classic last night, a game that didn't go too well for the San Bernardino boys, who fell 38-7 to Riverside.

The San Bernardino team, coached by Los Osos' Tom Martinez, didn't have the full arsenal that Riverside had, as several highly-touted, Division I-committed players who were scheduled to play during the week dropped out. Among those were Arroyo Valley offensive lineman Michael Philipp - the No. 1 guard in the nation according to Rivals.com, Los Osos QB Richard Brehaut, Cajon CB Marlon Pollard, Upland CB Osahon Irabor and Upland CB Taj Johnson. Upland QB Josh Nunes also didn't play, as a hand injury suffered in the Central Division title game with Rancho Cucamonga hasn't fully healed.

After talking to UCLA commit Jayson Allmond at the conclusion of the Inland Empire All-Star Football Classic, I learned that Cajon cornerback Marlon Pollard has switched his commitment back from Notre Dame to UCLA. A corresponding story has gone up on Rivals.com which can be read here.

"I just heard tonight," said Allmond after San Bernardino's 38-7 loss to Riverside County at Los Osos High School. "It's great to have him as a Bruin."

Pollard is on his official visit to UCLA this weekend, which is why he didn't take part in the all-star game. The 6-foot-1, 160-pound cornerback transferred to Cajon from Valencia last winter. He had verbally committed to UCLA in the summer of 2007 but decommitted over this past summer after Karl Dorrell was fired and Rick Neuheisel was hired. He committed to Notre Dame in July and said his commitment was solid when Charlie Weis visited the Cajon campus in early December, but concerns over Weis' job security and Neuheisel's persistence seems to have won out.

Pollard joins an Inland Empire-heavy Bruin recruiting class which includes Allmond, Los Osos QB Richard Brehaut and Diamond Ranch CB Brandon Sermons. I'll have a more in-depth account with Pollard himself up tomorrow.

Upland cornerback/wide receiver Osahon Irabor, a verbal commitment to Arizona State, cracked the Rivals250 Thursday, moving up to No. 248. In the process, the 5-foot-11, 180-pound senior was upgraded from a three-star recruit to four stars.

Other local players ranked in the Rivals250 are Arroyo Valley offensive lineman Michael Philipp (No. 38), Los Osos quarterback Richard Brehaut (No. 56) and Cajon cornerback/wide receiver Marlon Pollard (No. 148). Brehaut is committed to UCLA while Pollard is committed to Notre Dame.

Just outside the top 250 is Upland QB Josh Nunes (Stanford) and Diamond Ranch CB Brandon Sermons (UCLA).