More Pitre
I spoke with UCLA fullback Michael Pitre a few minutes ago about the NCAA's decision not to award a sixth year of eligibility. He said he was surprised by it, and that UCLA's compliance folks "didn’t understand it.''
Pitre thought he had a good case because he missed his freshman season with a neck injury, and only played a handful of plays in one game last season because of a left knee injury.
I am checking with UCLA to see what happened.
Pitre added that he spoke to UCLA director of football operations Bob Lopez about it and running backs coach Wayne Moses, but not head coach Rick Neuheisel.
"He's on vacation and his phone is off,'' said Pitre, who added he learned about the denial Sunday. "I talked to Bob Lopez and coach Moses."
Pitre said his injured left knee is "about 85 percent," and he would wait to workout for NFL teams until he was closer to 100 percent.
1 Comments
Leave a comment
About Inside UCLA
This is Brian Dohn's sixth season covering UCLA after spending 4 1/2 years covering the Dodgers for the Daily News and other Los Angeles Newspaper Group papers. He graduated from Rutgers, where the first college football game was played in 1869. Sure, the Scarlet Knights suffered for a long time, but now RU is doing what Jerseyans always thought was possible. Winning at Rutgers also proves winning is possible everywhere else in the nation, so underachieving coaches better be careful. Now, if only men's hoops can turn it around.
It is a shame that Pitre did not get another year of eligibility. He was a superb blocker and could always be counted on to get some yards on a pass reception at a critical time in the game. While he did not dominate the fullback positon like OSU's "Earthquake Enyart," his absence is going to hurt the Bruin's running game.