Here’s what Renardo Sidney had to say when I asked whether UCLA had ever backed off of him in terms of recruiting:

“I’m not for sure what happened, but they were a school that I wanted to go to. Virginia was a school, Mississippi State, but like I said, I chose USC because I thought it was a great school to go to.

“It was very close. It was a nail-biter. But my family pulled together and we chose the best school for me.”

When asked more specifically about whether UCLA had pulled out of the running, he said:

“My mom and dad, my parents, don’t give me the info about that stuff, so you’ll have to ask them.”

Later, I spoke with both of his parents and both denied UCLA had pulled out and were insistent that Renardo had never committed to UCLA. I’ll have more on that a bit later.