Exclusive: A reWarding visit

Mater Dei offensive lineman Chris Ward didn’t have much to say about his official visit to UCLA.

He’s already said everything there is to say about the Bruins.

The No. 5 guard in the country has been a verbal commit to UCLA since October, and used his official visit to just grow closer with some in the incoming class.

“It went awesome,”Ward said (and click here for Scout profile). “Definitely made me firm up my decision. It was really cool going to Coach Neuheisel’s house with the parents and the recruits – it kind of shows how cool Coach Neu is. He’s kind of like family. I approached it as it was a time for meeting the other guys. I already knew it was the place for me.”

Along with some recent UCLA recruits, Ward toured the campus and facilities, including the Rose Bowl and the team hotel.

“We got to tour around the Rose Bowl and the locker room and some of those guys haven’t seen it,” Ward said. “It was kind of cool to see their reactions. Going to see the hotel they stay at for home games – that’s just outstanding – I was sort of surprised to see they get to go there for every game.”

With the coaching situation at USC, Ward says it’s time to pounce.
“I definitely think we’re going to put UCLA back on the map, that’s for sure,” Ward said. “It’s all kind of coming into place somehow, just like Coach Neu was telling us earlier. We were getting to know these guys even before the Pete Carroll thing came come up, and right when that happened everyione was like ‘Oh, wow, this really is the place to be right now.'”