Nottingham flips to Stanford

Well that blows. I'm not going to hate on the kid. Academics are a solid reason to go to a school no matter what. Stanford does have great academics. UCLA also has pretty tremendous academics.

It's too bad. You want a QB in every class even if Prince ends up the starter for the next 3 years. I wish Brett luck if Neuheisel doesn't talk him into coming back.

Honestly guys, I know the first reaction is anger, and then to find things bad about Stanford or about Brett. Let's let it go.

Let's remember...its USC that SUCs.

Guess he wasn't impressed with Rick's 11-14 record.

I don't know. QB is the most important position on the team and you think you have your guy committed on June 23rd, 2009 so you stop recruiting the position hard and the guy flips on you two weeks before official signing day. I just read an interview on Bruin Report Online where the guy seemed in love with UCLA and said he was just going to visit Stanford to say hi to a few guys. He threw for a ton of yards but on video he really didn't look like he had a very strong arm to me. A lot of his yards came after dumpy little screens. I'm not going to wish him well. He left UCLA holding the bag at the last minute so have fun sitting behind Andrew Luck for the next three years. His stated reason for flipping...Stanford's academics? He didn't fully realize Stanford's academic strength until yesterday?

Good point. Bash away.

Thought it might not be done yet.

Meh.. rumor has it NC wasn't a fan... I trust his judgment.

Yeah, I recall Gold saying that the staff was not really impressed with any of the quarterbacks at our camp, including Nottingham. He was just the best of a mediocre group.

I always felt Nottingham was an unusual 'get' considering Prince and Brehault, very, very solid and still being both underclassmen. Sure it would be fun for us to stockpile these guys but this kid had to have seen he was going to be stonewalled for a couple of years. I think next year is a much more logical year for a top tier quarterback to look at our program and the following year even more so. Good luck to this guy. I hope he realises Gearheart is gone. No hard feelings here.

Ugh. I don't begrudge Nottingham his change of heart - obviously with all the recent turmoil, it simply highlights that NOBODY within the process of recruiting is truly tied down, even to the highest level.

However, losing him really hurts. He looked good at several camps, and was one of the early signees who had been noted as "recruiting for UCLA" more than once. To see him change programs now, at such a late date, is a frustrating development not only for the immediate cost (losing Nottingham) but for the message it sends to other student-athletes considering UCLA.

I can't honestly say I wish him well on the field in the future. However, I certainly hope his Stanford degree will serve him well in every other aspect of his life. After all, that's why he changed schools, isn't it?

How many quarterbacks does Stanford have and what class are each of them in?

Kids these days have know idea about honoring their words! Why even take a verbal commitment these days. It makes no sense. Either have one early signing period and one late one or don't take verbals.

If I had child going through the recruitment process I would definitely tell him, if you give your verbal commitment then you stand by it unless two things happen. The HC leaves or the school gets put on probation.

Wow, Nottingham did not think this through. Luck is set at QB for the next 3 yrs (Stanford QBs don't leave early, not even John Elway). Cardinals already have Josh Nunes (of whom UCLA picked Brehaut over) and Taysom Hill behind Luck, and Dallas Lloyd (ranked ahead of Brett)committed for this yr. Even if he red-shirts, he'll be in a 4-way competition to play after Luck graduates 3 yrs from now. While the Bruins don't actually have a set starter and after Prince, Brehaut and Crissman leaves, he would've been by himself. It's doubtful Harbaugh really needs him to add to the QB stockpile, he just got the wrong idea that a(ny) Stanford degree would set him for life, when Stanford, Cal and UCLA are all closely ranked within the Top 24 academically.

I'm not hating on the kid. If he wants to go to Stanford then go for it! At least he isn't going to Oregon State where we're left saying...you left us for Oregon STATE? Stanford academics are...well its Stanford. And obviously happy he isn't going to the tOeJams.

Wow, Nottingham did not think this through. Luck is set at QB for the next 3 yrs (Stanford QBs don't leave early, not even John Elway). Cardinals already have Josh Nunes (of whom UCLA picked Brehaut over) and Taysom Hill behind Luck, and Dallas Lloyd (ranked ahead of Brett)committed for this yr. Even if he red-shirts, he'll be in a 4-way competition to play after Luck graduates 3 yrs from now. While the Bruins don't actually have a set starter and after Prince, Brehaut and Crissman leaves, he would've been by himself. It's doubtful Harbaugh really needs him to add to the QB stockpile, he just got the wrong idea that a(ny) Stanford degree would set him for life, when Stanford, Cal and UCLA are all closely ranked within the Top 24 academically.

While I am disappointed with his choice and had been looking forward toward his being a Bruin after seeing him play, he certainly has the freedom and ability to change his mind. The academics and playing close to home are good reasons for his choice. Plus he might prefer Harbaugh rather than Neu as his head coach. Let's just consider this as a trade for Malcolm Jones, who might have been leaning toward the farm before picking us. Until a player signs his LOI, he is fair game. The same people who are crying over this would not object to a major $c recruit changing to be a Bruin. Under the current system, a verbal is just that and becomes less meaningful every day. Don't count yer chickens till they hatch on signing day!

Good luck to him. That frees up a skolly. He wasn't even offered by UCLA until camp (which didn't have a lot of other QB competition there). We either go after an elite level QB or focus on more positions of need. We already have 2 young QBs inline with others in sight.

Not a big loss. He was a third or fourth choice, with just an average arm. He's still a good QB, don't get me wrong, but he wouldn't have been an impact player at UCLA. At UCLA, he would have rode the pine for 3 years or ended up as a transfer.

It's more important to have an impact QB in this upcoming 2011 class.

Come on dude, academics??? It's pretty clear lil Brett was just afraid to leave home. Why else would he subject himself to that QB logjam at Stanford. Don't worry Bwett, even though you may not play for four years, this way you can stay close to all ur fwiends and famiwy.

I had a feeling that Nottingham was going to flip while reading his statements on scout. Lets remember this is a 17/18 year old kid with a lot on his mind. Being an UCLA alum, I want kids that EMBRACE the choice to go to UCLA. All we can do is wish him luck and move on to the next available QB that wants to go to UCLA. I think we are ok at QB without a committment in this class. Lets use that scholarship for a much needed DT/DL committ.

Let's not forget the years of losing Ben Olson and Pat Cowan to injuries and substituting them with Osaar Rasshan, McLeod Bethel-Thompson and Craft that constitued the lost years of UCLA offense (of which the Bruins are just starting to recover from). Given Prince, Brehaut and Crissman are basically rendered as the same class yr now, UCLA needs to secure at least 1 quality QB every class yr for competitive continuity and in case of injuries or transfers. CRN needs to get on the horn with the likes of Jake Heaps, Jesse Scroggins, Bryan Bennett and Peter Thomas and gauge their interests being the only QB recruit of UCLA this class yr.

I don't blame this kid one bit, after all it is Stanford. Look, I love UCLA with all of my heart but I fell in love with Stanford after I was already entrenched as a UCLA student. (Yes, sometimes I even wonder if I should've gone there instead.) But maybe this kid knows he's no sure thing for the pros and might as well get the most he can with his skills NOW -- like a free $50,000+ per year education from an elite private university. Heck, considering how much even the elite publics, like UCLA and Cal, have to scratch and claw for public funding these days I'd probably make the same choice!

He flips to Stanford. I flip him the bird!

Best wishes to him...there is no firm commitment until NSD and I won't begrudge him for going to Stanford for the academics and to stay closer to home.

If RN and NC still want a QB for this class, we're now in great position to poach someone that was interested but turned a different direction after Nottingham committed back in June.

How do we know that in reevaluating recent developments on the recruiting front and a reassessment of needs, that the coaching staff did not give him a gentle nudge to maybe pursue other opportunities he had available to him at this point. It just seems a bit odd given how long he has been committed, what he has been saying, and the family ties to UCLA. Maybe not likely, but a possibility nonetheless.

My thoughts. Like Dr. Mario said he was our 4th choice (Hinder, Boisture & Graham. 2nd I am more concerned about him yapping in Zumwalt's ear all weekend. Last he would have Red Shirted so assuming he was good enough he could have started for 2 years.

This switch seems pretty solid since he took his official visit to Westwood last week. Oh well, good luck kid...

It must be the academics because Harbaugh will be long gone by the time Nottingham is ready to compete for the starting QB spot.

Best of luck to the kid.

Standard recruiting paractice is to space your high-end QB gets two years apart. We don't need Nottingham right now, as KP and RB will be in the program for three more seasons. What you want is to land a guy next year, so that when KP & RB are juniors, you are prepping your younger QB to step up.

I don't have a problem with a guy choosing to go to another school, but to CONSISTENTLY claim he is solid to UCLA then pull the rug out from underneath 2.5 weeks from Signing Day is total b.s. This kid is from a UCLA family, but did Neu and company like Lame did Tennessee. What in the heck happened to integrity? When did lying and being deceitful become alright? At least Norm Chow and DeWayne Walker give us hope that all is not lost in this "Me First" world.

The Stanford football team has a much brighter immediate future than UCLA.

i wouldn't scream too loudly about the last minute flip. UCLA has gotten a few to go the other way the past few years, including Kevin Prince. That genius coach you had here before, Mr. Dorrell, wasn't even smart enough to recruit Prince so he was a Washington commit until about this point in time, when he finally got some love from the incoming staff and changed his mind. This is just things evening out.

husky fan,

I guess recruiting is akin to war to some degree. After all, I think I was celebrating with everyone else when Morrell Pressley and Randall Carroll flipped last year. Sucks when it happens to us, but you're correct.

Anon, I don't know if Stanford has a 'much brighter immediate future' than UCLA now. Without Gerhart, it changes things significantly. (remember that UCLA lost by a td to Stanford last year while Prince was benched with the broken jaw). If Norm Chow's offense can start clicking, things would look up immediately.