Fantastic article on Neuheisel

My former colleague turned bitter, hated rival* Ramona Shelburne absolutely smashed this feature on Rick Neuheisel today. Some incredible tidbits about Neuheisel’s college life, his change in philosophies and his attempt to grasp control of the LA football scene.

Here’s the link: CRN Feature

*For those who don’t understand sarcasm, Ramona is one of my best friends and is tearing it up at ESPNLA. We miss her at the Daily News.

EXCLUSIVE: Owamagbe Odighizuwa Opens Up

This late in the recruiting process, I’m frankly stunned when any major recruit answers a phone call, much less gives me 15 minutes. But Owamagbe Odighizuwa – profile here – is not your typical prospect. While he is weary of the process and eagerly awaits making his decision, he has been remarkably candid and is quite honest when he says he does not know where he’ll sign.

Here’s my interview after the jump…

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Weekly Answers, Pt. 9

1) What do you think the depth chart on offense will look like come spring? – AnonymousPrince (Brehaut), Franklin (Jones), Coleman, Rosario (Carroll), Embree (Smith), Harkey (Fauria), Abele (Baca), Baca (Taylor), Maiava (Taylor), Williams (Kia), Harris (Capella).

2) So when are you going to post your bio? – AnonymousWhat do you want to know?

3) while it has much to do with how good they perform next year, do you see rahim moore or ayers bolting to the nfl after their jr. years? – Anonymous
No, both have a lot to learn about patience and gap assignment. For as good as they are, both are extremely raw. In other words…watch out.

4) Do you think coach Caldwell can put the Lady Bruins at the top of the PAC10?Do you agree she was a great hire? – BRUINBEATCH
I think Caldwell was a fantastic hire – anyone who learned under, played for, and coached with Pat Summit is a great hire – and I do expect UCLA women’s hoops to start climbing in the Pac-10.

5) Have you thought about making each q & a a topical thing? For example one day it’ll be all recruiting questions. Another day it would be all basketball questions. All football 09 questiings. All basketball recruiting. All hypotheticals and so on and so forth. Just a thought. – Anonymous
Questions come rolling in throughout the week, so it would be difficult. At some point, I will do more specific Q&A’s, though, because that’s a good suggestion.

On the Marsh

The wheel of fortune that is Cassius Marsh’s recruiting seems to have finally stopped, and it appears Rick Neuheisel is heading to the bonus round.

The Oaks Christian defensive tackle verbally committed to UCLA on Tuesday night, potentially filling a huge position of need for the late-charging Bruins.

Marsh, rated the No. 8 defensive tackle prospect in the country by Scout.com, originally committed to Cal in late April before decommitting a month later, eventually flipping to Louisiana State in late October. After playing in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl in San Antonio in early January, there were rumblings that he might want to stay closer to home. He remained a Tiger commit until Tuesday night, when Neuheisel and Co. lured him back to Southern California.

“That’s the way it is today – at this point, I’m saying and he’s saying he’s going to UCLA,” Oaks Christian head coach Bill Redell said. “He went to Cal before the season even started – he’s really a good kid, and I think he kinda doesn’t like to say no to some people. He’s impressed with all these guys, and he should be impressed with them. But he kind of got his heart in front of his head sometimes.

“When he went back for the Army game, he was away from home for a week, and I think he recognized – and this shows some maturity – that he didn’t like being away from home.”

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