Lots of videos today: We had the UCLA media debuts for many early enrollees. In total, we have freshmen Mique Juarez, Lokeni Toailoa and JJ Molson, junior college transfers Takkarist McKinley, who transferred in the middle of 2014 last season (whoops), and Nick Terry, and redshirt freshman Cordell Broadus.
Jim Mora also stopped by to talk about Saturday’s Spring Showcase and the Dan Guerrero controversy.
UCLA has lost five players as early entries into the 2016 NFL draft, but are set to welcome just as many newcomers this week.
Five 2016 recruits have enrolled as Bruins, according to the UCLA Registrar: receiver Theo Howard, linebacker Breland Brandt, linebacker Lokeni Toailoa, defensive back Leni Toailoa, and kicker JJ Molson.
Monday is the first day of classes for UCLA’s winter quarter. Molson’s arrival in Westwood will be delayed by a week, due to his participation in the Army All-American Bowl on Jan. 9 in San Antonio.
Quarterback Matt Lynch, receiver Demetric Felton and defensive tackle Nick Terry have also signed financial aid agreements with UCLA, but are not yet listed on the registrar.
Three-star safety Leni Toailoa has verbally committed to UCLA, joining the Bruins’ 2016 class along with his brother Lokeni.
Lokeni Toailoa, a four-star linebacker, picked the Bruins in March during a ceremony in Rancho Cucamonga for Ground Zero — a football training center and 7-on-7 program based in the Inland Empire. That same day, Leni announced his decision to attend San Jose State.
However, UCLA also extended the younger Toailoa an offer in July, and finally prompted him to change his mind on Monday. The 6-foot-1, 190-pound athlete is rated one of the top-15 safeties in the west by Scout.com.
Both the Toailoa brothers play at Carter High in Rialto, the alma mater of UCLA’s starting nose tackle Kenny Clark.
Signing Day is almost a year away, but UCLA is already pulling in some big-time 2016 recruits.
Four-star inside linebacker Lokeni Toailoa was one of two players who committed to the Bruins on Monday, bringing their total verbal commitments to six. Three of those are ranked top-15 at their position according to both Rivals.com and Scout.com.
Toailoa is rated the second-best inside linebacker in the country by both recruitingservices, and is a star at Rialto Carter High — the alma mater of UCLA defensive tackle Kenny Clark. He picked the Bruins over USC.
“It’s a great fit for me and my family,” Toailoa said. “It’s right down the street. … It wasn’t really the coaches. Football coaches come and go, but I could just see myself as a Bruin.”
Linebacker depth was a need following the departure of Butkus Award winner Eric Kendricks, and Toailoa joins four-star prospect Khrys Barnes and five-star defensive end/outside linebacker Breland Brandt as the next members of a growing pipeline.
Also announcing for UCLA on Monday was three-star athlete Demetric Felton. The 5-foot-10, 170-pounder from Temecula Great Oak is a top-50 recruit in California, and is expected to play slot receiver for the Bruins.
