Ankou completes West Coast swing

Ottawa, Canada defensive end Eli Ankou picked up his first scholarship offer of the recruiting process from UCLA back in March. Last week, the 6-3, 255-pound Ankou made a trek to the West Coast to see the Bruins and their crosstown rival USC.

"I spent the last week on the West Coast and went to UCLA and USC for camps," Ankou said. "I did really good, actually, and the camps were awesome."

With an offer from UCLA already in hand, Ankou's appearance in Westwood was more about seeing the campus and working with the coaching staff than putting his skills on display.

"I finally got to see the coaches and finally got to see what the whole campus was all about. I think it was a really good environment and they were pretty excited to see me. It was really good school, really good campus and really good coaches. There's not much more you can ask for and puts my interest even higher."

USC had not offered prior to Ankou's camp appearance, and he did not pick up one during his visit, but the Trojan's coaching staff had positive feedback for him.

"Initially, they liked my frame and then they saw more of how I played and liked my speed as well as my size put together with my strength," Ankou said. "I'm just going to keep working on those strong points and getting them better. There's not an offer yet, but I understand all their restrictions."

Ankou had hoped to add a third leg to his trip by flying to the East Coast to camp with Rutgers before flying home, but he tweaked a hamstring in the final minutes of his camp stay at USC and decided to forego the cross-country flight. He does not have any other camps planned for the remainder of the summer.

Besides UCLA, Ankou also has offers from Vanderbilt and Virginia.

"They are three good schools that I am really excited about," he said.

Ankou does not know for sure when a decision will come, but expects his recruitment to last into the fall. His primary focus for the next couple months will be transitioning to a new high school program.

"I will be going to Red Lion Christian Academy [Delaware] and finishing my career there," Ankou said. "They have something really good going, and I'm excited to be a part of that. I am trying to get a feel for the American style of football so I will be more prepared for college."