Bruins, Bears working on Ward

Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei four-star offensive guard Chris Ward has a slew of scholarship offers from schools like Arizona, Stanford, Washington and Washington State. But it's two other offers that really stand out at this point.

"I'd say it was a tie between UCLA and Cal," Ward, who is 6-foot-4 and 285 pounds, said. "They are both quite different towns than each other, though. L.A. is kind of like where I live now, and then Cal was more forestry and stuff like that, but I really enjoyed my time at both."

" I like both coaching staffs a whole lot. I like their coaching style. They are both really energetic and very one-on-one, and I really like that about them. It is kind of what it's like here (at Mater Dei), so it is really comfortable for me."

Ward has seen a lot of places that have already offered him, and he likes what he's seen. He also likes developing relationships with the coaches recruiting him.

"I talk to all of the coaches at UCLA pretty much," he said. "I've talked to coach Bob Palcic quite a bit. I really enjoy talking to him. I talk to him about once a week whether it be through e-mail or on the phone, we usually just try and catch up a little bit. I also talk to the coaches at Cal quite a bit. Coach Tosh Lupoi and I talk all the time."

Ward said there's one school that could jump up high on his list if it were to offer. That school is USC.

"I'm not really waiting on USC to offer, but I think there would definitely be interest there if they were to start recruiting me a little more," he said. "I'm think I am going to try and get down to the USC and UCLA spring games."