Bruins still on roll, land No. 9

UCLA landed a very gifted athlete prospect Christian Ramirez (6-2, 195, 4.6) from Imperial, Calif. Imperial high is also the school that former Bruin great and now St. Louis Ram linebacker Robert Thomas attended. Thomas was on campus yesterday because Imperial retired his number and perhaps he made one more standout play for the Bruins since Ramirez pulled the trigger

"Christian called UCLA head of football operations Bob Lopez and committed," Imperial coach Steve Cato said. "Yesterday Robert Thomas was on campus to get his number retired and he told Christian if there was anything he could for him to just call him."

"Christian is an incredible athlete," Cato said. "Besides football, he can play basketball, baseball and track."

"There isn't anything Christian can't do on the football field," Cato said. "He hits, he runs, he returns kicks, he punts and he can catch."

"Another thing about Christian is he's only 16 years old and already 6-foot-2 ½," Cato said. "He's a great student and an outstanding young man."

"The only problem that UCLA will have with Christian is where to play him," Cato said. "That's a good problem to have."

Ramirez fits the profile of the type of football player that UCLA is recruiting. No matter what the position, the Bruins are recruiting athletes and they picked up a good one in Ramirez.

Ramirez was a one-man wrecking crew on both sides of the ball for Imperial as a junior. He started at running back, linebacker, punter, and returned punts and kicks.

On the offensive side of the ball, Ramirez rushed for 1,558 yards and 23 touchdowns. He also caught nine passes for 203 yards and four touchdowns through the air. out of the backfield.

Defensively, Ramirez recorded 45 tackles, five forced fumbles and four sacks.

On special teams he averaged 40 yards per punt, 32.5 yards per punt return and 29 yards per kick return.

San Diego State also offered Ramirez a scholarship. He was getting recruiting attention from Arizona State, Washington, Washington State, Oklahoma, Boston College, and LSU.