Dorton raves about Pac-12 visit

Malik Dorton already had UCLA as one of his favorites and after attending the Bruins' game against USC this past weekend they've moved up even higher.

"There was already a lot of interest with UCLA being the hometown school and my family wanting me to stay close," Dorton said.

"They still have my top interest, they're one of my top choices, and that win really put the icing on the cake."

The 2014 defensive end from Bellflower (Calif.) St. John Bosco has early offers from Arizona State, Oregon State, Utah and Utah State. The Bruins continue to show interest but have not offered yet.

"They've been keeping in touch with me, sending me e-mails to let me know what's going on and I try to stay in touch as much as I can," Dorton said.

Dorton has been to UCLA before but this trip was extra special since the cross-town rivalry with USC has been ramped up this season since the Bruins are playing so well amid a turnaround.

The St. John Bosco standout said he had an outstanding experience at the Rose Bowl and UCLA is clearly one of the favorites for Dorton, an early four-star prospect by Rivals.com.

"The environment was wonderful to go through the tunnel with the other recruits and to be around them," Dorton said.

"It was lovely being around there with some teammates and my friends who play football. Just to walk through the tunnel together was a great feeling and it was great to be in an environment like that. It was a big cross-town rivalry and something special, history in the making. I had a great time.

"Just watching those guys I was very happy for them. UCLA has come a long way. To start off like this with a new system and a new coaching staff, they've done a great job, and it will make more kids look at UCLA. They could think UCLA is the school for them. They're winning, they beat SC and they showed they could play with the big dogs."