Five-star happy with UCLA
Breland Brandt showed up to the Ground Zero commitment ceremony on Monday to watch his friends pick schools and two of them selected UCLA.
For the five-star from Los Angeles Windward, his recruitment has basically been over for many months because Brandt picked the Bruins in early October and has not looked back.
Advertisement
Even with a significant coaching change at his future position, Brandt said he's perfectly happy with UCLA and is not even considering any other schools at this point.
"I was glad I was able to come to a consensus and know where I wanted to go," Brandt said. "Getting that done early was a good feeling.
"UCLA was somewhere I would go to if I didn't play any sports. It's somewhere I've looked at as a kid, somewhere I always thought of going and when they offered me it was kind of like a no-brainer."
Coach Jeff Ulbrich left UCLA for the NFL but Brandt stays in contact with him and has developed a stronger relationship with new linebackers coach Scott White. The five-star is ranked as a weak-side defensive end for now by Rivals.com but it looks like outside linebacker will be his spot with the Bruins.
"Coach Ulbrich ended up leaving but that didn't even affect me because I still keep in contact with him now and I'm hoping to maybe go with him to the next level," Brandt said. "It's been great. I love talking to those guys, they're great people and I can't wait to play for them.
"I knew coach White when he was with coach Ulbrich so we've been close for a while. I talk to him almost every week."
There has actually been some talk of Brandt, an athletic 6-foot-4, 220-pound prospect, playing tight end but it looks like linebacker is the targeted spot at this point. He's perfectly fine with it and Brandt said he realizes he would have to transform his body to play defensive end.
"It's looking more like linebacker," Brandt said. "I think they'll put me on the line as kind of a hybrid sometimes but right now they're talking more linebacker.
"To be a d-end I would have to gain a lot more weight so right now I'm just preparing to be a linebacker, working on my footwork and staying in the gym."
Other schools continue to pursue the Los Angeles Windward standout but Brandt, who will be an early enrollee, said many of them are catching on that he's happy with the Bruins and not looking around any longer.
"Everything has been pretty much the same," Brandt said. "I still get letters and calls and everything, it's still pretty hectic but I think they're starting to get the feeling that I'm sticking with UCLA."
Rivals.com rates Brandt as the No. 22 prospect in the country and he's second behind Fresno (Calif.) Clovis West outside linebacker Caleb Kelly in the California state rankings.