McKinley brings surprise eligibility to UCLA

The situation is somewhat complicated, but Takkarist McKinley doesn't much care about that. All the four-star junior college defensive tackle knows is that he signed with UCLA on Thursday afternoon and is eligible to play for the Bruins immediately.

It's the strange conclusion of an aggressive recruitment that ended at a time when few expected it would. McKinley only recently discovered he was a full qualifier and the fact that he's yet to play a junior college game this season gives him four years to play three seasons for the Bruins.

It also gives him reason to hustle his move to Westwood along.

"I'm going to get to UCLA on Tuesday," McKinley said. "My cousin and my Aunt are going to drive me down. I'll get situated with the dorms when I get there and go from there. I don't know if I'll play this season or red shirt. That's all on them, but most of the other schools that recruited me wanted me to play right away."

A standout rush defensive end at California's Contra Costa Community College, McKinley says he "fell in love" with UCLA on an unofficial visit this summer. So when he discovered he was eligible to play on the FBS level this season, his decision was easy.

He wanted to stay close to his California family home home no matter what. His relationship with the Bruins' coaching staff was just a perk - a perk that helped finalize his choice.

"Coach Angus McClure, the defensive line coach, is actually the one who found out I wasn't a non-qualifier," McKinley said. "He had been recruiting me since I was a sophomore in high school. He helped me a lot. He talked to my high school and my school district and helped me get accepted to UCLA. I became a qualifier last week. Today, all I had to do was sign."

McKinley, who committed to Cal out of high school in 2013, was ranked as the No. 5 junior college player in the class of 2015 before being reclassified. He has a redshirt available to him should the Bruins decide to use it this season. He chose UCLA over 15 other scholarship offers.