Rivals top 250 prospect gets another offer

Linebacker Maurice Simmons (6-1, 204, 4.7) from Compton (Calif.) Dominguez is a member of the Rivals.com 250 players to watch and for good reason. He has seen his offers rise to six and there is good reason to think that number will rise over the next week or as there are other colleges who are considering offering Simmons a scholie.

Simmons received an offer from UCLA on Friday and needless to say he was very excited about it.

"It was awesome," Simmons said about his UCLA offer. "It made me that my hard work is paying off.

"I was overwhelmed by the UCLA offer," Simmons said. "I didn't even know that UCLA was looking at me. UCLA is only 20 minutes to my house and I have always liked them."

Simmons is a very versatile player who could play safety on the D-I level but the Bruins are recruiting him as a linebacker.

As a junior Simmons earned his league's Defensive Player of the Year award after accounting for approximately 160 tackles, five sacks, four forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries (one that he returned to the house for a score) and on pick.

The scouting report on Simmons is he has size, speed, athleticism, and known as a powerful hitter who can deliver the knockout punch.

Besides UCLA, Simmons has offers from Colorado, Nebraska, Ole Miss, Oregon and Oregon State.

USC, Cal, Notre Dame, and Florida are recruiting him too. He recently attended USC's junior day and was very impressed by the Trojan program.

"USC's junior day was awesome," Simmons said. "I saw a lot of good players there and coaches I admire like Pete Carroll and Ken Norton Jr.

"We ate and we went over football," Simmons said. "Everything was up tempo. The players and the coaches really bonded.

"Right now I'm just analyzing every college that has shown interest in me with my parents," Simmons said. "I would like to commit before the season, but that is not set in stone.

"If I don't make my mind up before the season then I will take some official visits," Simmons said. "Right now there are a lot of schools that I like.

"I really like USC and Ole Miss right now," Simmons said. "My brother played at USC when Coach O (Ed Orgeron) was a coach there and I like him.

"I also like Notre Dame they are recruiting me hard," Simmons said. "So is Oregon and they have already offered me.

"I also like Cal and Florida," Simmons said. "They are both recruiting me."

"UCLA is right there too," Simmons said. "I think I would have an excellent chance playing there early because they will be losing linebackers after the season.

"My Mom was almost happier than me when I got my offer from UCLA," Simmons said. "I bonded with all of their coaches and like them a lot. So does my Mom."