Shepherd impressed by stop at UCLA
Prior to his visit to UCLA, X'avier Shepherd said he was excited to see more of the campus, meet some of the other coaches and watch practice and after returning home the Lakewood, Calif., wide receiver had only good things to say about the Bruins.
Shepherd, a 6-foot, 175-pound prospect, was happy to get a more in-depth look at what the new coaches are trying to do in Westwood.
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"I got to talk with the coaches and meet some of the coaches I didn't get to meet," Shepherd said. "I got to look over some of the plays and see some of the things they were doing and it was pretty enlightening. It was really nice.
"The coaching staff is really great. I got to meet different position coaches and they were talking about me and they seemed excited to meet me. When I first got there I talked with coach (Steve) Broussard so I got to meet others and then I met coach (Eric) Yarber and he showed me around the facilities.
"I got a chance to be with the receivers in their meeting. It was pretty good and it was a nice experience. I got to look over some of their plays and they showed me how they use their receivers so it was really good."
UCLA has already offered Shepherd, who looked good at the recent New Level Athletics Elite 7on7 in Las Vegas, but the coaches have not been pressuring him to commit.
The Bruins are definitely a strong contender but Shepherd said he isn't ready to make any decisions.
"They weren't really pressing that issue," Shepherd said. "I did get asked a couple times but it wasn't something they were really forcing. It wasn't anything too serious.
"I was asked to come back, whenever I get the chance to come back, and then we'll see where it goes from there."
Utah is the latest offer for Shepherd, who also lists offers from Colorado and Oregon State. He doesn't know too much about the Utes yet but wants to learn more about the offense.
"I got offered but I'm not too familiar with the offense there," Shepherd said.
"I was told Lakewood runs the same offense so that's really good. I liked to hear that. It would be cool to play in something similar to Lakewood. I'll be doing more research on that school."