Stevens makes his decision
Hemet (Calif.) offensive lineman Hamani Stevens told us a few weeks ago at the NIKE Camp in Oregon that he could make a commitment any time. That turned out to be Saturday as Stevens decided to stay close to home to play his college ball.
Stevens, 6-3, 280 pounds is a potential top 100 player nationally and really wowed onlookers at the NIKE Camp in Eugene. He's a very talented guard prospect who could also play center in college.
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"I committed on Saturday to UCLA," Stevens said. "I had been thinking about doing it for awhile and when I talked to Coach Connelly, he kind of let me know that they didn't have a lot of space left and if I didn't commit, that spot might not be there forever.
"UCLA has everything I'm looking for. It's close to home, the academics are great, I like the coaches and I'll have a chance to play early there. They said I would play guard or center and either one is fine with me.
"I played center my freshman year before playing guard and tackle the last three years. You have to do a lot more thinking at center and really know the defense but I'll do whatever they want me to do."
Stevens said despite his commitment, he still plans to take some official visits and will also camp this week with early season favorite USC.
"I just want to see how the camp goes and how I do there," Stevens said. "I liked USC a lot early on and if they decided to offer, that would definitely make things interesting for me but I'm pretty sure I'll still with UCLA.
"I still want to take visits to Oregon, Colorado and probably Michigan State but UCLA said they're fine with that. I just want to see some other schools that I've never seen before but like I said, I'm happy with UCLA and that's where I'll likely end up."