When a major program loses a key recruit, Rivals.com takes a look at how big of a blow it is to the respective school, analyzing it from a local and national level. To quantify the “sting” of each decommitment, we assign a score from 1-10, with one being no big deal and 10 being a catastrophic hit.
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CLASS OF 2021 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | Position | Team | State
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THE STORYLINE
Deshun Murrell was a big score for UCLA’s recruiting class, a talented three-star running back from the Southeast who could come to Los Angeles and make himself a star.
Nothing off the field seemed to make sense. Murrell is from Centreville (Ala.) Bibb County, a hometown of less than 3,000 people. Coming to the sprawling metropolis of Los Angeles could have been a major change, one that definitely could have worked out for Murrell as well.
Despite his recent decommitment, the Bibb County standout who has put up huge numbers in recent seasons still has the Bruins among his top three. Talking with Southeast analyst Chad Simmons, Murrell said because he wasn’t able to take visits during the COVID-19 pandemic, he just wants to cover all bases before making a final decision.
UCLA, Oklahoma State and Penn State are the top three for one of the Southeast’s best running backs. Getting him back in the class would be huge for the Bruins but there is serious competition now with the Nittany Lions and the Cowboys, plus USC and Iowa State are showing new interest as well.
LOCAL REACTION
“It is never good to lose a recruit that fits your system and the school's image. Even though Deshun Murrell is from the country, and Los Angeles is a mega-city, his intelligence, demeanor, and attitude, not to mention his running ability is what UCLA looks for. He has a lot of the same qualities that Joshua Kelley has.
“With that understood, some were thinking that it was always a possibility that Murrell would think better of traveling all across the nation and find a school closer to home and maybe a little more country than rock and roll. Still, Bruin fans are holding out hope that he will end up in Westwood, and some of the sting is lessened because UCLA is among the top three and 33 percent of a chance is better than zero.” - Rick Kimbrel, BruinBlitz.com
Sting factor: 7
NATIONAL REACTION
“This one hurts because Chip Kelly and company really liked this kid and thought they had a steal. He’s still considering UCLA but without the ability to visit it’s unlikely he heads there. His physical running style would have been a nice fit in the Pac-12 where he’d be more or a rarity.” — Mike Farrell, National Recruiting Director
Sting factor: 8
