UCLA trip worth it for Blakley
Chase Blakley made the trip from Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, to UCLA recently to watch spring practice and it was definitely worth the time.
The 6-foot-5, 227-pound four-star tight end did not get offered by the Bruins but he got a much better feel for the program, how coach Jim Mora and his staff run things and UCLA will stay on his list as his recruitment continues.
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"I just wanted to check out the school and I watched some practice," Blakley said. "We also got a chance to see the facilities. We were there for a few hours and spent some time after practice, too.
"I definitely like their system that they have down there. Jim Mora is definitely putting the team in shape. Their practices are pretty organized and they really get after it. They're pretty cool practices. I like how they do things down there.
"We toured the facilities - the weight room and the training room - and we got to see a lot of those things. They're definitely intense."
So far, Blakley has landed offers from Washington, Idaho, Idaho State and Eastern Washington but many other programs are showing interest and it could be a matter of time before things pick up even more.
Blakley is hopeful once college coaches see him work out in spring practice and he attends camps this summer that more offers could be on the way. The UCLA coaches are expected to stop by Coeur d'Alene in the coming weeks.
"The recruiting coordinator, the receivers coach, said he's going to come up here in the spring and check us out but they didn't really talk about an offer at all during the visit," Blakley said.
Still, things seem to be heating up.
According to Blakley, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Oregon State, Michigan, Florida and Wyoming have all reached out recently.