Woods sets the record straight
With all the rumors swirling around about four-star safety prospect E.J. Woods (6-0, 192, 4.49) from Encino (Calif.) Crespi the talented called the office to set the record straight.
"I'm going to visit UCLA this weekend and that's where I'm going to college," Woods said. "I've told my family and I've told my girlfriend that I'm going to attend UCLA. I want all UCLA alumni and all UCLA fans to know that I'm attending UCLA.
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"There was a time where I was thinking that I wouldn't qualify for UCLA," Woods said. "So I had to have a backup plan.
"I visited Washington and then Colorado," Woods said. "There are both up and coming programs.
"But I made a commitment to UCLA in March and now that I'm qualified I'm going to stick to my word that I gave to UCLA back in March.
"I only have talked to Coach Rick Neuheisel for about five minutes so I don't really know him," Woods said. "The other recruits that I have talked to say nothing but good things about him and that he wants to win a national championship and I want to help him achieve that goal.
"Florida State and Texas A&M recently offered me and it was very flattering to get those offers, but I'm staying in California."
Woods was one of the catalysts for Crespi's outstanding season that saw them play Long Beach (Calif.) Poly in the CIF Championship albeit a losing effort 13-3.
For his senior season, Woods saw a lot of action on both sides of the ball. As a running back, Woods rushed for 706 yards and scored nine touchdowns. He even threw the ball one time that ended up as a touchdown pass.
Make no mistake is bread and butter is as a safety where he accounted for 50 tackles, four sacks, two interceptions, two forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries. Woods returned one of his fumble recoveries 98 yards for a touchdown.
Woods is a member of the Rivals.com Rivals250 for the class of 2008. He was also selected to the Rivals.com California Top 100 landing as the Golden State's No. 12 prospect at any position. Rivals.com ranks Woods as the nation's No. 7 safety prospect.