LOS ANGELES – As UCLA’s losses piled up during last year’s disappointing 4-8 season and opposing coaches kept pushing for him, five-star defensive end Jaelan Phillips never wavered from his UCLA commitment. The Redlands East Valley High star even helped pull a few more players to Westwood.
And for those recruits who couldn’t get past UCLA’s poor record, Phillips has a simple message:
“You’re going to see next year when we’re winning a Pac-12 championship that you made a mistake,” he said.
UCLA inked an 18-player class Wednesday that leans heavily on defensive talent, led by the 6-foot-6 defensive end. The Bruins reloaded their depleted defensive roster that graduated six starters and four regular backups and signed five offensive linemen.
Phillips is the gem of the class after he was named 247 Sports’ Composite Player of the Year. The U.S. Army All-American is joined by fellow five-star recruit Darnay Holmes, and the duo already enrolled early.
“I can’t wait to get on the field with him and continue to grow our little friendship through our workouts,” Holmes, a cornerback from Calabasas, said of Phillips.
Elijah Gates, a four-star cornerback from Buena Park, is a player who should be able to contribute in the secondary and as a kick returner. Quentin Lake, a safety from Mater Dei, also picked the Bruins.
After graduating only two receivers and no running backs, the Bruins didn’t sign any players at those positions Wednesday. Coach Jim Mora said his staff did not aggressively target those positions, outside of one receiver who ended up signing elsewhere, because of the established depth.
The bulk of their offensive players came on the line, which was one of the team’s greatest weaknesses during its 4-8 season last year.
The Bruins nabbed a big signee Wednesday before the sun had even come up on the West Coast when four-star offensive lineman Stephan Zabie picked UCLA on national TV. Zabie, a Westlake (Texas) High product who sat out for two of his last three years of varsity football because of transfer ineligibility issues, passed on Ole Miss and hometown school Texas. Despite the fact that Zabie hasn’t seen the field in more than a year, Mora said he is confident the highly ranked prospect will be successful at UCLA.
“The people here believe in Stephan,” Mora said. “We believe that when we surround him with the support that we offer and knowing how motivated he is as a young man, and how intelligent he is, he’s going to thrive in this environment. I would be very surprised if he didn’t thrive in this environment.”
Zabie completed UCLA’s offensive line quintet, which also included U.S. Army All-American Kanan Ray, Jax Wacaser, Zach Sweeney and Sean Seawards. Steady left tackle Conor McDermott is gone, and what returns on the offensive line produced the second-worst running game in the nation last season, so several of the linemen could get chances to contribute.
Despite the early excitement from Zabie’s announcement, UCLA had some Signing Day misses, including junior college wide receiver DeAndre McNeal. The transfer from Fullerton College chose Lane Kiffin’s Florida Atlantic team. He has twice spurned UCLA in the recruiting process now after he passed on the Bruins out of high school in favor of Texas.
Two four-star linebackers from Texas also left their UCLA hats on the table on national TV as Mohamed Sanogo and Levi Jones signed with Ole Miss and USC, respectively.
Mora said the coaching staff is hoping to add a couple of graduate transfers before the season. The team filled its available scholarships for the day, the coach added.
Mora’s sixth recruiting class at UCLA is ranked 20th in the country by Rivals.com. It’s the third-best haul in the Pac-12, after USC (sixth) and Stanford (18th).
“Last year was awful, obviously. To go 4-8 and to be able to secure a class like this, it says a lot about what UCLA has to offer both academically and athletically,” Mora said. “I think eventually these young men will grow into guys who will help us reach our goal, our immediate goal, which is to win a Pac-12 championship.”
Contact the writer: thnguyen@scng.com
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