Football scores more verbal commits

UCLA football landed one of its biggest one-day signings on Saturday, scoring eight verbal commits for the 2008 class.

The list of 11 total commits so far is headlined by wide receiver Kemonte Bateman and defensive back Rahim Moore, both widely recognized as top-100 high school players nationally.

All 11 players are from Southern California and will form the core group of players in what will be a full recruiting class in 2008.

Bateman, out of Crenshaw Senior High School in Los Angeles at 6-feet, 1-inch and 195 pounds, is considered one of the best wide receivers in California. He grabbed 46 receptions for 836 yards and nine touchdowns this past season as a junior. Cal and Oregon were also recruiting him.

Moore, out of Susan Miller Dorsey High School in Los Angeles, is viewed by some as the top defensive-back prospect in the state, and was being recruited by schools such as USC, Michigan and Auburn.

All 11 players have committed over the past week.

This recruiting class has shown to be at the level of many top programs in the country, as evidenced by UCLA’s competition for these prospects.

Datone Jones, a defensive end from Compton High School, was also recruited by Notre Dame and was offered a scholarship by USC.

Damien Holmes, a defensive end from Colton High School, was offered by Nebraska and Oklahoma.

Antwon Moutra, a safety from Culver City High School, was also being recruited by Florida and Florida State.

New UCLA wide receivers coach Eric Scott must be credited with the arrival of such talent.

Scott was an assistant coach at Crenshaw High School for seven years and was specifically tabbed as one reason that some of these players committed to UCLA.

“They’ve been showing me the love really since last June,” Moore told Scout.com. “And I know that coaching staff real well and they’re going to be good for a long time. When (Scott) got hired I kind of knew then.”

Moore was the first recruit in the 2008 class that UCLA offered a scholarship to, and the Bruins eventually won out as Moore cited a desire to stay local.

Scott’s ties to many of the Los Angeles area high schools have clearly paid off. Bateman played under Scott at Crenshaw, no doubt one reason why the highly touted receiver chose to come to Westwood.

UCLA will hope to build on this recruiting class in the future, as the team will need to fill many holes left by graduation after this coming season.

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