Price is right for UCLA football in 1996 recruiting season
By Mark Shapiro
Daily Bruin Contributor
It is an event that brings grown men to tears. In some states,
football crazed individuals crowd around fax machines and tune to
sports talk shows incessantly to hear the very latest news. When
the good news comes in, they react like the Messiah has returned.
When the news isn’t so good, they call for the coach’s head on a
platter.
Is it a pennant race? Are these compulsive gamblers waiting to
see if they covered the spread?
No, it’s National Letter of Intent Day, when the best of the
high school football players announce which college they have
decided to anoint with their presence the following fall.
UCLA was right in the thick of the chase over the past few
months, and finally the coaching staff was able to reap the harvest
of its efforts.
In all, the Bruins were able to secure the talents of 17 prep
student athletes, along with two junior college transfers, for next
season’s stable. Of these players, 10 were named to the BlueChips
Illustrated All-America team. Seven were also named to the
SuperPrep All-West team.
"This is a well-balanced class," new UCLA head coach Bob Toledo
said. "I feel that we helped ourselves in a number of areas. We
signed quality players and quality young men. I think our fans will
enjoy watching the contributions these players make during their
Bruin careers."
At the top of the list is defensive back Damian Allen, who hails
from Damien High School, (no, he’s not so good that the school is
named after him) in Ontario, Calif.
Allen was named a SuperPrep All-American and is ranked as one of
the nation’s top six defensive backs. Allen follows in a long line
of extremely fast, undersized defensive backs in Westwood as he
comes in at 5-feet-9-inches, 160 pounds with a blazing time of 4.4
in the 40-yard dash.
The Bruins pulled off another coup in getting running back
Durell Price. Price had signed a letter of intent to Ohio State but
decided to attend UCLA before sending it in. This 6-foot–1-inch,
220-pounder out of Sylmar High was named to BlueChip Illustrated’s
"Dream Team" by virtue of his 1,666 rushing yards and 36 touchdowns
in his senior campaign. He was also the ninth-ranked running back
by SuperPrep.
Other notable recruits include: tight end Gabe Crecion and a
two-for-one deal in the form of twins Josh and Micah Webb.Comments
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