UCLA Football Recruiting: 5-Star DB Priest Willis Commits To Bruins

James Snook-USA TODAY Sports

UCLA football has earned the commitment of yet another defensive back, this time in five-star safety Priest Willis out of Tempe, AZ.

Willis was being recruited heavily by LSU, Arizona State, Notre Dame and Nebraska, among others, and didn’t have an explicit list of favorite schools heading into his announcement. Leading up to Willis’ announcement, however, it was clear that UCLA was the favorite while LSU and Arizona State were considered finalists.

In the end, UCLA earned the commitment of Scout.com’s No. 4 safety in the class of 2013 and it adds to an increasingly-impressive list of defensive backs to commit to UCLA in the past week.

Four-star defensive backs Tyler Foreman and Johnny Johnson committed to UCLA within hours of one another, joining three-star corner Mossi Johnson in UCLA’s 2013 class. Priest Willis’ commitment likely also caused close friend and four-star safety Tahaan Goodman to commit to UCLA as well, especially considering the grumblings that the two were a packaged deal.

For now, though, it’s fair to say UCLA’s recruiting staff has done a masterful job of addressing need in this class. Last season, UCLA struggled with obvious deficiencies in the secondary and the offensive line. Since then, Jim Mora and his staff have signed seven offensive linemen and four defensive backs with a fifth likely on the way. The lone position of need left for these Bruins is running back and quarterback, where depth at the position could cause disaster for UCLA’s 2013 season.

With the commitment, UCLA now has 22 pledges for the class of 2013.