UCLA Football Recruiting: Commitment Watch At The Opening

By Michael Hanna | Jul 6, 2014

Dec 31, 2013; El Paso, TX, USA; UCLA Bruins head coach Jim Mora on the sidelines during the fourth quarter against the Virginia Tech Hokies in the 2013 Sun Bowl at Sun Bowl Stadium. UCLA defeated Virginia Tech 42-12. Mandatory Credit: Andrew Weber-USA TODAY Sports

For those of you who have chosen to pursue more productive hobbies than following the whims of teenagers as they decide which colleges they will play sports at: congratulations, you lead more fulfilling lives than I do! But nonetheless, there is no doubt that recruiting is the lifeblood of college athletics. That’s why I’m here to let Bruin fans know that The Opening is taking place this week and could have big implications for UCLA football recruiting.

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What is The Opening? Quite simply, it’s an elite, invitation-only camp for the rising high school seniors that comprise the cream of the crop for the year’s football recruiting class. It’s held over a period of three days at Nike’s corporate campus in Beaverton, OR and held in conjunction with the Elite 11 quarterback camp.

It’s a particularly significant event for UCLA fans because two key targets are scheduled to commit while they are camping up in Oregon: offensive lineman Andre James and athlete Stephen Johnson III.

I will be making my college decision at @TheOpening2014 on July 8th, honored and blessed to have this opportunity!!
— STEPHEN JOHNSON III (@SJ_III) June 25, 2014

James is an offensive tackle out of Utah and is rated as a 4-star player according to the 24/7 Composite Rankings. James is a key offensive line target and his recruiters at UCLA, Taylor Mazzone and Adrian Klemm, would absolutely do backflips if they could add James to a promising OL class that already has a commitment from elite interior lineman Tevita Halalilo.

The 24/7 Crystal Ball has UCLA as the favorite to land James and indeed, we expect James to be throwing his 4’s Up and donning true blue-and-gold come Thursday night when he announces his commitment.

Johnson, from San Leandro in the Bay Area, is a vital piece to UCLA’s recruiting master plan for the 2015 class. A true speedster who runs the 40-yard dash in 4.37 seconds, the 24/7 Composte 3-star player is being recruited to UCLA as a slot receiver. Johnson might even be a more important recruit than James, since Johnson offers the type of shifty, blazing home-run threat with the ball in his hands that UCLA currently lacks in its receiver corps and covets heavily in this recruiting class.

24/7’s Crystal Ball has Johnson as a lock to commit to Oregon, but make no mistake, UCLA is a legitimate contender for his services and there’s every chance that Johnson ultimately throws his 4’s Up as well come Tuesday night. This one is very much 50/50 right now and UCLA winning this coin flip would be cause for much celebration from Jim Mora, his staff, and Bruin fans as a whole.