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UCLA Football: OL freshman Stephan Zabié Cleared by the NCAA

By Michael Chavez

PASADENA, CA - SEPTEMBER 10: Head coach Jim Mora of the UCLA Bruins claps his hands during warmups for the game against the UNLV Rebels at the Rose Bowl on September 10, 2016 in Pasadena, California. UCLA won 42-21. (Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images)
PASADENA, CA - SEPTEMBER 10: Head coach Jim Mora of the UCLA Bruins claps his hands during warmups for the game against the UNLV Rebels at the Rose Bowl on September 10, 2016 in Pasadena, California. UCLA won 42-21. (Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images) /
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The UCLA Football team got some great news today when it was announced that freshman OL Stephan Zabié , a four star recruit from Texas, was cleared by the NCAA on Wednesday and will join the team no later than July 29.

The Bruins scored a victory on Wednesday when the NCAA cleared four star OL freshman Stephan Zabié.

As head coach of the UCLA Football team Jim Mora has faced a number of questions including his recruiting tactics. Many would argue that he doesn’t seem to give recruiting the year round attention it deserves. No one would say though that he isn’t a great closer and has grabbed some highly prized recruits at the finish line on signing day.

OL Stephan Zabié was a four star recruit out of the state of Texas and was seen as a major grab for the Bruins on NSD. However the farther away we got from signing day the more questions arose about Zabié’s ability to get into UCLA.

Those questions generally arose from his troubled childhood. Zabié came to the U.S. when he was twelve without parents, his mother was deceased and there are no traces of his father, and without “proper” birth documents. Because no one was sure how old he really was Zabié was placed into high school purely based on his size. That began all of the issues and it wasn’t until a Pennsylvania Congressman stepped in when the Philadelphia school system realized the mistake.

Issues then compounded when he arrived in Texas in 2015, Zabié was plugged in at left tackle and demonstrated great athleticism but his momentum was derailed when he was declared ineligible for his senior season and only got to show his stuff off at camps.

Zabié hasn’t had tons of exposure to the college football world but he’s clearly an incredibly talented athlete and played very well at a premium position when given the opportunity. With Sunny Odogwu joining the team for 2017 as well, there won’t be as much pressure to get Zabié into the starting role which is great news for him and gives him time to acclimate to college life.

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The Bruins still have questions about their offensive line going forward but there has to be a brighter outlook going forward about the depth and talent that Zabié provides.