UCLA is approaching the recruiting process somewhat out of the box. They have the scholies to give for the class of 2019, and they are leaving no stone unturned in their pursuit to find football players that could help their program.
The latest find by the Bruins is tight end, Josh Harris (6-6, 235) from El Cajon (Calif.) Grossmont College. Michael Jordan, Harris’ JUCO coach talks about his outstanding player.
“Josh is an elite athlete and a very talented kid,” Jordan said. “He’s super long and runs really well. He has great ball skills. He’s very mature and a good team guy.”
By the sound of it, Harris sounds like the Bruins are recruiting for the class of 2019. Jordan talks about Harris’ versatility.
“Josh played quarterback for me, but then he broke his collar bone the first game last year, so he had to sit out,” Jordan said. “Then he developed some throwing issues, not is broken collar bone shoulder, but his throwing shoulder, it just wasn’t coming back right, so we decided to make a change.
“He’s a natural, I mean, look at him, he looks like an NFL tight end, once you put a few more pounds on him.
“He’s a little tall for a quarterback. Guys weren’t really in love with his release when they came and looked at him. We made the switch, and he looked great in spring drills.”
How did UCLA find out about Harris?
“One of our coaches knows one of their coaches,” Jordan said. “There were guys coming to see him, and there was a buzz about him. I think San Jose State had already offered him and all the schools that came were coming back to look at him again. He was pretty impressive running around out that is for sure.
“UCLA thinks that Josh is kind of like the guy they just had [Caleb Wilson]. Obviously, he resembles him quite a bit, as far as being able to vertically stretch the field and catch the ball. He’s [Wilson] not super big grind it out tight end. He’s [Wilson] more of a receiving tight end from what I understand.
“That’s what Josh is except, I think Josh will become whatever UCLA wants him to be. He has a lot of drive, and he plays hard, so whatever they work out for him, he’ going to figure it out.”
UCLA’s gain is Grossmont’s loss, but Jordan doesn’t mind. He’s about helping his players get to the next level.
“That’s our business,” Jordan said. “Ultimately our job is to get those guys onto the next level and get that opportunity to play. Josh can’t pass up an opportunity like UCLA. That’s kind of what we do.
“We will get that out to social media and the word will spread that we got another guy out. We just sent one to Florida State, which is nice, and now UCLA, you can’t beat that.
“It’s just part of the deal. It’s heartbreaking sometimes, but you get happy and excited for them. That’s just what we do.
“I put getting players to the next level above winning games. I want to win in the worst way, and I hate when we don’t, but getting guys out is the most important thing for sure.”
Harris will have four years to play three for UCLA.