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Smith spurns Georgia, lands at UCLA

He reached into his bag, strapped on a pair of UCLA gloves, and just like that, the Bruins' National Signing Day went from a great one to an unforgettable one.
With Roquan Smith's announcement that he'd be spurning the home-state Georgia Bulldogs for UCLA, the Bruins moved to a perfect four-for-four on ESPNU Signing Day announcements, landing their fourth Rivals150 prospect of the morning.
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"I just wanted to get out and do my own thing and experience something different," Smith said of why he chose the Bruins. "The education there speaks for itself. One of the top public schools in America and just to grow up on my own and just experience something different. I think coach (Jeff) Ulbrich and the staff out there can develop me into what I want to be, and it just felt like home."
Smith's Signing Day was the end of a long and tiresome journey for the Bruins. Then a graduate assistant, Scott White discovered Smith before any other college some three years ago and convinced then-linebacker coach Jeff Ulbrich to offer him. The two recruited him forever, with Ulbrich never losing touch despite living some 2,500 miles away, and that doggedness finally paid off on Wednesday.
"They were the first school on me," Smith said. "Coach Ulbrich came down my sophomore year, the first one to show me love before any of the other schools came by so he's seen me from day one and he laid it down to me. He never backed out and he's been recruiting his butt off with me ever since then. He hasn't taken a day off so I respect him for that and I can't wait to play for him."
Smith joined five-star running back Soso Jamabo, four-star tight end Chris Clark and four-star offensive lineman Josh Wariboko as elite recruits who picked the Bruins on Signing Day morning.
"I kind of figured that Chris Clark was going to become a Bruin, but I didn't know about the other guys," Smith said. "But at the end of the day, you have to do what's best for you and I felt like it was best for me on and off the field and hey, I'm a Bruin."
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