UCLA head coach DeShaun Foster said throughout his first year at the helm that he intends to “build a fence” and eventually secure the best high school football talent in California.

Now, Foster has the state’s all-time career receptions leader joining the Bruins.

Shane Rosenthal, a 2025 three-star wide receiver at Newbury Park High School, flipped his commitment from Princeton to UCLA during a weekend official visit to Westwood that came with a long-awaited offer and waited to reveal his decision late Tuesday afternoon.

In a phone conversation with Bruin Blitz prior to making the announcement on social media, Rosenthal was bubbling with excitement to share the news.

“Just getting a whole feeling for the staff, getting to meet everybody and seeing what the plan is and what the culture is for the program, that was really important to me,” Rosenthal said of his campus visit. “It’s everything I could ask for. The staff is family-oriented. They really care for you, they care about one another and someone I want to play for, so I’m excited.”

Rosenthal joins a 2025 UCLA high school recruiting class that signed 18 scholarship players during the December early-signing period. He is the first receiver in the Bruins’ class.

Rosenthal said he will enroll in the summer but visit frequently during spring camp practices, which get underway April 1.

Rivals national recruiting director Adam Gorney recently described Rosenthal as a “super, super productive” target who reminds him of former UCLA slot receiver Logan Loya.

The 5-foot-11, 180-pounder made 324 catches for 5,197 yards and 62 touchdowns over his four-year high school career. His receiving yardage total is also a Ventura County record and makes him just the fifth receiver in state history to eclipse 5,000 yards.

Rosenthal’s best season was in 2023 when he made 122 catches for 1,947 yards and 21 touchdowns over 14 games. He followed it up by catching a career-high 24 touchdowns this past season and collecting 84 catches for 1,576 yards.

In the final 2025 rankings update, Rivals listed Rosenthal as the No. 82-ranked overall player in the state.

“All the records I broke in high school — that’s past time now,” Rosenthal said. “I’m excited to be able to continue my legacy in college. All I needed was one school to give me a chance and I’m going to take it and run with it.

“I’m going to work hard every day and just prove that I belong to be there, I’m supposed to be there and I can be a real difference-maker. I’m just going to prove my family right, prove haters wrong and make sure everybody knows who I am in the future.”

Foster turned up his pursuit of Rosenthal when he and director of player personnel Stacey Ford visited Newbury Park on Jan. 16.

Rosenthal said Ford made it known “he wants to keep me at home,” while Foster toed the line just right in his pursuit.

“Coach Foster, he’s not too much of a pushy guy,” Rosenthal said. “He wants you to be at the school if you want to be there, which I really like about him. He’s not going to force you to commit, he’s not going to force you to go there. But if you want to be there, he wants you.

“That’s the type of people we have on this team. Everybody wants to be there, everybody wants to work hard. Everybody loves the school, loves the program. So that’s something I’m really excited to be a part of.”

Rosenthal’s commitment adds an intriguing wrinkle in UCLA’s pursuit of Rosenthal’s teammate, 2026 five-star quarterback Brady Smigiel, who backed off his commitment to Florida State this past weekend and has the Bruins among the programs he is considering.

Rosenthal pointed out that he and Smigiel made their respective decisions almost simultaneously. Rosenthal said the idea of linking up once more in Westwood would be a “dream scenario.”

The pair led Newbury Park to a CIF Southern Section Division 2 championship in November.

“I committed and he de-committed on the same day. So, I think that has a little say there,” Rosenthal said. “But ever since I committed, I’ve been on him just telling him about how special the program is, how he can really be a hometown hero and go to his local school.”