UCLA lands another Toailoa
Leni Toailoa always figured he'd eventually end up at UCLA with his older brother Lokeni Toailoa. And when he landed the offer back in June, most figured it'd be a matter of days, not weeks, before he flipped from his San Jose State pledge.
But the 6-foot-1, 191-pound safety said it took him all the way until this past Saturday, when he watched UCLA come from behind to beat BYU, to realize he officially wanted to be a Bruin.
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"What made me really do it today was being at the BYU game," Leni said. "Being there Saturday made me realize like, 'Nah, I'm coming. I'm going to UCLA.'"
So Leni called UCLA DBs coach Demetrice Martin on Monday afternoon and told him he was ready to flip.
"He was just happy that I did it," Leni said. "He was looking forward to me being there and stuff like that."
With the verbal commitment, Leni became the first true defensive back to pledge to Martin. While commits like Darian Owens and Marquis Lawson can certainly play defensive back, Leni is a true safety prospect who's looking to enroll in January to play for Martin in Westwood.
Although with an older brother who's already 240 pounds, Leni didn't rule out possibly outgrowing the safety spot some day at UCLA.
"I'm going up there right now to play safety, but depending on how I grow and how big I get, that could change to possibly outside linebacker or something like that," Leni said. "I don't know how big I'm going to get."
Regardless, Leni said his new verbal commitment will be his final one. He said he's "110 percent" a Bruin now, and nothing is going to change that.
"I'm excited," he said. "I'm happy it's over. I'm going, I'm 110 percent a Bruin now, so I'm not worried about nothing else except getting some wins this season."