UCLA lands commitment No. 1
The feeling had been there for a while now, maybe even since last April, when Steve Alford and Ed Schilling took over at UCLA.
But Trevon Bluiett and his family just had to be sure.
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This weekend, on a Westwood official visit, they realized the feeling was real. Bluiett, a four-star two-guard, called the coaches Monday and told them he was in.
He's all Bruin now.
"I know he was overly impressed with the academic side of it and the way you get set up for success and that's a big part of what he's interested in," said Reynardo Bluiett, Trevon's father. "The strength and conditioning side of it, he's big on that as well. He was very pleased and impressed with coach Wes Long. So those were two things he mentioned.
"And for me, it was just a good feel. The staff seems very close, they seem very sharp and on the same page. They gained my trust just being around them and the players for a short period of time (this weekend)."
Trevon Bluiett is a big-time, 6-foot-5, 185-pound scorer who was being pursued heavily by Michigan, Indiana, Purdue, Butler and many others.
Reynardo Bluiett, though, said the trust he had in Alford and Schilling (who's been his mentor and high school coach at Park Tudor School in Indianapolis the past few years) just pushed the Bruins over the top.
"That was major, that was major," Reynardo Bluiett said of the Indiana connection with Schilling and Alford. "You kind of have a Midwest feel and style. The Pac-12 is a great conference, and you throw a little Midwest basketball in that and it just seemed like that'd be a great fit. Him being comfortable with Ed, since sixth grade he's been around him, that had a lot to do with it.
"And Steve, we've just known Steve from just being in Indiana. He's played, he's been where Trevon wants to go and there's nothing like playing for a coach like that. It definitely has a Midwest feel."
Now Trevon Bluiett will become UCLA's biggest recruiter. His No. 1 target? Four-star point guard Quentin Snider.
The two have been friends since they were 8 years old, Quentin Snider's father said, and Reynardo Bluiett believes they could be teammates at UCLA soon enough.
"They talked today," Reynardo Bluiett said of Trevon and Quentin. "And I talked with them today. It will be great. Quentin's a great player. He comes from a great family and I just know what he's made of. It would be great to have him come out and play."
The recruiting won't stop there. Reynardo Bluiett said they'll be going after five-star wing Justise Winslow as well.
"Winslow, who has UCLA high on his list, he played with (Trevon) at adidas Nations and they got along very well," Reynardo Bluiett said. "It's one of those things you hope it all works out."
Asked if he thinks it will work out, Reynardo Bluiett laughed.
"It's a great opportunity for guys to get together and play for such a historical university," he said. "I do (think it will happen), but you know I'm impartial anyways. I think it will. I hope it will."
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