UCLA Recruiting: Bruins get commitment from five-star DE Oluwole Betiku

The UCLA Bruins and Jim Mora landed a big fish on Thursday afternoon when five-star defensive end Oluwole Betiku gave his verbal commitment to the program.

Oluwole Betiku (Gardena, CA. Junipero Serra)is a name fans of the UCLA Bruins will have to get familiar with and learn how to spell and pronounce after the five-star recruit committed to the program on Thursday afternoon.

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The 6-3.5, 240-pound Betiku is the nation’s No. 11 overall recruit, No. 1 weak-side defensive end and the top recruit in the state of California, according to the 247Sports Composite Rankings. He picked the Bruins over Florida, Florida State, Penn State, Notre Dame and USC.

He is coming off a season that saw him record 59 tackles, 24 tackles for loss and 11.5 sacks as a junior. Betiku is the 15th member of the Bruins 2016 class that ranks No. 13 in the nation and No. 3 in the Pac-12 after the commitment from him today.

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UCLA has loaded up on the defensive side of the ball with Betiku joining fellow weak-side defensive end Breland Brendt and linebackers Lokeni Toailoa and Krys Barnes who are the Bruins four highest-ranked commitments.

Today’s commitment is especially significant because it kept the top recruit in the talent-rich state of California away from rival USC where they have a pipeline from Betiku’s high school that includes recent Trojans commitments like Adoree Jackson and Rasheem Green.

Next: Predicting Where Every Uncommitted 5-star Recruit Signs

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