Offensive Tackle Manasse Itete Earns UCLA Football Offer Amid Recruiting Surge
The young Central California lineman picked up four offers Wednesday after appearing at Sacramento State's Rising Stars Mega Camp.
The Bruins are apparently far from the only team who liked what they saw from a big in-state lineman this week.
UCLA football sent a scholarship offer to class of 2024 offensive tackle Manasse Itete on Wednesday, the Modesto Christian (CA) prospect announced on Twitter. Itete featured at the Sacramento State Rising Stars Mega Camp earlier in the day, and 24 FBS programs were in attendance.
Itete announced an offer from Vanderbilt just over an hour after the camp wrapped up, and that was immediately followed by offers from USC, UCLA and Cal. Itete did not have a single offer prior to Wednesday.
The 6-foot-7, 260-pound lineman from the Democratic Republic of the Congo is a two-sport star at Modesto Christian, suiting up for their boys' basketball team as well. Itete averaged 10.4 points and 6.9 rebounds per game on 61% shooting from the field this season, earning All-State Sophomore First Team honors in the process.
Itete is high school teammates with
UCLA men's basketball offerree Jamari Phillips, a five-star class of 2024 guard who the Bruins have been pursing for over a year.
Taking a visit to the University of San Francisco last fall, Itete, too, is receiving genuine interest from college basketball programs.
JUN 14, 2022
Itete had actually been picking up more buzz on the court as opposed to the gridiron prior to this spring, but his athleticism, length and size all translate well to football. The lineman earned an invite to ESPN300's Elite Underclassmen Camp in Northern California on May 15, and he earned his first four football offers a month later.
247Sports is the only major recruiting database with a profile for Itete, but he didn't have one until May 18. Itete does not have a page on Rivals, ESPN or On3 as of Wednesday, and 247Sports hasn't even been able to include him in their most recent rankings.
Most of UCLA's 2024 offers have gone to blue chip prospects, with all 15 of their previous offers going to four or five-star recruits in the 247Sports Composite. The other offensive linemen the Bruins and new position coach Tim Drevno had offered prior to Itete were
Mater Dei's (CA) DeAndre Carter and Brandon Baker – both high four-stars.
The present and future of UCLA's tackles are up in the air, so adding young pieces regardless of national prestige may be a viable path forward for the program. Despite Sean Rhyan and Alec Anderson both heading to the NFL earlier this offseason, the Bruins only had one offensive line commit in their 2022 class – local tackle Sam Yoon – and they have yet to pick one up for 2023.
There is still plenty of time left in the current cycle before more emphasis gets placed on the upcoming one, but UCLA has appeared to pivot in how it is recruiting the offensive line moving forward.
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SAM CONNON
Sam Connon is the Publisher and Managing Editor at All Bruins, in association with the FanNation and Sports Illustrated networks.
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