Knox should stick with original plan: Commit to UCLA

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

Birmingham running back Milton Knox, the two-time City Section player of the year, is scheduled to make his college announcement at 6 p.m. Wednesday on FSN Prime Ticket.

It’s down to UCLA and Notre Dame, but to me, the Bruins have to be the choice unless Notre Dame High QB Dayne Crist is the greatest teenage recruiter in the country.

Crist, who is going to sign with the Fighting Irish, played with Knox in youth football. He’s been working on Knox, and Knox apparently enjoyed his visit to South Bend, Ind., last weekend, despite temperatures in the 20s.

However, UCLA needs running backs. It’s close to home. His family wants to watch him play. His high school coach thinks UCLA is the right place for him. He’s an L.A. kid who loves bringing attention to his community, wearing a T-shirt under his football jersey that reads, ‘I love Pacoima.’

Knox is a loyal person who committed to the Bruins months ago, though he always said if Karl Dorrell left, he’d look at his options.

In the end, Notre Dame is intriguing, with its tradition and the fact three San Fernando Valley players -- Crist, Crespi’s Joe Fauria and Notre Dame’s Anthony McDonald -- are headed to South Bend.

But the better fit for Knox is clearly UCLA, and he loves playing at the Coliseum, which makes him a must-get for a team that wants to beat its cross-town rival, USC. Of course, Notre Dame also has a rival in USC and plays in the Coliseum every other year.

-- Eric Sondheimer

-- Image by Richard Hartog/Los Angeles Times