UCLA’s ‘Great 8’ Crop Sign Letters of Intent; USC Is a Notch Below

UCLA is already regarded as a strong contender for the national championship next season, and the Bruins have apparently helped themselves for future seasons.

That was the indication Wednesday when eight first-team high school football All-Americans officially signed letters of intent to enroll at the school.

UCLA’s recruiting crop is regarded as one of the best in the nation, although such assessments can be premature. How these recruits develop in two or three years is the only definitive way to determine the strength of a recruiting class.

USC, which was supposedly having a weak recruiting year, came on strong in recent weeks, rating a notch below UCLA, according to the people who analyze recruiting.

UCLA Coach Terry Donahue didn’t want to discuss the relative strength of his current recruiting class and limited his comments to a prepared statement.

“It’s never easy to make an accurate prediction about a recruiting class until the student athletes have been in your program for two or three years, but we feel this group has outstanding potential,” Donahue said. “Overall, I would say we were once again very successful in our recruiting efforts. In particular, I am very happy that we were able to fill our needs in the areas of tight end and linebacker.”

UCLA signed two tight ends--Corwin Anthony of South High School in Bakersfield and Charles Arbuckle from Missouri City in Texas.

Six linebackers were included among the 19 signees: Randy Austin of Canyon High School, Brian Jones from Lubbock, Tex., Rocen Keeton from Serra High, Brian Lockwood from Vista High, Nate Morris from Gardena High and Roman Phifer from Pineville, N.C.

UCLA has been successful with its out-of-state recruiting in recent years. That was reflected Wednesday when the Bruins got six out-of-state players, including three from Texas.

The Bruins also brought in California players with impressive credentials. First-team prep All-Americans who committed to UCLA were:

Jones, Keeton, running back Brian Brown from Gardena High, defensive back Anthony Burnett from Lynwood High, wide receiver Reggie Moore from Houston, offensive lineman Lance Zeno from Fountain Valley High, defensive back Eric Turner from Ventura High and Anthony Schexnayder from Fairbanks, Alaska.

Other highly regarded recruits include Arbuckle, Anthony, Austin and defensive lineman Stacey Elliott of Long Beach Poly High.

UCLA didn’t win all the recruiting battles, though. Quarterback Jeff George from Indianapolis, regarded as the top recruit in the country, chose Purdue over UCLA and Miami, while wide receiver Greg McMurtry from Brockton, Mass., chose Michigan.

Two first-team prep All-Americans--defensive lineman Tim Ryan from San Jose and defensive back Mark Carrier from Long Beach Poly High--signed with USC.

The Trojans also got defensive back Cleveland Colter from Tempe, Ariz. Colter was listed as the fourth-best high school prospect in the country by the National High School scouting service.

USC also seems to be well fixed at quarterback for the future. Earlier, the Trojans signed Jason Schmid of Saddleback College, a second-team junior college All-American. Two promising high school quarterbacks--Shane Foley of Newport Harbor and Pat O’Hara of Santa Monica--signed with USC Wednesday.

Rodney Peete is regarded as USC’s No. 1 quarterback, but he suffered a torn Achilles’ tendon in a Dec. 28 Aloha Bowl game against Alabama. He is expected to be able to play next season, but the Trojans got some insurance at the position.

“We definitely recruited Schmid for that reason,” USC Coach Ted Tollner said. “He has two years of JC football experience and a realistic chance to help our program right away.

“We didn’t take a quarterback a year ago because we couldn’t get excited about the ones we looked at. This year we could. You have to continually recruit for that position and develop players. This year we were fortunate to get two. They weren’t recruited so much for concern over Rodney as they were that they are tremendous players and we think they will give us winning football.”

Asked to assess USC’s 18 signees, Tollner said:

“We think it’s not only a group of quality, but the emphasis was in areas of real need as far as numbers. In some areas we didn’t take any players at a position, and in others we took several. This is our third recruiting class with our staff, and I think it’s a good-quality one. Basically, they are all our players now, so it’s time for us to get something done.”

Tollner was referring to USC’s 6-6 record last season after a 9-3 season in 1984 that was capped with a victory over Ohio State in the Rose Bowl.

Other highly regarded players signed by USC Wednesday included:

Center Tom Dabasinskas from Escondido, tight end Scott Freier from Antioch High in Northern California; defensive lineman Don Gibson from El Modena High in Orange; linebackers Craig Hartsuyker from Escondido, Peter McLachlan from Carson High and Brian Tuliau from Long Beach Poly, and offensive lineman Mark Tucker from Banning.

USC still is reportedly in the running to sign running back Terry Rodgers from Sweetwater High in National City. Rodgers is the son of Johnny Rodgers, the former Heisman Trophy-winning running back from Nebraska.

“He has visited Ohio State, Nebraska, Arizona State, Texas and ourselves, naturally, and based on what he told us, it’s down to Nebraska and USC,” Tollner said. “Our feelings are that he won’t declare until tomorrow or Friday.”

Notes The Bruins signed two brothers, Lance and Eric Zeno from Fountain Valley. They are the sons of Joe Zeno, who played football for UCLA in the early 60s, and are the nephews of Larry Zeno, a Bruin quarterback in 1962-64. . . . Of the 20 freshmen and 2 junior college players UCLA signed last year, 21 were redshirted. . . . UCLA has 14 starters returning next season, losing only nine seniors, including kicker John Lee. . . . USC signed defensive back Curtis Hein from Taft High. He is the grandson of Mel Hein, an NFL Hall of Fame center.

UCLA SIGNEES

HIGH SCHOOL

Name School (Town, State) Hgt Wgt Corwin Anthony South Bakersfield 6-3 205 Charles Arbuckle Willowridge (Missouri City, Texas) 6-3 220 Randy Austin Canyon Country Canyon 6-3 210 Brian Brown Gardena 5-11 180 Anthony Burnett Lynwood 6-2 190 Stacey Elliott Long Beach Poly 6-3 250 Brian Jones Dunbar (Lubbock, Texas) 6-3 215 Rocen Keeton Gardena Serra 6-3 230 Kipp Kjeldgaard Salinas 6-6 230 Brian Lockwood Vista 6-4 200 Reggie Moore Madison (Houston, Texas) 5-11 170 Nate Morris Gardena 6-0 210 Roman Phifer South Mecklenburg (Pineville, N.C.) 6-3 205 Bobby San Jose Long Beach Wilson 6-3 180 Anthony Schexnayder North Pole (Fairbanks, Alaska) 6-2 185 Eric Turner Ventura 6-2 190 Bryan Wilcox Libertyville, Ill. 6-6 230 Eric Zeno Westminster La Quinta 6-4 205 Lance Zeno Fountain Valley 6-4 255

Name Position Corwin Anthony Tight End Charles Arbuckle Tight End Randy Austin Linebacker Brian Brown Running Back Anthony Burnett Defensive Back Stacey Elliott Defensive Line Brian Jones Linebacker Rocen Keeton Linebacker Kipp Kjeldgaard Offensive Lineman Brian Lockwood Linebacker Reggie Moore Wide Receiver Nate Morris Linebacker Roman Phifer Linebacker Bobby San Jose Quarterback Anthony Schexnayder Wide Receiver Eric Turner Defensive Back Bryan Wilcox Defensive Lineman Eric Zeno Quarterback Lance Zeno Offensive Lineman

USC SIGNEES

HIGH SCHOOL

Name School (Town, State) Hgt Wgt Position Charles Burnham Long Beach Jordan 6-4 210 Linebacker Mark Carrier Long Beach Poly 6-2 175 Safety Cleveland Colter McClintock (Tempe, Ariz.) 6-2 190 RB-Safety Tom Dabasinskas San Pasqual (Escondido) 6-5 235 Center Alex Dehayward Van Nuys Montclair Prep 6-5 210 Linebacker Shane Foley Newport Harbor 6-2 195 Quarterback Scott Freier Antioch 6-4 235 Tight End Gene Fruge Oak Grove (San Jose) 6-4 260 Defensive Lineman Don Gibson Orange El Modena 6-3 250 Defensive Lineman Craig Hartsuyker Orange Glen (Escondido) 6-4 205 Linebacker Curtis Hein Taft 6-0 165 Defensive Back Peter McLachlan Carson 6-3 220 Linebacker Pat O’Hara Santa Monica 6-3 190 Quarterback Jim Ramirez Oceana (Pacifica) 6-5 245 Defensive Lineman Tim Ryan Oak Grove (San Jose) 6-5 240 Defensive Lineman Mark Tucker Los Angeles Banning 6-4 260 Offensive Lineman Brian Tuliau Long Beach Poly 6-3 225 Linebacker Gary Wellman Westlake 5-9 170 Wide Receiver

JUNIOR COLLEGE

John Katnik Fullerton 6-2 250 Center Jason Schmid Saddleback 6-3 210 Quarterback Bill Stokes Glendale 6-3 220 Linebacker