Prep Recruiting : Darby’s Decision to Attend UCLA Was ‘Easley’ Made

In Chesapeake, Va., in 1977, a defensive back named Kenny Easley decided to play his college football for UCLA. His high school coach, Tom Rhodes, still recalls vividly the recruiting process. The two have remained good friends ever since and talk to each other about once a month.

Wednesday was one of those days. Rhodes called Easley in Seattle and, as has often been the case, talked about the recruiting of his most recent standout, Matt Darby, 10 years later and 10 miles away in Virginia Beach.

Easley, now a star with the Seattle Seahawks, took down Darby’s address and said he would write to him.

One Bruin to another.

A week before the national signing day, Darby, a linebacker projected as a defensive back in college, announced he would attend UCLA, giving the Bruins a major catch in what has already been a successful recruiting campaign. A 6-foot 2-inch Parade and USA Today All-American, Darby is rated as the No. 2 prospect in the nation by one scouting service.

Normally soft-spoken, he seemed very confident about his future in Southern California.

“I have every intention of going out there and starting (in) my freshman year,” Darby told Ken Ryan of the Virginian-Pilot on Wednesday. “I’m not leaving here and going 3,000 miles just to sit on the bench. I don’t want to let my friends down.

“The media is going to compare me to Ken Easley. I’m not worried about it because I haven’t reached that level yet, but it’ll be a challenge.

“(UCLA coaches) told me that I was their main prospect out of state. I thought UCLA was the only school that could take me off the East Coast.”

Said Rhodes: “I was a little surprised he picked UCLA. When you coach a player like Kenny Easley, it kind of sticks with you. I spent three years talking, talking and talking to him (Darby) about Kenny because I recognized that Matt had much of the same talent and saw how good he could be. I really thought he was probably sick of hearing the comparisons.”

Recruiting Notes UCLA has received a commitments from Jim Wagner of Buffalo Grove, Ill. and running Maury Toy from Mountain Home, Idaho. . . . Matt Willig, a 6-8, 235-pound lineman for St. Paul of Santa Fe Springs, said that he would sign with USC and play linebacker. . . . Linebacker Corey Booker from Old Tappan, N.J., who visited UCLA in December, has picked Stanford. . . . Running back Steve Kujawa of South Torrance, an All-Coastal Conference pick, will go to Princeton this weekend and is also looking at Brown and Air Force. . . . Quarterback Nathan LaDuke of Phoenix, who was considering UCLA, has committed to Arizona State. Another out-of-stater who visited UCLA, 6-foot 7-inch, 250-pound offensive lineman Brian Boerboom of Colorado Springs, Colo., picked Nebraska.

Other local commitments: Centers Robert Stephens of La Mirada and Ron Simmons of Granada Hills Kennedy to Brigham Young, guard Mike Padilla of Wilmington Banning to Colorado State, tight end Steve Peters of Hacienda Heights Los Altos to Utah, defensive back Mike Hirou of Anaheim Servite to Colorado, wide receiver Brent Parker of Mission Viejo Capistrano Valley to Oklahoma State, defensive back-quarterback Mike Henderson of Huntington Beach Edison to New Mexico, linebacker Doug Blanchard of Edison to San Diego State, and tackle Warren Taylor of Fountain Valley and center Erik Wright-Hay from Fullerton Troy to Texas El Paso.