Turning UCLA Into an Urban Outfitter

When they were in high school, Aleksey Lanis, Reggie Carter and Chinonso Anyanwu used to squeeze into their coaches’ cars to go watch UCLA football practices.

The drive over from Crenshaw High wasn’t long, but for some of the players the trips might as well been to another continent.

“We had to get the kids to see that this is attainable,” said Eric Scott, a former All-City player for Crenshaw who played wide receiver for UCLA from 1995-97. “We would take the kids to practices not just to UCLA, but also USC and let them see that this is a goal that they can reach.

“There are a lot of kids who live in South L.A. who do not get that type of exposure. Some have never even been across Wilshire. They really don’t get the opportunity to see that this is right down the street. ... You don’t have to see it just on television. I wanted to show them that they could actually come up here and play.”

UCLA Coach Karl Dorrell made sure that the Crenshaw players were welcomed because he knew the Bruins -- rightly or wrongly -- had a reputation for ignoring inner-city prospects.

“We want to have a presence here in the city and recruit the Los Angeles area very hard and to do it well,” said Dorrell, who took over the UCLA program in 2003. “We want to keep some of the best talent close to our school.”

Slowly but surely, that seems to be happening. At least with Crenshaw. Although UCLA doesn’t have a player from another central Los Angeles school, it seems to be building a pipeline with the Cougars, who are defending City 4-A champions. The Bruins have former Crenshaw players Lanis, Carter and Anyanwu on their roster this season, and two blue-chip Cougars recruits -- running back Raymond Carter and lineman Brian Price -- committed to accept scholarships in November.

“It’s really like a dream come true for me, considering the time when I played here,” Scott said. “I was the only Crenshaw guy around. And before that, there weren’t too many.

“There was Michael Williams, who played corner here [1989-92], and before that, we probably have to go back to [running back] Wendell Tyler [1973-76].”

Redshirt freshmen Lanis, an offensive tackle, and Carter, a linebacker, could be in the starting lineup for UCLA’s opener against Utah on Sept. 2. And Anyanwu, a defensive end and another redshirt freshman, will have a role on special teams.

“It’s really a lot of fun to be here right now,” said Lanis, who has worked with the starting unit as the strong-side tackle since UCLA opened training camp. “I played high school three years with Reggie, and to be out there with him again is great.

“You can definitely see the pipeline building here.”

The tie to Crenshaw is an accomplishment for Bruins recruiters, who had been met with skepticism in stops at some inner-city schools.

“I would go to a school and hear, ‘Wow, UCLA! We haven’t seen you guys in a while’ and stuff like that,” Dorrell recalled. “But that’s OK. The reception to us has always been good, it’s just that it takes time to show that we’re moving forward here with a different philosophy.”

Right after he was hired, Dorrell held a clinic at Crenshaw aimed at helping City Section coaches. Since then, he has annually held a clinic for high school coaches at UCLA.

“It’s getting better, but it’s something that you have to do year in and year out,” he said.

Crenshaw Coach Robert Garrett credits Dorrell for “having the wisdom to know that UCLA needs kids from this area to compete in the Pac-10.”

“They’ve always been able to recruit in the area,” added Garrett, whose son, Robert Jr., is a freshman fullback at California, “but the issue before always came to the question about the character of the kids. They’ve found out that a fit is a fit, regardless.”

Scott, who transferred to UCLA after one year at Northwestern, was an assistant under Garrett at Crenshaw for six seasons before taking an intern position in the Bruins’ athletic department this year. He said Garrett’s willingness to give his players exposure to local college programs helped create the UCLA connection to Crenshaw.

“We’ve always had athletes, but there was always a question of being able to play at this level,” Scott said. “We made sure that they at least got the exposure, and once they understood what they needed to do to get in college -- academically and as a player -- they would really see that they could make it.”

Those trips influenced Lanis. “I came up here five or six times and really liked it,” he said. “I really didn’t want to go too far away from home for college, and I just loved the campus. But the [Crenshaw] coaches did not push us to go here -- not even Coach Scott -- they just wanted us to go to a Division I school. That was the most important thing.”

Dino Babers, UCLA’s football recruiting coordinator, said it’s advantageous for the Bruins when prospects see products of their high school play key roles in college.

“You always like for the guys from L.A. to do well in your program because that helps in your recruiting, whether they are inner-city or whether they are suburb guys,” Babers said. “That’s something that makes them think they can do that, so it really helps a lot.”

Added Scott: “The kids see the other kids doing well here and it is word of mouth. I feel like a proud father. To have five guys here at your school, that’s a beautiful thing.”