The Bruins have plugged one of their biggest holes on special teams.
Former Princeton punter Will Powers verbally committed to UCLA football on Saturday, he revealed on Twitter. Powers, who spent the last four years with the Tigers, entered the NCAA transfer portal on Nov. 21 and has one year of eligibility remaining.
Powers went to Choate Rosemary Hall (CT) for high school, but he is originally from Manhattan Beach, California.
Powers will be making his homecoming after racking up plenty of honors out east, starting by winning the Class A Prep New England Football Championship in 2016, 2017 and 2018. He was also the punter and holder at the 2019 Adidas All-American Bowl in San Antonio.
Coming out of high school, Powers' only offers were from Princeton and Columbia, although he also received interest from USC.
Powers starred for the Tigers right away, earning All-Ivy League First Team honors as a true freshman. Powers attempted 29 punts for an average of 40.2 yards, placing seven inside the 20 with a long of 57.
The COVID-19 pandemic cost Powers his sophomore year, but he returned with another big season in 2021 en route to an All-Ivy League Second Team spot. Powers attempted 36 punts for an average of 43.8 yards, placing nine inside the 20 with a long of 75.
Despite posting some career-best numbers his senior year, Powers was an All-Ivy League honorable mention in 2022. Powers attempted 33 punts for an average of 39.7 yards, placing 13 inside the 20 with a long of 64.
For his career, Powers has pinned opponents inside the 20 on 29 occasions, compared to just eight touchbacks. The 6-foot-2, 210-pound specialist has 18 career punts of 50-plus yards.
UCLA lost its starting kicker and punter to the transfer portal earlier this month, with Nicholas Barr-Mira entering back on Dec. 3. Barr-Mira spent the past three seasons as the Bruins' starting placekicker, but only took on punting duties in 2022 once Luke Akers transferred to Northwestern.
In his first college season at the position, Barr-Mira attempted 22 punts for an average of 43.7 yards. He did not record a single touchback, and he placed eight punts inside the 20 with five attempts of 50-plus yards.
Barr-Mira was only put on scholarship in August, breaking the trend of coach Chip Kelly rolling with preferred walk-ons at the starting specialist spots. It remains to be seen whether or not Powers will be playing on scholarship next season.
Powers will join Chase Barry on the depth chart, the only other Bruin who has attempted a punt at the college level. Barry was a top-ranked recruit at his position coming out of JSerra Catholic High School (CA) in 2022, but he only had one punt for 39 yards after losing out on the starting job to Barr-Mira before the season.
UCLA has now added three transfers since the portal opened, and Powers is the second to come from the Ivy League. UPenn defensive end Jake Heimlicher committed on Nov. 29, while Cal linebacker Oluwafemi Oladejo committed on Dec. 5.
The Bruins' transfer class was ranked No. 4 in the country, according to 247Sports, before Powers' commitment.
Click here to check out All Bruins' 2023 transfer portal tracker
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