Analyst Updates UCLA's Pursuit of 4-Star DL

After a slow end to June and start to July, UCLA is starting to receive good news on the few remaining recruiting targets on its board in the 2026 class recruiting trail.

A new update on Tufanua Ionatana Umu-Cais, "TI" for short, came out detailing when he'll make his commitment and which schools are still in the running. TI announced his top five schools just over a week ago, and UCLA was on the short list.

Brandon Huffman, national recruiting editor for 247Sports, said this in his update on Umu-Cais:

"Englewood Cherry Creek four-star defensive lineman Tufanua Ionatana Umu-Cais is Colorado's No. 1 player — and while the two right behind him announced their respective commitments on June 28, Umu-Cais simply narrowed his list down to a final five that same day and has still yet to name a commitment date.

"One was home-state Colorado. The others were North Carolina, Oklahoma, UCLA and Washington. He visited all of those except Oklahoma, but the Sooners did get the state's top offensive recruit in Schmitt. It has seemingly been a UCLA-Washington battle for Umu-Cais, but Colorado and North Carolina are still involved here."

247Sports insider Tracy Pierson, for BruinReportOnline,  also revealed promising updates for TI and UCLA's chances at acquiring him.

"The feeling is that it's UCLA, UW or Stanford for TI, and could come down to UCLA and UW," Pierson wrote.

""TI", as he's always referred to, is so good I was tempted to put him No. 1 on this list," he said. "He's a beast. And he's at a high-priority position -- nose tackle.  He's also a good student (with a Stanford offer). He's physically developed enough -- and just plain good enough -- that you could see him getting immediate playing time. He could be UCLA's anchor on the defensive line, a Jay Toia type, for multiple seasons."

Adding Umu-Cais to the reported Crystal Balls of four-and three-star defensive linemen Carter Gooden and Marcus Almada, and already committed four-star David Schwerzel would tremendously bolster UCLA's 2026 recruiting class that is already ranked 19th nationally with 21 total commits.

247Sports national recruiting analyst Greg Biggins evaluated Umu-Cais. Here's what he had to say about him amid his recruitment:

"Umu-Cais or ‘TI’ as he’s called, is on the short list when talking about the top overall player in the state for the ’26 class. He projects as a classic nose guard who could also play the three-tech but is a sure fire interior lineman who can do some damage. He has the body/mass to take on a double team, hold his ground and still get a push up the field. He’s a naturally strong player who plays a power game. You can’t move him and he shows some pass rush ability as well. He has the length you want to see for an interior lineman as well and as he continues to improve athletically in terms of his short area quickness and burst, he’ll take his game to another level."