UCLA Freshman Spotlight: Jace Brown

After QB Nico Iamaleava left the University of Tennessee to join head coach DeShaun Foster and the UCLA Bruins, all recruits were suddenly eyeing Westwood as a possible destination. Shortly after, his brother Madden Iamaleava left Arkansas to be reunited with Nico in California, and that led to a wave of changes. Along with Madden came one of his teammates: freshman wide receiver Jace Brown.

A three-star recruit, Brown was a highly touted prospect going into his final years of high school. He was a multi-sport athlete at Long Beach Polytechnic High School, his hometown. Brown made a big splash in the track and field scene, following in his mother's footsteps.

What does he bring to the table?

"Brown has had a strong off-season and established himself as one of the top receiver prospects in the West Region. He’s not only added size and grown to a solid 6-4, 200 pounds but is quicker and more explosive athletically as well. He had a solid junior season but has taken his game to another level this Spring. He shined at the Under Armour Next Camp in Los Angeles back in March where he looked very good in the drills and had a strong testing day as well. He’s running track for the first time and has a personal best 11.06-100m time. He has been dominant on the 7v7 circuit as well and is a really tough matchup because of his size, hands, body control and ability to get behind a defense. He’s definitely a guy who’s trending up in our eyes and has the talent to play for just about any program out West.

"Brown is a jumbo receiver who could grow in to a tight end in college. He has a big frame, has strong hands and can run. Has a personal 11.06-100m, 23.63-200m this Spring." - Greg Biggins of 247Sports.

Brown had a simple reason for why he decided to come to UCLA, joining Foster and new offensive coordinator Tino Sunseri: “because it felt like home.” The culture and depth of Los Angeles was too big an opportunity to pass up, and it just made sense.