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UCLA Lands Massive 4-Star Recruit Over Big Ten Foe to Anchor O-Line

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Max Dible | Last updated Jun 7, 2025 8:26 PM ET

The UCLA Bruins are now recruiting within the Big Ten -- arguably the best football conference in the nation alongside the SEC -- where real competitiveness requires big names and big bodies replenishing the roster via the recruiting pipeline every single year.

UCLA locked in both as part of the same package on Saturday, June 7, after four-star offensive tackle Micah Smith committed to joining the program, which went 5-7 last season and finished 12th in the conference standings.

Smith will be tasked with protecting former Tennessee Volunteers quarterback and high-profile transfer Nico Iamaleava in Southern California.

"Four-star OT Micah Smith is heading to UCLA," Brian Dohn of 247 Sports reported Saturday via his X account.

Four-star OT Micah Smith is heading to UCLA https://t.co/ZSemDAceL8 pic.twitter.com/9v1aFLrMW2
— BrianDohn247 (@BrianDohn247) June 7, 2025

Smith, who attends high school at Vero Beach High in Florida, stands at 6-feet, 5 and 1/2-inches tall and weighs 325 pounds.

Dohn spoke with Smith's head coach at Vero Beach, Lenny Jankowski, who had high praise for the versatile lineman.

"He wants to be the best offensive lineman to ever do it," Jankowski told Dohn. "I think when you have a kid that is as motivated, as goal-oriented, as task-oriented [as] he is, he wants to go to a place he can be developed."

Smith announced his decision to play for UCLA on Saturday via an event at his high school, where he also expounded upon why he chose the the program over competing interests that included the University of Illinois.

"The reason I chose UCLA is it just felt like home for me," Smith said, per Dohn. "I never thought I'd be committing this early. I always thought I would commit in July. When it's time, it's time. I just felt like it was time."

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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