What is UCLA Getting in Malaki Soliai-Tui?

Three-star Kahuku (Hawaii) linebacker Malaki Soliai-Tui pledged to UCLA and bolstered its 2026 recruiting class by joint-committing to Westwood on Saturday with his cousin and high school teammate Madden Soliai.

The cousins are DeShaun Foster's 20th and 21st commits from the class of 2026 and kept UCLA within the top-10 of 247Sports' national team recruiting rankings, marking more additions to the Bruins' best recruiting class since the early 2010s.

Soliai-Tui is the No. 9 prospect out of the state of Hawaii and had offers, visits and reported interest from Boise State, Cal and UNLV. Foster, defensive coordinator Ikaika Malloe and the culture they're building in Westwood are what swayed the linebacker to call UCLA home.

"First of all, they were one of my first offer and have been showing me love for the longest time," Soliai-Tui told BruinReportOnline. "The coaches and staff are one of a kind. They make me feel like family, making it easy for me to call UCLA my home. Coach Malloe and coach Scott (White) are geniuses. I love coach Scott's energy. He's a coach any player would want to play under. I love the way he teaches and develops his linebackers. I love how coach Malloe runs his defense and his coaching style. Especially him being from the Islands as well, I can connect through him more easy."

Greg Biggins, national recruiting analyst for 247Sports, evaluated Soliai-Tui earlier in June and previewed what the Bruins will be getting out of the three-star. Here's what he had to say:

"Soliai-Tui is one of the more versatile defenders out West and brings a lot of positional versatility to the table. Has a safety frame and flashes excellent cover skills. Plays primarily as an in the box, middle ‘backer and does a nice job reading/reacting and flying to the football. A big hitter who loves contact and plays with maniacal effort and motor. Tough to block because of his quickness and ability to shoot through gaps and run past opposing linemen.

"Shows knock-back ability at the point of attack and plays fast because of his instincts and relentless style. Really like the all around game and his ultimate college position will likely be determined by where his frame is and just how much weight he can put on by the time he hits college."