Why Marcus Almada is UCLA's Most Important July Recruitment

UCLA's hot recruiting month of June slowly cooled down in the waning days. DeShaun Foster and the Bruins lost a few recruitment battles towards the end of the month and in early July. However, three-star defensive lineman Marcus Almada's decision alone can change UCLA's trajectory to close out the 2026 recruiting trail.

Almada was given a 247Sports Crystal Ball prediction a couple of weeks ago to land with the Bruins, and we're all just awaiting his official decision.

"UCLA set the bar early and no school was able to match it. From defensive fit to academics and the bond with the coaching staff, the Bruins set the pace and are in position to land Marcus Almada unless a big change takes place,"247Sports said.

UCLA has already acquired quality pledges at the defensive line position, like four-star Seattle (Wash.) O'Dea lineman David Schwerzel and Irvine (Calif.) three-star Anthony Jones, though. Why is Almada so important?

It's because of who he is connected to. Marion (Mass.) Tabor Academy four-star teammate and No. 1 recruit out of the state of Massachusetts, Carter Gooden.

Bruin Report Online's Tracy Pierson, with contributions from 247Sports' Brandon Huffman, detailed Almada's importance just a few weeks ago, when they explained how UCLA can finish strong in its 2026 recruiting.

"A lot of competition for him," they said of Almada. "He has added importance since he's a package deal with his high school teammate Carter Gooden."

In the same article, here's what they said about Gooden and what he would mean to UCLA and what their chances are:

"UCLA needs high-level edges. Gooden is that. In fact, he's the highest-rated prospect on this list, and he'd be UCLA's highest-ranked commitment (No. 69 overall in the country). Sometimes edges who are 260 pounds are future interior DLs, but Gooden has that rare quality of being a big dude that absolutely still has the quickness to be an edge.  Given that he's already so developed physically, he's probably the No. 1 guy on this list who could come in and make an immediate impact as a true freshman.

"Gooden visited UCLA in early May, and the word is that the visit made a big impression on him. But it was his first visit, and he's got quite an official visit itinerary. He's also already been to Arizona State, Rutgers, Michigan State and Virginia, and has Penn State this weekend, followed by North Carolina and Boston College. It would be spectacular if UCLA could survive that gauntlet and get Gooden. We know UCLA put a pretty good NIL/rev share proposal on the table for him.  But hosting the first official visit and all the subsequent visits makes it so that UCLA has to sit tight and waited it out. Still, the feeling is that development of edge rushers under Ikaika Malloe could be a big factor."

Landing both Almada and Gooden would put the cherry on top of an already historically great UCLA recruiting class and continue DeShaun Foster's momentum into his early tenure at the helm in Westwood.