The Hotline is delighted to provide college football fans with a regular dive into the recruiting process through the eyes and ears of Brandon Huffman, the Seattle-based national recruiting editor for 247Sports. He submitted the following report on May 22 …

Here come the Bruins

After hitting some doldrums on the commitment trail, UCLA went on a bit of a heater.

The Bruins hadn’t received a pledge since November but, in the span of five days, added four commitments — three on defense and one on offense — to double their class.

The lone offensive commitment was a big one: tight end Camden Jensen, the No. 3 recruit in Colorado, who canceled subsequent visits to Nebraska, Florida and Missouri.

UCLA also landed an out-of-state defensive lineman in Tennessee edge rusher Yahya Gaad, a former commit to SMU.

Locally, the Bruins picked up linebacker Matthew Muasau, the younger brother of former Bruin Darius Muasau — he’s now the starting middle linebacker for the New York Giants — and edge Anthony Jones, who picked UCLA over Tennessee and Washington.

Cougars keep rolling

The commitment flips are starting to happen earlier and earlier, which lines up with the number of early pledges we’ve been seeing in this day and age.

Washington lost one this week as in-state receiver Terrance Saryon flipped from the Huskies to Brigham Young.

The Cougars already have a commitment from his 7-on-7 teammate, Brock Harris, and are honing in on another teammate, LaMarcus Bell.

And BYU went back to St. Francis High School in the Bay Area (for the second consecutive year) to land safety/linebacker Sefanaia Alatini, who follows his teammate, Kingston Keaanaina, a 2024 BYU pledge.

Say hey, Rebs!

Which school is leading the Mountain West recruiting rankings in the early going?

That’s right, UNLV.

First-year coach Dan Mullen, who was much maligned for his recruiting efforts at Florida, is clapping back with the top-rated class to date in the Mountain West.

A top-70 wide receiver from Florida, Jesse Harden, and a flip of a top-35 quarterback from San Diego State, Derek Garcia, provided good offensive momentum.

This week, the Rebels went to Hawaii to snag the No. 3 linebacker in a loaded class on the Islands in Trehsyn Fesili.

UNLV has been a visible presence in the 50th state this spring, and it paid off in landing Fesili.

Gem State to the Palouse

After taking over the head coaching role at Washington State, Jimmy Rogers hit the road hard with his staff.

They have continued to do so, and the effort paid off with two commits from neighboring Idaho.

The Cougars picked up a pair of pledges from Boise in receiver Hudson Lewis, the No. 4 recruit in the Gem State (and the state champion in the 100 meters), and tight end Drew Byrd, the No. 8 recruit in the state.

For good measure, the Cougars went to a place they have recruited for decades, Arizona, for their newest pledge:  defensive lineman Jake Jones.

The calm before the storm

With the Memorial Day holiday this weekend, campus visits will be sparse.

It will also be light for the camps.

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But that’s just the precursor for what could be the wildest and busiest June since the introduction of the early signing period, spring official visits and NIL (more on that next week).

Next weekend marks the start of the June college camp cycle, with several major national showcases taking place throughout the West.

It will also see the majority of West Coast schools ramp up their official visit slate.

To date, only Arizona State, UCLA and Stanford have prioritized official visits in April and May. Everyone is gearing up for a busy June of visits as more and more schools try to complete the heavy lifting before summer.

With the entire month of July being a dead period, in addition to August, the race to close June in strong fashion has never been more imperative.

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