Former No. 1 high school prospect Ben Olson, whose recent return from a two-year Mormon mission in Canada sparked a frenzied recruiting war among the nation's top football programs, will sign with UCLA, the Bandit has learned.
Olson, described by one prominent recruiting expert as "a left-handed John Elway," originally signed with BYU and spent the 2002 season as a redshirt freshman. He then chose to spend the next two years as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints -- not an uncommon decision by many BYU players of LDS faith. An NCAA rule allowing returning missionaries to sign with other programs, without penalty of sitting out a transfer year, made Olson a prime recruiting target for dozens of high-profile programs.
In the end, Olson chose UCLA over Cal and Arizona State. South Carolina, and new coach Steve Spurrier, also recruited Olson hard, but the 21-year-old quarterback preferred to stay on the West Coast.
Olson will enroll at UCLA in January and take part in the Bruins' winter conditioning program and spring drills. He is expected to compete with returning starter Drew Olson (no relation, though the two quarterbacks came out in the same 2002 recruiting class and are good friends) for playing time.