Thames Blog

Olson commits to UCLA over the Ole Ball Coach!

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.

Spurrier may have an ace in the hole

Steve Spurrier will win big at South Carolina and it might be a lot sooner than any of the experts say. For starters, there is some great talent in Columbia, especially RB Demetris Summers and WR Troy Williamson.

The big question is can any of the QBs in the program fit in Spurrier's scheme? Maybe. But we're hearing Spurrier might be in the running for the top free agent in college football -- former PARADE All-American Ben Olson who signed with BYU three years ago, but left on a Mormon mission to Canada and has decided not to return to BYU (NCAA rules allowed him to become, basically, a free agent after his two-year mission).

The 6-foot-5, 230-pound Olson had everything scouts look for in terms of size, athleticism, the arm and presence. Most figured he was headed to Arizona State or UCLA, but Miami, Oregon and Cal are all pushing to get him. So is South Carolina, and we're told the school and its new coach have intrigued Olson, who supposedly will make a decision by mid-December.

STATS: Ht: 6-5 Wt: 205 40: 4.65 Position: QB Projected: QB Position Rank: 3 Class: 2002 Senior High School: Thousand Oaks HS, CA.