One of the top ranked recruits in the country, Mique Juarez certainly made us wait for his announcement, but on National Letter of Intent Day he has committed to UCLA. Alabama and Ole Miss were also in the mix.
#BOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!#UCLA lands 2016 5-Star Linebacker Mique Juarez, the #1 LB in the class. #LineBackerU #8CLAP pic.twitter.com/t5IRGJ1fWA
— UCLA Recruiting (@UCLA_Recruiting) February 3, 2016
Mique Juarez is considered is a premier linebacker in a high school class full of outstanding linebackers. By most scouting service surveys he is the #1 high school linebacker in California and is a top 10 overall player national as listed by Rivals.com.
Juarez was originally committed to USC, but changed his mind in October and opened up his recruiting and he garnered 17 formal scholarship offers. As of the final days before signing he had it narrowed down to UCLA and Ole Miss with Alabama still having an outside chance.
Juarez is 6-2, 226 pounds and played both outside and inside linebacker in his years at North Torrance High School in Torrance, CA. With his speed (4.6 in the 40), he is likely to see more outside linebacker in college. He also played quarterback at North Torrance where he had 2,200 all-purpose yards as a junior. In his senior season, he accounted for all of his teams touchdowns in a 49-0 win over Centennial, four touchdown passes, 2 rushing touchdowns and a 90 yard kickoff return.
He said that UCLA had talked to him about possibly playing both offense and defense in the mold of Myles Jack. BYU recruited him primarily as a quarterback. While he says he is LDS, he eliminated BYU from consideration in January. Most teams have had him slated as a linebacker.
Juarez was two time all CIF Southern Section pick twice on defense and was twice the Daily Breeze Defensive Player of the Year. He is eligible to graduate high school a semester early, so will likely be ready to enroll right away in the college he chooses.
Main Photo via Getty Images Sport.
