'13 CA RB Craig Lee (Verbal to UCLA)

[Duff Man]

Rivals (http://rivals.yahoo.com/colorado/football/recruiting/player-Craig-Lee-133142)
Scout (http://recruiting.scout.com/a.z?s=73&p=8&c=1&nid=5926516)
ESPN (http://espn.go.com/college-sports/football/recruiting/player/_/id/144701/craig-lee)
247 Sports (http://247sports.com/Player/Craig-Lee-16109)

http://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/headshots/recruiting/ncf/players/full/144701.png&w=350&h=254
Redlands Senior H.S. (Redlands, CA)

Ht: 6-foot-0
Wt: 190 lbs
40:

Rivals rating: 4*-5.8rr; #24 RB
Scout rating: 4*; #26 RB
ESPN rating: 4*-81 grade; #26 RB
247s rating: 3*-87 rating; #40 RB

Reported Offers: COLORADO, Arizona, Arizona State, California, Houston, Nebraska, Notre Dame, Oregon, Oregon State, San Diego State, UCLA, Utah, Washington, Washington State

[Duff Man]

@BrandonHuffman Brandon Huffman
Redlands (Calif.) 2013 running back Craig Lee picked up a new offer today, from Colorado...

[Duff Man]

Lee had a big junior season (1534 yards rushing and 15 TDs) in the Inland Empire. He seems to be a bit of a threat out of the backfield too with over 200 yards receiving and a couple TDs. His team had a losing record, but that has not stopped colleges from offering. USC has been his childhood favorite.

[Duff Man]

http://www.hudl.com/athlete/105643/craig-lee

[Rugged]

Love it. Recruiting for 2013 the day before 2012 signing day.

[CVilleBuff]

What's the word WR? Seen this kid?

[White_Rabbit]

He good. He's not like uber prospect level, probably more on par with where Payne was this cycle, but he's plenty good. Not sure who I'd compare him to, he's not like any of the RBs we signed in 2012, more of a shifty speedster type. One game I saw him play in he only got like 8 carries, but broke one for a 90 yard TD. Why he didn't get many more carries was beyond me, I assume the coach will ride him this season.

[Duff Man]

So I finally got around to watching his highlights and I was very impressed. His balance stands out right away and he has good speed. Lee is a complete back that can carry the ball 20-25 times a game, along with being a decent receiver out of the backfield.

I could see him blowing up over the next couple months because is a top 20 back in the country IMO.

[White_Rabbit]

Haven't seen his highlights before, this kid is better than I thought. Really solid all around, definitely better than Payne level (and I like Payne quite a bit).

Too bad he plays for the enemy.

[Duff Man]

http://247sports.com/Article/Busy-week-ahead-for-RB-Craig-Lee-65535

Uphill battle here, but I hope EB makes him a priority.

[White_Rabbit]

Hopefully we start going hard after this kid now.

[Buffnik]

Ran a 10.96 100m at the Mt. Sac Relays this week. Kid's got some wheels.

http://dyestat.rise.espn.go.com/meetresults.jsp?meetID=52360

[Duff Man]

Lee might be the offensive player I most want to see in a Buffs uniform. We really need him to hold off on his commitment for a while to have a shot IMO. If that happens, Washington may very well get a second RB commit before he decides. That would help the other teams in the race.

[White_Rabbit]

UW has a pipeline into Redlands, that's for sure.

Are they hot on Miles Jack? You would think with their in state recruiting issues, they'd be all over trying to land an in state RB/LB.

[Duff Man]

UW has a pipeline into Redlands, that's for sure.

Are they hot on Miles Jack? You would think with their in state recruiting issues, they'd be all over trying to land an in state RB/LB.

They want Jack (as do many schools), but I think Jack wants to leave the state. He was not born and raised in Washington.

The player to watch is Lavon Coleman (http://rivals.yahoo.com/colorado/football/recruiting/player-Lavon-Coleman-136980;_ylt=ApOz6EQaUcvywWcYAWX1CVLCrZB4). If he decides to end his recruitment sooner rather than later, Washington is the likely destination.

[Duff Man]

http://colorado.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1361888


"My top five mostly is Washington, UCLA, Houston, Arizona and USC," Lee said. "Those are my top right now."

This is from the beginning of May. USC has two RB commits and does not look like they will take another. Would really like to see us make Lee a priority and get in the race.

[White_Rabbit]

Houston? WTF

[J.R. Ewing]

Houston? WTF

Even I'd 2nd that.

[mattrob]

http://colorado.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1361888



This is from the beginning of May. USC has two RB commits and does not look like they will take another. Would really like to see us make Lee a priority and get in the race.

I still think this could be a possibility. Doors are closing fast in the Pac12, and there will be a few RB's shut out. Washington already has two RB commits, USC appears to be done, AZ is in on a couple of RB's in Lee and Cormier, but they already have 22 commits. If UCLA fills up at RB soon, kids are going to be scrambling. I'd love to see a playmaker at RB this year.

[DesertDawg526]

I still think this could be a possibility. Doors are closing fast in the Pac12, and there will be a few RB's shut out. Washington already has two RB commits, USC appears to be done, AZ is in on a couple of RB's in Lee and Cormier, but they already have 22 commits. If UCLA fills up at RB soon, kids are going to be scrambling. I'd love to see a playmaker at RB this year.

Washington, to my knowledge, only has one commit at RB (Lavon Coleman). It is not thought that Baltazar is a commit at this time. Look for Washington to take another...

[PurpleReign]

Washington, to my knowledge, only has one commit at RB (Lavon Coleman). It is not thought that Baltazar is a commit at this time. Look for Washington to take another...


Desert is correct, Baltazar is not a Udub commit (Rivals is WAY behind in staying current with West Coast prospects).

[mattrob]

Desert is correct, Baltazar is not a Udub commit (Rivals is WAY behind in staying current with West Coast prospects).

I couldn't find much on him, what's the story?

[CVilleBuff]

Extremely disappointing. This is the type of RB we desperately need, and to have a school like Houston ahead of us in Lee's book right now is literally painful to see.

[FLounder]

want.

[Quattro]

Extremely disappointing. This is the type of RB we desperately need, and to have a school like Houston ahead of us in Lee's book right now is literally painful to see.
Yup. We need to show something in our running game first though before a prospect like this looks at us, hopefully with our experienced OL this year we can show enough.

[Duff Man]

Yup. We need to show something in our running game first though before a prospect like this looks at us, hopefully with our experienced OL this year we can show enough.

Did we need to show something from our TEs to get Cope-Fitzpatrick or McNamara interested? Nope. If Embree can get blue chip TEs interested through offensive struggles, it is not unreasonable to expect EB (supposedly our best recruiter) to do the same with at least one blue chip RB.

[Quattro]

Did we need to show something from our TEs to get Cope-Fitzpatrick or McNamara interested? Nope. If Embree can get blue chip TEs interested through offensive struggles, it is not unreasonable to expect EB (supposedly our best recruiter) to do the same with at least one blue chip RB.
That's very true but it seems like most RB's have a different mindset than most TE's. I could be off base with that but that's just an observation.

[FLounder]

Will commit on his birthday. August 15.

[Duff Man]

Adam Gorney ‏@adamgorney
Still hearing only good things about #UCLA (https://twitter.com/search/?q=%23UCLA&src=hash) and Redlands, Calif., RB Craig Lee.

[lawdogg]

Bruin per 247.

[Buffnik]

Following the twitterverse, I was expecting this one to happen today.

Big get for UCLA.

Confirmation: http://www.sbnation.com/college-football-recruiting/2012/8/15/3238571/craig-lee-commits-ucla-bruins-football

[buff4bcs1985]

**** another one i dont want to face!!!!