One of the Elite

One of the reasons I started writing a blog was because I was reading other blogs and skimming through news stories, and figured this was the best way to offer my two cents or to pass along news about people I know. Among my friends, nobody is making bigger news than Danny Brehaut's son Richard, and that figures to only get bigger, as he gets ready for his senior year at Los Osos High on the way to playing quarterback at UCLA in a little more than a year from now. On Saturday, June 21, Richard hit the recruiting headlines again with a big performance at the Elite 11 Quarterback Camp in Las Vegas.

Recruiting Web site Rivals.com reports that Richard dominated the competition, which featured many of the top high school quarterbacks in the nation, with the exception of Mater Dei's Matt Barkley, who has given a verbal commitment to USC. With his performance, Brehaut earned a spot in the final Elite 11 championship competition in July. That event is truly THE event, and those who are chosen are considered the best in the country. The July competition will be televised on ESPN... The Rivals story about the camp basically called Brehaut the No. 2 high school QB (class of 2009) in California behind Barkley, and that he was easily the best choice for UCLA...

Here is the Rivals.com account of Saturday's camp... Oh yeah, I think Richard might resemble his dad a bit (see the Rivals.com photo above)...

June 21, 2008

Brehaut dominates Elite 11 qualifer
Jeremy Crabtree
Recruiting Editor

LAS VEGAS – More than 70 of the nation's top quarterbacks were in Las Vegas Saturday for the final chance to qualify for the prestigious EA Sports Elite 11 Quarterback Camp.

It was no surprise several of the nation's top-ranked signal-callers stole the show, this included four quarterbacks ranked by Rivals.com as top 250 national prospects.

Kevin Newsome of Chesapeake (Va.) Western Branch, AJ McCarron of Mobile (Ala.) St. Paul's, Richard Brehaut of Rancho Cucamonga (Calif.) Los Osos and Josh Nunes of Upland, Calif., were the headliners at the event and each one of them had their moments in the 2-hour workout held at UNLV's football practice fields.

There were even some talented 2010 passers that were just as good as the quarterbacks in the current class. Juniors-to-be Tyler Brosius of Waynesville (N.C.) Tuscola Senior, Tyler Shreve of Redlands (Calif.) East Valley and Peter Thomas of El Cajon (Calif.) Valhalla all showed strong arms, accuracy and good fundamentals and were easily as talented as the older signal-callers.

UCLA commit Richard Brehaut was the top quarterback at Saturday's event.

THE RIGHT CHOICE
There's been much debate as to who the No. 2 passer in California is behind Matt Barkley, who is the nation's top player. After a strong day Saturday it's easy to say it's Brehaut. The 6-foot-2, 206-pounder was flawless in everything he did and was simply in a league of his own.

UCLA's coaches thought long and hard between Nunes and Brehaut, before deciding to offer Brehaut. It was an offer Brehaut jumped on, turning down scholarship offers from Utah, Washington State, Boise State, Arizona, Colorado, Iowa State, Kansas, Oregon State and others.

After seeing him again Saturday after an impressive outing earlier this spring at the NIKE Training Camp, it's easy to say the Bruins definitely made the right call by extending an offer to Brehaut.

"I think it was my consistency and my accuracy that really helped me today," Brehaut said. "I also have been to one of these camps before, so I kind of know the ropes. I know what coach (Bob) Johnson wants and expects."

Brehaut had a hard time putting into words how much an invitation to the Elite 11 would mean to him.

"Ever since I came to the camp at Cal last year that's been my dream to make the Elite 11," he said. "It would be such a big honor. It's kind of hard to even imagine my dream coming true, but I worked hard today and felt like I did about as good of a job I can do. I laid it all out there today, and I hope the coaches were impressed."

Since he committed to UCLA on May 26, Brehaut has gone from the hunted to the hunter. He's no longer fielding calls from schools all over the country and is now making calls trying to help the Bruins build a better class.

"It's cool to help UCLA get a bunch of guys and make it a great class," he said. "I'm just getting guys' numbers that I know have an interest in UCLA. I'm getting in contact with them, seeing how they feel about UCLA. I'm trying to get some big boys up front and receivers to help. I'm the only offensive recruit so far, so I'm trying to pull in all the offensive guys now.

"I've been in a lot of contact with Dasarte Yarnway. I know he's coming down this weekend to camp. I've talked to Shaquelle Evans, too. It'd be awesome to bring him in, too, and Ricky Marvray. I loved throwing to him the other day. He's had three great camps in a row."

The article went on to say that outside of Brehaut, two other QBs had big days. Those players were from Alabama and North Carolina, but none of the bigger names that had previously been touted at the top of the recruiting lists.

I'll try to include more of these as they unfold. It's just pretty interesting to see how the recruiting game is played.