The mind of a teenager can be ever-changing as time goes along. Such appears to be the case with Santa Margarita (Calif.) offensive tackle Erik Bunte who committed to UCLA last night after stating that he was hoping to enjoy the entire recruiting process.
Bunte told Scout.com: “I know I had said I wanted to wait and go through the whole process, but really today I just thought there is nothing that compared to the Bruin family and nothing that measured up to UCLA,” said Bunte. “I believe in the team and I believe in Coach (Jim) Mora and Coach (Adrian) Klemm so I called them up and committed to UCLA. I’m so excited.”
He could become the first Santa Margarita Eagle to play at UCLA since Kris Farris, a player that was an All-American for the Bruins and was the winner of the Outland Trophy in 1998, awarded to the Nation’s top interior lineman.
Standing at 6’7″ and weighs 310 lbs, Bunte started at guard in all 15 games for Santa Margarita last season and was pivotal in helping the team capture the CIF-SS Pac-5 division title and eventually the CIF State Division I Championship. He was named to the all-Trinity League and all-state underclass teams. Scout has Bunte ranked as the 23rd offensive tackle, garnering him a four-star rating.
Soon he could find himself to be a teammate of St. John Bosco tackle Nico Falah who is known to be fond of the Bruins, enough to place them as his preferred college choice at this moment in recruiting. He is ranked third nationally.
Erik is close friends to current teammate and future rival Max Tuerk, the sixth rated guard in this year’s class. Tuerk helped to solidify the Eagles line, but will bid adieu to his friend as he heads over to play for crosstown rival USC. When asked if it would tamper their relationship, Bunte replied: “Max will find out pretty soon I’m going there and we’re pretty good buds so it should be fun.”
The attention for Bunte now becomes on helping his alma mater repeat as champions of the Trinity League, Pac-5, and eventually CIF State Division I.
