Edge Rusher Collins Acheampong Down to 8 Schools, UCLA Football Makes Cut

The fast-rising multi-sport star who hasn't played organized football in years is considering the Bruins alongside Oregon, USC, LSU and others.

The Bruins have earned a spot as a finalist for one of the class of 2023’s fastest rising prospects.

UCLA football still is commit-less for its 2023 recruiting class, but remains in the mix for a handful of prospects, including intriguing dual-sport athlete Collins Acheampong. The 6-foot-8 edge rusher announced on Monday afternoon that the Bruins were one of his top eight finalists.

Alongside Cal, LSU, Oregon, Miami, Michigan, USC and Washington, UCLA will continue to vie for Acheampong’s commitment.

When UCLA offered the Fairmont Preparatory Academy (CA) product, he did not have a recruiting profile on 247Sports, ESPN or Rivals, but he now features on all three of the college football databases.

Acheampong is a four-star prospect according to the 247Sports Composite and ESPN. However, on the former, he is listed as a tight end, while the latter has the 6-foot-7 prospect’s position as defensive end.

The 247Sports Composite has Acheampong ranked No. 22 in California and No. 16 among tight ends, while ESPN has him ranked No. 13 in-state and No. 23 among defensive ends.

Fairmont Prep disbanded its football program following the 2019 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, so Acheampong hasn’t played organized team football since. In his one season on the gridiron as a freshman, Acheampong recorded 51 tackles, 15.0 tackles for loss, 9.0 sacks and one fumble recovery.

Since football was no longer an everyday option, Acheampong became a major piece on Fairmont Prep’s boy’s basketball team and has become an established local prospect in that arena as well.

Acheampong has collected a plethora of offers since the Bruins originally gave him his first offer on Jan. 28. But on Feb. 7, the lengthy defensive end spoke to 247Sports about what he liked specifically about UCLA.

"UCLA definitely feels at home and it's closer to everyone I'm close to here," Acheampong said. "It’s been the director of player personnel, Ethan Young, who I've been talking to the most. Aside from him, I'm in touch with all of them and they all make me feel like home. Coach (Ikaika) Malloe is the one who will run things for me should I go there so I'm getting more personal with him. I met coach (Chip) Kelly on my first visit and it was just crazy. We talked for over 30 minutes straight after my tour of the campus and facilities and he even went into his ESPN interview late so he was a real one for that. UCLA is definitely the favorite."

Almost two months have passed since he referred to the Bruins as his favorite, and since then, Acheampong received offers from the other seven members of his finalists.

Acheampong took part in the Under Armour Next Football Camp series in early March, continuing to draw attention and raise eyebrows as one of the top 100 prospects in the West. That weekend very much put Acheampong on the national map, and now UCLA has serious competition in his recruitment.

The edge rusher position has changed in the Bruins’ defensive scheme with the 4-2-5 getting swapped out for more of a 4-3 base and some more multiple sets. As such, Acheampong would appear to be a defensive end for UCLA, a position that could still boast North Texas transfers Grayson and Gabriel Murphy come 2023, while Bo Calvert and Carl Jones could be on their way out by that point.

Acheampong is one of several 2023 pass rushers the Bruins are targeting, and they are now one step closer to making him the first piece of their recruiting class on that front.

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