(Photo Courtesy of Jayden Limar/Twitter)
Running Back Jayden Limar Lists UCLA Football as Top 9 Semifinalist
The Bruins remain in the running for one of the top ball-carriers in the West.
Class of 2023 running back Jayden Limar released his list of nine semifinalists on Wednesday, with UCLA football being one of the schools to make the cut. Limar also listed Arizona, Louisville, Miami (FL), Michigan, Notre Dame, Oregon, Texas A&M and Washington State.
Limar was also previously being recruited by Arizona State, Boise State, Boston College, Cal, Colorado, Oregon State, USC, Utah and Washington, but those teams appear to be taking a backseat for the time being.
Across the board, Limar is a top-250 player and top-15 running back in his class. The 247Sports Composite, Rivals and ESPN all have Limar pegged as a four-star recruit.
The 5-foot-11, 190-pound running back is ranked as the No. 12 player at his position by both 247Sports and Rivals, with ESPN penciling him in at No. 15. Limar is also a consensus top-five player in Washington and the No. 1 running back in his state.
Limar also runs track and plays basketball at Lake Stevens (WA), and he has had experience as a receiver and linebacker on the gridiron as well.
As a freshman, Limar rushed for 154 yards and two touchdowns on just 21 carries. Limar has taken major strides since then, becoming his team's primary ball-carrier with over 1,000 rushing yards and leading Lake Stevens to an 11-1 record in the process.
Limar recently stood out at the National Preps Showcase, winning MVP over that weekend while posting the second-fast 40-yard dash time in the history of the event at 4.58 seconds.
Across camps and visits, Limar has been on campus at Washington State, Washington, Notre Dame, Oregon, Texas A&M, Michigan and Ohio State since last summer. Limar made his way to Westwood for the first weekend of March, becoming one of many juniors to take an unofficial visit in that period.
Limar told Sports Illustrated's Irish Breakdown in February that he wants to commit before the start of next high school season and that he plans to enroll early wherever he ends up next.
That means there are still a few months to go before Limar makes anything official, but he could still be the next in a long line of Bruin running backs to take the Pac-12 by storm over the past few years. Johnathan Franklin and Paul Perkins were among the top rushers in the country in the Jim Mora era, then Joshua Kelley, Demetric Felton, Brittain Brown and Zach Charbonnet have stepped up to impress under Kelly.
Running backs coach DeShaun Foster has been in Westwood through them all, and he has handled the recruiting of Limar. The West Coast prospect became the first 2023 running back to pick up an offer from Foster and the Bruins back on Feb. 17, right before they extended one to Roderick Robinson II as well.
Robinson also released his list of semifinalists this week and notably had UCLA in his top nine.
The signed incoming 2022 class features one running back, local product Tomarion Harden. Charbonnet came back for one more year, and Keegan Jones, Christian Grubb and Deshun Murrell will be there to back him up as potential successors.
Whether Limar or Robinson join Murrell and Harden moving forward remains to be seen, but the interest is mutual with both backs.
No 2023 recruits have committed to the Bruins as of Thursday.
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