ESPN West recruiting Blog

Posted by Greg Biggins

Offensive lineman Kody Innes (Scottsdale, Ariz./Saguaro) made his college choice on Thursday and as expected, it was to a Pac-10 school. However, in somewhat of a surprise move he'll be leaving home to play his college ball.

Innes was believed to be a big Arizona State lean for months and Saguaro has been a pretty solid pipeline for the Sun Devils the last few years, but the talented lineman decided to commit to UCLA.

"It was a really tough choice because I have a lot of friends at ASU," Innes said. "I liked all the coaches at ASU too, but UCLA was just the best fit for me. They have a great coaching staff and I know they're going to be able to turn the program around.

"I think coach [Rick] Neuheisel is close to getting things going in the right direction and I want to be a part of that. It's a great academic school and my parents and sister are probably moving out there, so it's a great opportunity to be close to family and play for a program I'm excited about."

Innes took official visits to Washington and ASU, but did take an unofficial visit to UCLA earlier in the month.

"I went out there the weekend of Oct. 10 when they played Oregon," Innes said. "I had a lot of fun and learned a lot about the school. The campus is very nice and I love the area as well.

"They said I'll probably come in as a tackle, but I can play whatever they need me to play. I've been thinking a lot about UCLA ever since that visit and I probably decided that was where I wanted to go on Tuesday.

"I slept on it and then actually committed to the coaches Wednesday night, but didn't want to release it until Thursday so I could let all the schools know before reading it elsewhere."

Innes is one of the most athletic linemen in the West and chose the Bruins over offers from schools like ASU, Washington, Cal, Stanford, Utah, Colorado, Nebraska and several others.

This is another tough blow to the Sun Devils because the other franchise in-state offensive lineman, Nick Rowland (Peoria, Ariz./Centennial), also decided to leave the state and committed to Oregon a few weeks ago.