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Running back Duece Jones-Drew is heading to Westwood. The son of former NFL All-Pro Maurice Jones-Drew committed to UCLA on Sunday, choosing first-year Bruins coach Bob Chesney over California, Arizona and SMU. It’s a legacy moment that carries real weight for a program still finding its footing under new leadership.
The commitment adds to what’s already become a strong start for Chesney’s first full recruiting class. UCLA now has 16 players committed in the 2027 cycle, and 247Sports ranks that group No. 4 nationally. For a program that spent much of last season searching for answers, that’s a notable early return.
Duece is a three-star prospect out of De La Salle, the well-known Northern California prep powerhouse where his father also played in the early 2000s. Listed at 5-foot-8 and 180 pounds, he’s ranked the 56th-best player out of California per 247Sports, and he’s already shown he can produce. Over 20 games the past two seasons, he’s scored 12 rushing touchdowns for the Spartans.
Cal entered the picture after hiring Oregon defensive coordinator Tosh Lupoi, himself a De La Salle alum who was looking for a ball-carrier in the 2027 cycle. It wasn’t enough.
What pushed Duece toward UCLA was simpler than recruiting rankings or conference prestige. He pointed directly to Chesney and running backs coach AJ Steward as the deciding factors.
“The spring game for me was awesome, being able to see the staff in person get to work. The game was all about competition and who is willing to push past the feeling of discomfort while having fun. The highlight of me getting to meet the new staff was amazing; being able to have a one-on-one conversation with coach Bob Chesney sold me on the whole program. Also, (running backs) coach AJ Steward has been a big part in my recruitment and committing showed my gratitude and respect for coach.”
Chesney, who UCLA hired away from James Madison in December, has heard the skepticism about building recruiting relationships as an East Coast coach stepping into the Pac-12 footprint.
“People said, ‘You’re coming from the East Coast, how do you build relationships?’ Well, we got to start them, and I thought we did a good job on the road throughout the spring, and having all these guys here is going to be really important. We’re going to go up and hang out and do a little more work with them as well.”
Duece is expected to take his official visit to campus in June, per 247Sports, though the commitment is already in place.
The Jones-Drew Legacy at UCLA
It’s hard to overstate what Maurice Jones-Drew meant to this program. He led the Bruins in rushing in each of his three collegiate seasons, and by the time he was done, he’d set school records in career and single-season all-purpose yards, touchdowns in a single game, single-game rushing yards, and single-season punt return touchdowns. His NCAA-record punt return average of 28.5 yards in 2005 still hasn’t been touched.
That kind of production made him a second-round pick of the Jacksonville Jaguars in the 2006 NFL Draft, and his pro career only built on it. Maurice was a three-time Pro Bowl selection during eight seasons with Jacksonville, led the NFL in rushing in 2011, and topped 1,000 rushing yards three times. He finished with 8,167 career rushing yards and 68 touchdowns on the ground, adding 346 receptions for 2,944 yards and 11 more scores through the air. He’s in the UCLA program’s hall of fame.
Now his son is wearing the same colors. For the Bruins and their new coaching staff, that’s the kind of story that writes itself.
