Burlison's World

Well, that certainly takes some of the sting out of losing Josh Shirley, Jordan Zumwalt and Dietrich Riley to UCLA . . .

The nation's best offensive lineman, Seantrel Henderson (Minnesota), just announced on CBS College Sports that he is signing with USC.

He said Ohio State finished second.

Some pundits are saying that Lane Kiffin's class could rate as high as No. 3 nationally, after unanimous 1-2 Florida and Texas.

The Bruins just won another head-to-head battle with USC . . . St. Francis BIW selection (No. 18 in the balloting) Dietrich Riley just announced for the Bruins on ESPNU.

So all 20 Best in the West first-team selections have signed or announced for schools.

The final count in the Top 20: USC (6), UCLA (4), Oklahoma (3), Washington (2), Florida (2), Oregon (1), BYU (1) and Cal (1).

Factor in the Bruins five honorable mention signees and it means nine of Top 30-ranked BIW players are Westwood-bound.

USC's six first-team recruits and two honorable mentions give the Trojans eight of the Top 30.

UCLA went head to head with the likes of USC, Miami and Washington and came out on top for linebacker Josh Shirley (Fontana Kaiser), fifth in the standings for the 10-player honorable mention list of the Best in the West.

Assuming cornerbacker Anthony Jefferson (L.A. Cathedral), as expected, signs with the Bruins today, that will give Coach Rick Neuheisel five of the 10 honorable mention choices -- including four of the top five: Jordan Zumwalt, Anthony Barr, Cassius Marsh and Shirley.

This is shaping up as one of the best-ever classes for the UCLA program.

Now that's what is called a ``recruiting coup'' . . .

Owamagbe Odighizuwa (Portland Douglas), fifth in the Best in the West voting and one of the three or four best defensive end prospects in the country, just announced that he is signing with UCLA.

That gives the Bruins three of the top 11 finishers (with running backs Malcolm Jones of Oaks Christian and Jordon James of Corona) in the BIW balloting.

Ricky Heimuli, a defensive tackle from Salt Lake City Brighton, and No. 14 in the BIW balloting, announced for Oregon within the hour.

That's a bit surprising: Most thought he would stay close to home or head to Westwood.

Next up for the Bruins: The 11:30 a.m. press conference from Portland's Douglas High, where defensive end Owamagbe Odighizuwa (No. 5 in BIW voting) will choose from among UCLA, Oregon State and Nebraska.