UCLA Football Recruiting: RB Tomarion Harden Commits to the Bruins
The running back from Inglewood jumped on a scholarship offer almost immediately.
The UCLA Bruins picked up a surprise commitment on Monday when Inglewood High School running back Tomarion Harden announced his commitment to the team mere hours after receiving an offer.
Tomarion Harden is a 6’ 1”, 230 lb running back prospect from Inglewood High School in Inglewood, California. He is a composite 3-star running back according to 247Sports Composite rankings, where they also have him as the 58th best running back prospect in the country and the 50th best recruit in the state of California. He has offers from a host of Power 5 programs, including Southern Cal, Utah, and Colorado, but the UCLA offer was clearly one that Harden coveted. Harden had a workout with UCLA coaches on Monday after which he was given a scholarship offer from coach Chip Kelly. According to Harden, he committed to the Bruins on the spot, much to the delight of the attending coaching staff.
In a post-commitment interview with Greg Biggins of 247Sports, Harden mentioned that he was enamored with UCLA in part because of how they utilize big running backs, and that’s exactly what Harden is. Harden is all of that 230 pounds and is at his best when he can get going between the tackles, punishing opposing defenses. That said, Harden is also fairly quick with solid burst. So, he can fill the role of an every-down back down the line. That’s incredibly important for a UCLA offense that likes to utilize two types of running backs in their system, rotating between bigger every-down backs and faster scatbacks. Harden will enter UCLA with potentially only Zach Charbonnet on the roster filling that role, meaning that Harden could quickly find playing time early on.
Harden is the second commitment the Bruins have gotten from Inglewood High players this cycle, joining his teammate safety Clint Stephens. But that’s not where the intrigue ends; Harden did his private workout at UCLA alongside teammate and 4-star quarterback prospect Justyn Martin. Martin is currently committed to UC Berkeley, but reports have long stated that UCLA is his dream school and would jump at the opportunity if offered. The Bruins finally made an offer after watching Martin throw on Monday and, now, all eyes are on the talented quarterback to see if the Bruins can poach him in the near future. For his part, Harden mentioned in his interview with Greg Biggins that getting Martin to flip is his next priority.
Let’s take a look at Harden’s junior season highlights, courtesy of Hudl.
Welcome to Westwood, Tomarion!
Go Bruins!!
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