Recent Stanford Decommit Kamari Ramsey Flips to UCLA Football

The local safety decided to become a Bruin after backing off his decision to join the Cardinal over the weekend.

(Photo Courtesy of Kamari Ramsey/Instagram)

The Bruins have wrestled a top defensive back away from one of their fiercest in-state rivals.

Class of 2022 safety Kamari Ramsey committed to UCLA football on Tuesday, just a few days removed from his decommitment from Stanford. Ramsey, a defensive back out of Sierra Canyon (CA), took an official visit to Westwood and the Rose Bowl in October, even though he committed to the Cardinal back in August.

Ramsey also had scholarship offers from Arizona, Arizona State, Arkansas, Cal, Colorado, Michigan, Nebraska, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oregon, Oregon State, Penn State, Texas, UNLV, USC, Utah, Virginia Tech and Washington.

The news of Ramsey's commitment came via 247Sports, and Ramsey shared confirmation of his decision and impending signing on his Instagram story Tuesday night.

Ramsey is a four-star recruit, according to ESPN, Rivals and the 247Sports Composite. All three databases also have Ramsey ranked as a top-200 player in the country, a top-15 safety in the nation and a top-15 player in the state of California. Ramsey immediately becomes the Bruins' highest-rated commit, according to the 247Sports Composite.

When Ramsey announced he was no longer committed to Stanford on Sunday, several UCLA commits flocked to his post and lobbied for him to join the Bruins instead. Receiver Jadyn Marshall and cornerback Clint Stephens both tweeted cryptic messages trying to get him to come to Westwood, and even freshman cornerback Devin Kirkwood joined in to congratulate Ramsey on reopening his recruitment.

The Bruins were in Ramsey's top five finalists before he made his pledge to the Cardinal.

Ramsey's eventual decision to come to UCLA was spoiled prematurely by his own high school, as Sierra Canyon posted a Tweet late Tuesday afternoon listing which of its players were signing where during their public team event Wednesday. Ramsey was listed at the very top of the graphic, with UCLA right under his name, and that was how Ramsey decided to make his choice public when he reposted the image on Instagram.

Adding another local recruit gives the Bruins five commits in ESPN's top 30 in California, and five out of the 247Sports Composite's top 30 in the state. 11 of UCLA's 13 scholarship commits are from California and all 15 commits – scholarship or preferred walk-on – are from their recruiting footprint on the West Coast.

Ramsey had 58 tackles with 3.0 tackles for loss and 1.0 sack as a senior at Sierra Canyon in 2021, also picking off two passes and deflecting seven more. As a sophomore in 2019, Ramsey had 80 tackles, 1.0 tackle for loss, four interceptions and 17 passes defended.

Adding fresh blood to the safety position could be key for assistant head coach and defensive backs coach Brian Norwood this offseason, as Quentin Lake walked during Senior Night against Cal and could leave for the NFL. Stephan Blaylock is just now wrapping up his senior year, but he did not appear as part of Senior Day, so he likely plans on returning another year.

When Lake and Blaylock were hurt at times in 2021, UCLA's lack of quality depth at safety showed, and that problem only looked to get worse once second-string safety DJ Warnell entered the transfer portal on Nov. 30.

Ramsey's addition is one that will help build a better secondary in the future, but is also a much-needed one in the short term as well.

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