Washington Edge Rusher Laiatu Latu Comes Out Retirement, Transfers to UCLA Football

Latu stepped away from football due to a neck injury last spring, but now he'll return to the gridiron for the Bruins.

(Photo Courtesy of Laiatu Latu/Twitter)

The Bruins have made a much-needed addition to their front seven.

Former Washington edge rusher Laiatu Latu announced he would be transferring to UCLA football on Friday, coming out of medical retirement in order to do so. Latu is the third transfer to commit to the Bruins so far this offseason and the first on the defensive side of the ball.

Latu first joined the Huskies when Ikaika Malloe was the outside linebackers coach in Seattle, and now he'll be following Malloe to his new digs in Westwood.

COMMITTED🐻 pic.twitter.com/UcLrMchtvi

— LAIATU (@laiatu_latu) December 31, 2021

The 6-foot-4, 265-pound Latu first joined Washington ahead of the 2019 season, heading up to the Pacific Northwest from Carmichael, California.

Latu was a highly sought-after recruit, earning four-star ratings from the 247Sports Composite, Rivals and ESPN. 247Sports had Latu pegged as the No. 5 weakside defensive end in the nation, while Rivals had him at No. 11 among strongside defensive ends. All three major outlets had him as top 250 prospect in the nation at the time.

Coming out of Jesuit High School (CA), Latu received scholarship offers from Alabama, Arizona, Arizona State, Cal, Florida, Fresno State, Georgia, Howard, Illinois, Nebraska, Notre Dame, Oregon, Oregon State, San Diego State, San Jose State, Stanford, Tennessee, USC, Utah, Vanderbilt, Washington, Washington State, as well as UCLA. As a high school senior, Latu racked up 94 tackles and 29.5 tackles for loss, improving on his figures of 65 and 17.0 as a junior.

Latu played in 12 games his freshman year at Washington, posting 16 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, 0.5 sacks and a pass defended as a rotational piece. In 2020, Latu did not appear in a game, and in April of 2021, he opted to medically retire and continue to pursue his degree after dealing with a lingering neck injury.

Assuming Latu can return to his former self on the field, the Bruins are going to need his ability to get behind the line of scrimmage next fall. UCLA ranked 91st nationally in sack rate this year, and they are losing defensive lineman Otito Ogbonnia, defensive lineman Datona Jackson, linebacker Jordan Genmark Heath, linebacker Myles Jackson, striker Qwuantrezz Knight and possibly edge rusher Mitchell Agude this offseason.

If anyone can get Latu to achieve his full potential, it's Malloe, who has known him as a recruiter and coach for nearly four years.

UCLA's Director of Player Personnel Ethan Young tweets "BOOM" every time the Bruins earn a verbal commitment from either a transfer or high school recruit. Young tweeted booms on Tuesday and Wednesday, and it's safe to assume one of them had to do with Latu.

Former Duke receiver Jake Bobo and former UCF quarterback Dillon Gabriel were the first transfers to commit to UCLA, but it had been nearly two weeks since the program added a transfer. With a small 2022 recruiting class of 11 and coach Chip Kelly's reliance on the transfer portal in recent years, there are surely going to be more transfers the Bruins will reel in in the coming weeks.

Catch up on all the transfer market news related to UCLA at All Bruins' transfer portal tracker.

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