UCLA’s football recruiting run has been the talk of the offseason, and Bob Chesney and company have now unlocked a massive achievement in their first recruiting cycle with the Bruins: landing a 5-star recruit.
Few players across the country get the honor every year, as it’s only given to the best of the best, and any time you can land a player of that caliber to your program is a big deal.
UCLA’s Newest 5-Star
The first 5-star recruit for the Bruins during the Chesney Era is 2027 defensive back JuJu Johnson, who committed to the program as a 4-star player in early May, but recently received an upgrade from 247Sports. The Long Beach Poly product had 22 Division I scholarship offers, including Oklahoma, Alabama, Georgia, Oregon, and Texas.
And it all comes after he missed the entire 2025 season with an injury. Still, many project him as an elite player in the secondary who has the versatility to play multiple positions well on the back end.
Because of that versatility and his ability to excel on both sides of the ball, Johnson is considered an “athlete” by recruiting services, which is how they list players who fit multiple roles. He’s considered the second-best athlete in the entire 2027 class and is now the No. 31 overall recruit nationally and No. 3 player in California, which all clearly makes him the highest-rated player currently committed to UCLA.
But just how big a deal is this?
UCLA’s 5-Star Recruiting History
Turns out, it’s huge. The Bruins have had only six 5-star recruits since these services began tracking player rankings, all of whom came under three coaches. The first was defensive tackle Owamagbe Odighizuwa in 2010 under Rick Neuheisel. Jim Mora Jr. landed four during his tenure, including defensive tackle Eddie Vanderdoes (2013), star quarterback Josh Rosen (2015), and eventual first-round pick Jaelan Philips (2017), although he transferred to Miami (FL).
Quarterback Dante Moore, now starting for Oregon, was the most recent, becoming the only 5-star commit and signee for Chip Kelly during his time in Westwood.
Another notable aspect of this is the timing of its occurrence for Bob Chesney. The other coaches had to wait until well into their tenures to add these coveted recruits, and he’s now landed one before his team has even taken the field in an actual game against another opponent.
Mora had the closest comparison, also landing a 5-star player in his second recruiting class, but it didn’t happen seemingly overnight, as it has now.
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