This time last year, class of 2025 wide receiver Jace Brown was visiting and committing to play for DeShaun Foster at UCLA. Five months later Brown committed to Arkansas instead, making a verbal agreement to play for the Razorbacks with teammate and close friend Madden Iamaleava.
Iamaleava, a four-star quarterback prospect, flipped his commitment to the Bruins in April, following his older brother Nico’s transfer from Tennessee. Some expected Brown to follow suit, especially after the Razorbacks released the wide receiver from his scholarship in May.
But there was silence surrounding Brown’s future, until now.
Wednesday morning, Bruin Report Online lead writer Tracy Pierson reported Brown’s quiet move and subsequent enrollment at UCLA. BRO staff confirmed Brown is enrolled at the university and “participating in the UCLA football program,” despite no announcement of the decision. Brown officially enrolled June 22.
“It’s the culmination of a long, circuitous journey for Brown,” Pierson wrote. “Not long after [Madden Iamaleava’s commitment to UCLA], it was made public that Brown got out of his scholarship agreement with Arkansas. But then, silence. There was no formal public announcement about Brown becoming a Bruin.”
The senior’s decision came at the tail end of a very successful month for UCLA. The Bruins secured 15 of their 22 commitments in June, and their No. 12 ranked 2026 recruiting class was deemed one of June’s biggest winners by ESPN.
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Decisions aside, Brown is one of the top receiver prospects in the West Region, per 247Sports National Recruiting Analyst Greg Biggins.
“Brown has had a strong off-season,” Biggins wrote. “He’s not only added size and grown to a solid 6-4, 200 pounds but is quicker and more explosive athletically as well. He had a solid junior season but has taken his game to another level this Spring. He shined at the Under Armour Next Camp in Los Angeles back in March where he looked very good in the drills and had a strong testing day as well. He’s running track for the first time and has a personal best 11.06-100m time. He has been dominant on the 7v7 circuit as well and is a really tough matchup because of his size, hands, body control and ability to get behind a defense. He’s definitely a guy who’s trending up in our eyes and has the talent to play for just about any program out West.”