4-star defensive end McKinley commits to Bruins; immediately eligible to play

The UCLA Bruins landed one of the top junior college pass rushers in the nation on Thursday in defensive end Takkarist McKinley.

McKinley will enroll at UCLA next week and would be immediately eligible to play this season, according to Scout.com. The Bruins could also elect to redshirt McKinley, as he has four years to play three seasons at UCLA.

"I just signed the scholarship papers and I'm ready to go," McKinely told Scout. "I'm very excited to be a Bruin. I've liked them for a long time, going back to high school. When I visited over the summer. I just feel in love with the place. I got to tour the campus, see the facilities and the dorms and met some really great people.

"It just felt like home to me and I have a strong comfort level with the players and coaches as well. With UCLA, it's not just about football, it's the total package of academics, alumni support and connections after football. I love the area and the program is going in the right direction so it's a lot of pluses when you pick a school like UCLA."

McKinley originally committed to California but was deemed academically ineligible. However, it was discovered that ruling was incorrect because two summer courses that McKinley had completed were not included when his academics were calculated.

When this mistake was discovered, McKinley was allowed to leave Contra Costa Junior College early and sign with the Bruins. 

McKinley was rated as a four-star recruit by 247sports.com and had been considered the No. 2 strong-side defensive end in the 2015 recruiting class.