Junior To Watch: Cali DL Mathew Malele

Any discussion of the top defensive tackles in the country next year will have to include Carson's (Calif.) Mathew Malele. The talented lineman has been dominating since his sophomore year and he has a chance to be the top defensive player on the West Coast next year.

At 6-2, 312 pounds, Malele is a load for opposing offensive lineman to
deal with. He's very strong at the point of attack often taking up two
and even three blockers on every play. He has good pass rushing skills
mixing in a great bull rush with surprising quickness for a player of
his size.

Malele was a All-State Underclass selection the past two years and
earned Student Sports Junior All-American honors last season. At the
Nike Camp in San Diego last year, he was rated one of the top three
defensive line prospects of the day and earned Top Underclassman of the
camp. In the one on one drills, he dominated a pair of All-State lineman
in James Bonelli (Notre Dame) and John Parada (Arizona).

Scholarship offers have come in from UCLA, Arizona State and Stanford
and he's hearing from the rest of the Pac 10 as well as Notre Dame,
Tennessee, Wisconsin, LSU and Northwestern.

"UCLA and USC are my co-leaders right now," Malele said. "I really want
to stay close to home so that's why I like them. I was at UCLA's Junior
Day last weekend and I liked it a lot. They confirmed that I had an
offer from them and I really liked meeting Coach K (Kezerian), the
academic coach. That's the main reason why I like them so much is the
academic support.

"I'm going to USC's Junior Day this weekend so hopefully they'll offer
me too. Stanford, Oregon and Notre Dame are the other schools in my top
five but it's early and I plan on taking all five of my recruiting trips
so my list will probably change around a lot."

Academically, Malele is an honor student and is carrying a 3.8 GPA and
has already scored a 900 on the SAT which he'll take again. He'll attend
the Nike Camp in Los Angeles but is unsure about the rest of his camp plans.