Armstead Proves His Point At UCLA Camp 

By Brandon Huffman
West Recruiting Analyst
Posted Jun 11, 2007

ELk Grove (Calif.) Pleasant Grove defensive tackle Armond Armstead (6-5, 290), went to the UCLA camp to specifically show he can play on the defensive line, and he said he thought proved his point to the Bruin coaching staff, so he now waits for the Bruins to offer...

 In a somewhat down year for defensive tackles in the West, Elk Grove (Calif.) Pleasant Grove’s Armond Armstead (6-5, 290) is making a case against that.

After having a noteworthy showing at the Nike Camp in Palo Alto, Armstead picked up five more offers, three from the Pac-10 and two from the Big 12.

“Washington offered me last week, and I also got offered by Arizona, Arizona State, Nebraska and Texas A&M since then,” said Armstead.

This past weekend, Armstead trekked down to SoCal to camp at UCLA and USC, and following his performance in Westwood on Saturday, he talked about how he fared.

 “I honestly didn’t think I did my best, but I still think I did pretty good,” said Armstead. “I worked with the defensive line, and the whole point of the camp was to prove I could play defensive line. The coaches said they would have offered me already as an offensive lineman, but I prefer to play on the defensive side of the ball, and I proved it to Coach (Todd) Howard.”

Armstead said that he worked mostly as a defensive tackle, and he knows that in UCLA’s defensive system, that would be his likely spot.

“I think where I play (on the line) just depends on where I go,” said Armstead. “At UCLA, they have smaller defensive ends, in the 230-240 range, 250 the biggest, and that’s why they wanted me to play tackle. Coach Howard said they really liked me there.”

On Friday, prior to camping in Westwood, Armstead took an unofficial visit to UCLA, meeting with the coaches and talking with receivers coach Eric Scott, who is the coach recruiting Armstead.

“I met with Coach Howard, and I talked to Coach Eric Scott and he said he wanted to see my SAT and grades, so I showed him that,” said Armstead. “Now it’s the up to them making the offer. They told me to get in touch with them this week.”

As for his thoughts on the UCLA campus, Armstead left impressed.

 “I thought it was beautiful,” said Armstead. “It was one of the best campuses I’ve seen in my life. I wouldn’t say I’d commit early to them or anyone else, but they’re at the top right now.”

 Armstead camped at USC on Sunday and he was told prior to the camp, that if they liked him, they could offer.

 With the surge in interest for Armstead, he said he’s hoping to have a better grasp of a top five in the coming weeks.

 “I’ll have a top five in two weeks, after I visit Arizona, Arizona State, Texas A&M, Nebraska and Michigan. Michigan said for me to get in touch so I can see about an offer from them too,” said Armstead.

Armstead chalked up his rise in interest from his performance at the Nike Camp. After skipping some others because of AAU basketball, he was able to show his ability to play.

 “I thought that was when I really showed what I could do,” said Armstead. “I come from a new school and I didn’t have seniors on my team that were getting scouted. I’m in the first class to graduate, so it wasn’t until then that I had a chance to show I could play. It’s giving me a lot of confidence. I know when I get home I can dominate.”

Armstead is taking the month of June, which is a dead time for AAU, to visit some more schools unofficially.

 “I’m trying to see all of the big ones while I have time in June. I’m going to be at all the big AAU camps, Vegas, Los Angeles and I think I might go to a tournament in Oregon,” said Armstead.

“Maybe I’ll play in college, if my grades are right and the coaches think I can do it.”

During his junior year, Armstead had 79 tackles from his defensive end spot.

Armstead has a 3.0 GPA and was awaiting his SAT score.