DJ Uiagalelei. Get to know that unique name. That’s if you haven’t already.
That’s because the 5-star with the “Ooh-ee-ang-la-lei” phonetics which power his last name can also drive a football 78 or 79 yards at a long toss competition. He can fling it that far and actually feel like he had a little bit more in his arm.
The 6-foot-5, 245-pound junior ranks as the nation’s No. 1 QB prospect for the 2020 class on the 247Sports Composite standard. That will currently slot him as the nation’s No. 7 overall junior prospect.
The tweeted highlight reel showcases why he’ll be front and center on some college football stage within the next few seasons.
He has established a top 7. Uiagalelei told DawgNation he plans to make his decision sometime this summer.
The 5-star plays for a national juggernaut in St. John Bosco out in California but did place the Bulldogs among his top options back on Dec. 31.
The reason why? He said he sees the Bulldogs as a national brand.
“How good of [the] players they get there every year and how they are always in the run to win a national championship,” Uiagalelei said.
He placed UGA among his final seven schools. He’s actually got one of those in there (Mt. Sac) which seems like a tribute school given that the program is a community college in his home state of California.
That school doesn’t really exactly fit in with a top list of Alabama, Clemson, Georgia, LSU, Oklahoma and Oregon but it was an impressive gesture on his part.
The strong-armed passer placed Georgia in his top 7 on Dec. 31. That was in the middle of all the Justin Fields frenzy, but that didn’t have anything to do with why he liked what he saw at Georgia.
“There is a lot to like about Georgia first and it has nothing to do with Fields transferring either,” he stated. “I don’t really care about the depth chart part. I liked Georgia when [Jake Fromm and Justin Fields] were both there.”
Uiagalelei pointed out that he liked the coaches and the facilities from a June 2018 visit.
The pretty telling 2018 stat line for DJ Uiagalelei
If a big-armed QB prospect doesn’t move the dial for folks, consider the fact that Uiagalelei battled for the Bosco job back in 2017 with a starter set to star in the popular second season of “QB1: Beyond the Lights” which featured Justin Fields.
DawgNation readers will remember the strapping young talent who kept pushing the senior on his way to Iowa State. That was one of the other narratives in the docu-drama along with Fields and his senior season at Harrison High in Kennesaw.
Uiagalelei had a strong junior season. He was completing 78 percent on his passes for 20 touchdown strikes at the midpoint of 2018.
When he was named as the USA Today ALL-USA Offensive Player of the Year this past season, he was credited with a junior stat line of 3,366 yards, 48 touchdowns and seven interceptions. He also tallied up six rushing scores.
Those numbers came against a big boy schedule with the likes of Mater Dei, Oak Christian and Orange Lutheran, among others. He was sharp enough to light up eventual mythical prep national champion Mater Dei for five TDs passes during the regular season.
Mater Dei came back and avenged that loss in the California state playoffs. That left Bosco with a 13-1 year in 2018.
Quarterbacks of his stature at the sort that programs build their classes around. Uiagalelei should be no different. He told DawgNation that he expects to make his decision by July.
He’s not quite sure about which schools will get an official visit, but it does seem like the longest trips will be to Alabama, Clemson and Georgia. With respect to Mt. Sac in his final 7, it looks like there are six schools in the running for his official visits.
Clemson has always been seen by many as a team to watch out for in this process. Uiagalelei picked up his Georgia and Clemson offers on back-to-back days last season.
The Tigers currently have 59 percent of the predictions on the noted 247Sports “Crystal Ball” forecast in regard to his eventual college decision.
Competition? Transfer in and out? Uiagalelei said the current state of affairs with musical chairs about elite quarterbacks will not affect his college decision.
When going back to the 2013 recruiting cycle, it is eye-opening to see that 8 of the last 14 QB prospects to receive a 5-star rating on the 247Sports Composite ratings have transferred away from their original school.
Will the stories of those 5-stars shape his decision going forward?
“It doesn’t shape it at all,” Uiagalelei said. “I am just looking for the best place that will fit me to be the best QB and get me ready for the NFL and also [help me] become the best man I can be.”
There are lots of Uiagalelei clips to choose from across the web. Let’s take a look at these two below. They should offer a pretty good sample size of what he can be in college football.
Both of those are culled from that aforementioned 5-TD performance against Mater Dei.
