Pole Moala's commitment was suddenly coming sooner than expected, and then it came surprisingly even sooner, but that ultimately just gave the Oklahoma Sooners bad news earlier than later.
On3's Hayes Fawcett reported on Sunday that Moala, a four-star safety who just reclassified to the 2027 class, committed to UCLA over a list of final options that included OU, Michigan, Ole Miss, Cal and Washington. He also had offers from Arizona State, BYU, Florida State, Miami, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio State, Oregon, Penn State, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, USC and more.
Moala still has an official visit to OU scheduled for June 12.
Pole Moala commits to UCLA over Sooners after reclassifying
The news of Moala's decision was a shock considering Rivals' Greg Biggins had reported earlier Sunday that Moala would announce his commitment on Friday, April 25. Then, a few hours later, Fawcett revealed that Moala had actually already made his decision to stay home.
Moala had even less time to make a decision after Biggins about three weeks ago broke news that Moala would graduate a year early to reclassify from the 2028 class to 2027. However, according to 247Sports, the 2027 class was more age appropriate for Moala.
Even after bumping classes, Moala is still the No. 20 safety in the 2027 class as a four-star recruit, according to the 247Sports Composite. He was the No. 35 safety in the 2028 class, so the jump ahead actually benefited Moala in recruiting rankings. He's the No. 18 prospect in California, where the Sooners have recruited heavily recently, out of Santa Margarita Catholic School.
The Sooners already have a safety committed to their 2027 class, which is currently the best in college football. Four-star Jaylen Scott pledged to OU on March 7 as the No. 14 safety in the class. Many experts have also predicted the Sooners to land Bode Sparrow, who's the No. 3 athlete in the country but expected to play safety at OU.
Moala likely would have just crowded the Sooners' future safety room considering what's already likely coming, so it's not a devastating blow to Brent Venables' future secondary.