Tempe Corona del Sol LB Cassius Peat commits to UCLA

Tempe Corona del Sol senior linebacker Cassius Peat, riding the Valley pipeline into Los Angeles, gave an oral commitment Monday night to UCLA to play football.

Unlike his older brothers Todd Peat Jr. and Andrus, who waited until the very end of the recruiting process, Cassius Peat visited UCLA over the weekend and left feeling that was the place he belonged.

He dined Sunday night with UCLA quarterback Brett Hundley and the coaching staff.

"My family really likes it there, I really like it there," said Peat, 6-foot-4, 235 pounds, who has six sacks this season. "I love the location, the academics, what they do on the football field. Everything that I'm looking for is there."

Peat, who has three state championship rings in basketball, visited Michigan State two weekends ago. He also had Arizona State, Oklahoma and Oregon among his finalists.

His visit to UCLA came during its loss to Oregon at the Rose Bowl. But it was more about connecting with the players and coaches.

Both Hundley and starting UCLA tailback Paul Perkins played at Chandler High.

UCLA also brought in offensive lineman Kenny Lacy (Phoenix Mountain Pointe), receiver/running back Jalen Ortiz (Peoria Centennial) and defensive back Priest Willis (Tempe Marcos de Niza) in recent years.

Andrus Peat is a starting offensive tackle at Stanford, where he is a junior.

Todd Peat Jr., the oldest of former NFL lineman Todd Peat's three sons, started his college career at Nebraska as a defensive tackle, before transferring to a junior college.

"I hope to play a (Pac-12) game against my brother, but we'll see if he comes back or not," Cassius said. "It would be cool if that happens."