In college football recruiting it is not all that common for a prospect to continue building a relationship with a coaching staff after decommitting from a school. Typically, either the program or the recruit decides his best fit is elsewhere and the two sides go their separate ways.

For cornerback prospect Maliki Crawford, however, UCLA still very much remains one school in the mix, and there have been no hard feelings from the coaching staff either.

The Oxnard-Pacifica junior committed to the Bruins last July ahead of the 2021 season. He ultimately decided to back off his pledge in late January amid several coaching changes on the defensive side of the ball early in the offseason.

Hitting the reset button has allowed Crawford to better explore some of his other options, but UCLA has never been off the table in his mind. There is still plenty of attraction to the school for the three-star recruit.

“To be honest, they never really left the equation,” he said. “For me, literally, I decommitted just to see all my options because I did commit early as a sophomore. So, it was literally just that. So, they never really left the equation. I still kept a consistent relationship with the coaches and I still talked to them.”

He proved how much he still is considering UCLA earlier this month when he made a visit out to Westwood to meet with some of the new coaches and rekindle his relationship with the coaches he has already known throughout the process.