Buena Park cornerback Elijah Gates (5-11, 175) is going home.
The senior, who grew up in Pasadena, committed Monday to UCLA, picking a squad that plays in the Rose Bowl in Pasadena over co-finalist Oregon.
The speedy Gates said he picked the Bruins because the players and Coach Jim Mora made him feel wanted.
“Just talking to the players, I got a good vibe with the upper classmen that they really wanted me,” Gates said after announcing his decision Monday in front of family and classmates at Buena Park.
Gates said he lost a connection with Oregon when it fired Coach Mark Helfrich in late November. Gates made an official visit to Oregon in mid-November.
“It kind of affected me because I was actually close with Mark Helfrich,” Gates said. “He texted me every day before my games, after my games.”
Gates grew up in Pasadena and played youth football with fellow UCLA commit and cornerback Darnay Holmes of Calabasas.
“That’s my guy,” Gates said of Holmes. “(We’re) a deadly combo. … I used to play Pop Warner football with him. Pasadena Panthers.”
Gates attended Alemany in Mission Hills — also not far from the Rose Bowl — before transferring to Buena Park.
“Everybody local can come see me play,” he said. “That’s going to make me happy.”
And the Bruins, too.
