Morse’s Lawrence, Bennett to Become Bruins

Morse’s Teddy Lawrence and Tommy Bennett have decided to attend UCLA on football scholarships, but only after a day full of second thoughts.

Lawrence, an option quarterback who averaged nearly 14 yards a carry last season, and Bennett, who played both defensive back and receiver, decided on UCLA Tuesday night but reconsidered Wednesday after talking to their parents, who favored Stanford.

Wednesday evening, both players decided to stick with their original decision and made verbal commitments to Bruin Coach Terry Donahue.

“They just didn’t have one thing wrong,” said Lawrence, who will be switched to defensive back at UCLA. “The overall balance--football, academics, proximity and social environment--everything was good.”

Said Bennett: “Stanford is real heavy on academics, but UCLA outweighs it in other aspects.”

Both Lawrence and Bennett took recruiting trips to UCLA, Stanford, USC and Washington. Lawrence also took a trip to Notre Dame, Bennett to Cal.

Lawrence said he probably would have gone to Notre Dame if it had been closer to home. Bennett said it wasn’t the coaching staff that sold them on UCLA.

“No, not really,” he said. “There were some other coaching staffs that we liked better.”