Recruiting: No. 1 Prospect in 2027 Class Commits To UCLA

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Prep Redzone New Mexico's No. 1 prospect in the 2027 class is headed to the Big Ten.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Six-foot-3, 225-pound Carlsbad linebacker <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1248663' first='Colton' last='McKibben']</strong> told Rivals Friday afternoon that he has committed to UCLA of the Big Ten. When a Rivals reporter tweeted out McKibben's commitment, the latter quickly replied with ‘I'M HOME!'</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>According to Rivals, McKibben chose UCLA over TCU, Colorado and Arizona. The Bruins offered him in January.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Rivals and On3 rates McKibben as a four-star prospect and ranks him as the No. 220 overall prospect and the No. 19 linebacker nationally. &nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Possessing a unique combination of size, speed and strength, McKibben was offered by over 20 schools, many of them Power 4&nbsp; programs. In addition to the aforementioned schools, McKibben was also offered by (in alphabetical order) Ariona State, Auburn, Baylor, Iowa State, Michigan, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Stanford, Texas Tech and Washington.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>He led the Carlsbad defense with 111 tackles, 6.0 TFL and 1 interception in 2025 as the Cavemen advanced to the quarterfinals of the Class 6A playoffs. Carlsbad won at Rio Rancho in the first round before falling to Hobbs in the quarterfinals.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>McKibben was named First-Team All-State and First-Team All-District at inside linebacker. He enters his senior season with 216 career tackles, putting him well within range of eclipsing 300 career tackles by the time the 2026 season ends. &nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>New UCLA head coach Bob Chesney was hired in December. He was previously the head coach at James Madison in 2024-25 when he led JMU to its first-ever bowl win (2024) and an 11-win season in 2025 when the Dukes participated in the College Football Playoff as the No. 12 seed. He has an overall record of 132-52 in 15 seasons as a head coach. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:html --> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">BREAKING: Four-Star LB [player_tooltip player_id='1248663' first='Colton' last='McKibben'] has Committed to UCLA, he tells me for <a href="https://twitter.com/Rivals?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Rivals</a><br><br>The 6'3 225 LB from Carlsbad, NM chose the Bruins over TCU, Colorado, and Arizona<br><br>“I'm home! 4's up baby”<a href="https://t.co/eQH35vinoN">https://t.co/eQH35vinoN</a> <a href="https://t.co/CEV0YffI9O">pic.twitter.com/CEV0YffI9O</a></p>&mdash; Hayes Fawcett (@Hayesfawcett3) <a href="https://twitter.com/Hayesfawcett3/status/2037633726775955866?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 27, 2026</a></blockquote> <!-- /wp:html --> <!-- wp:html --> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="zxx" dir="ltr"><a href="https://t.co/WBlqE5lHse">https://t.co/WBlqE5lHse</a></p>&mdash; [player_tooltip player_id='1248663' first='Colton' last='McKibben'] (@COLTONMCKIBBEN9) <a href="https://twitter.com/COLTONMCKIBBEN9/status/1994828471261085789?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 29, 2025</a></blockquote> <!-- /wp:html --> <!-- wp:html --> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="tl" dir="ltr">AGTG <a href="https://t.co/GadhpcTxkc">pic.twitter.com/GadhpcTxkc</a></p>&mdash; [player_tooltip player_id='1248663' first='Colton' last='McKibben'] (@COLTONMCKIBBEN9) <a href="https://twitter.com/COLTONMCKIBBEN9/status/1998499640132489328?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 9, 2025</a></blockquote> <!-- /wp:html -->