Bruins beat USC . . . for Valencia High cornerback

Tracy Pierson of Scout.com reported that UCLA received a verbal commitment from Valencia junior-to-be cornerback Marlon Pollard, beating out most of the Pac-10, including Cal, Oregon, USC and Washington, along with Colorado.

He is listed at 6-0 and 149 pounds and had 15 tackles for Valencia during his sophomore season, according to Scout.com. He’s also a sprinter and jumper for the Vikings track team, training under former Bruin and Olympic gold medal winner Sherri Howard at Valencia. He has the school sophomore class records in the high jump (6-2), long jump (21-4) and triple jump (43-11).

It’s UCLA’s first verbal commitment for its 2009 class.