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UCLA football officially adds four transfers

Miami's Mike Smith, right, reaches to tackle Duke's Brittain Brown during the first half of an NCAA college football game in Durham, N.C., Friday, Sept. 29, 2017. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome)
Duke's Brittain Brown is tackled by Miami's Mike Smith. (Gerry Broome / Associated Press)

UCLA football officially added four transfers Monday: running back Brittain Brown, tight end Evidence Njoku and defensive backs Obi Eboh and Qwuantrezz Knight. Brown, Eboh and Knight are immediately eligible as grad transfers, although the fate of the 2020 season is uncertain amid the coronavirus outbreak, while Njoku, the older brother of UCLA sophomore receiver Charles Njoku, is pursuing a waiver for immediate eligibility after transferring from Miami.

Brown ran for 1,126 yards in 25 games at Duke. His redshirt junior year was cut short because of injury after three games. The 6-foot-1, 205-pound running back joins a position that lost starter Joshua Kelley, who was drafted in the fourth round by the Chargers after rushing for 2,303 yards in two seasons with the Bruins. With redshirt senior Demetric Felton and juniors Martell Irby and Kazmeir Allen as the team’s leading returners, UCLA did not sign a running back in its 2020 recruiting class after signing four during the previous cycle.

Eboh, a Stanford transfer, and Knight, who started his collegiate career at Maryland before transferring to Kent State, can add experience to a secondary that lost three-year starter Darnay Holmes. Eboh played in all of the Cardinal’s games the last three seasons, starting seven. As a redshirt junior last year, the 6-2, 195-pound cornerback had 23 tackles, one pass breakup and a blocked field goal. Knight was Kent State’s fourth-leading tackler last year with 74 stops and was named the defensive MVP of the 2019 Frisco Bowl with six tackles, 2½ tackles for loss and 1½ sacks. The Golden Flashes won 51-41 over Utah State.

Evidence Njoku had only one catch during his Miami career. He played in eight games in 2018 as a redshirt freshman, capped off by his 11-yard reception in the regular-season finale against Pittsburgh, but appeared in only one last season before entering the transfer portal in November. With transfers from Jordan Wilson and Matt Lynch, and Devin Asiasi getting drafted in the third round, the Bruins could use Njoku in the tight end rotation this year if he can obtain a waiver.