In one of the bigger recruiting surprises of the spring, Englewood (Colo.) Cherry Creek offensive tackle Jackson Roper is headed to the Big Ten.

The four-star announced his commitment to UCLA on Friday.

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In fact, most signs were pointing to Texas A&M.

But the new Bruin staff under Bob Chesney, didn’t relent.

“When it came down to it, from an entire program perspective, UCLA made it impossible to say no,” said Roper.

Roper had another visit on tap for the weekend of April 18th, but circumstances changed and he and his parents went to Westwood instead.

The offer from the Bruins came in January, but they didn’t seem to ever be a real player for his commitment, but Roper said the staff continued to pursue him.

“There were a lot of things that draw from the outside- obviously it’s a huge brand, being in Los Angeles and also the No. 1 public education too, which that was a huge part of the decision, those things stand out. We said as a family ‘we should go out and see these guys,’ said Roper. “They had been reaching out so we said ‘let’s do it.”

The visit, only his second trip ever to Los Angeles after an unofficial visit to USC the month prior, was eye-opening.

“We took a ton of visits and we were always looking for three things: family and fit, and the main reason you can see that is being there in person,” said Roper. “You can build it over the phone but that was what we were looking for. The other two were education and competition. It’s the No. 1 public education in the country and the competition, it’s in the Big Ten, you’re playing Ohio State, Oregon and Indiana.”

Roper marinated on things, not wanting to make an emotional decision, but UCLA continued to stay in touch with him.

“During the visit, we felt this place is a definite contender,” said Roper. “I don’t know if there was a point where we were like ‘this is home’ but we felt ‘this could be home.’ That’s the beauty of having a lot of options. I don’t think from any of those visits, I walked and said ‘this is home.’ But there was definitely a visit where we could see ourselves here. After the visit, the calls didnt stop. They told me they loved me and they loved my family. They made it clear they didn’t just want me, but that they needed me.”

Then came a huge push from offensive line coach Chris Smith and defensive line coach Sam Daniels, who had originally been to Colorado to see him in January with offensive coordinator Dean Kennedy, as well as general manager Darrick Yray, who was in Colorado for an in-home this week, that ultimately swung him to UCLA.

The in-home with Yray wrapped and then on Wednesday, Roper called Yray to let him know he was in.

Then came a litany of calls with Bruin coaches, like Chesney and Smith.

In fact, Daniels and Smith weren’t even on campus when Smith got the word, and the two ran in to each other while grocery shopping, and Smith told Daniels the news

“I had called coach Chesney and coach Smith and hadn’t called coach Daniels yet,” said Roper. “Coach Smith was at Costco when I told him and he ran in to coach Daniels at Costco and told him the news and coach Daniels said he almost started crying he was so excited. When I talked to coach Smith, he said ‘you’re the best recruit I’ve gotten here.”

While Smith and Daniels celebrated, so too did Chesney.

“Everyone wants UCLA to be good, they’re putting a ton of resources in to the program and I believe in these guys.  Hearing that emotion from them was pretty cool.

His father, Andrew Roper, was a former college football player, playing at Utah State, so he was familiar with the recruiting process, but the two handled things in a much different recruiting environment as thorough as they could.

“We had these schools we were interested in and UCLA wasn’t on it,” said Andrew Roper.  “But every single day, Jackson was saying ‘I talked to coach Smitty,’ or ‘I talked to this coach and that coach at UCLA.’ You really felt an organic recruitment. They were relentless but not in a negative way. We just continued to hear, ‘UCLA, UCLA, UCLA,’ and it was a very natural build.”

Roper was among the most traveled recruits in the country, taking over 30 unofficial visits to different schools for camps, games, junior days or spring practices.

He had official visits set for Colorado, USC, Texas A&M, Ohio State and Oregon and had been expected to take visits to Michigan and Texas Tech.

Instead, his lone visit will be to Westwood, though he’s still finalizing the date.

Roper will also reunite with his former Bruin teammate at Cherry Creek, running back Jayden Fox, who signed with UCLA in the 2026 class.

“I know Fox was just out there for a visit for practice, but when I got the offer or when I posted about the trip, he’d hit me and be like ‘yeah, this is the one,’ or ‘yeah, I like that one for you,” said Roper.

With all the visits and the thought of even more visits looming, Roper said he’s relieved to be done.

“I think it’s a case where I know I’m making the right decision so a weight has been lifted off my shoulders,” said Roper. “I’ve loved this process but I’m ready to get to work and I’m ready to be done so I wanted to get this process done. It’s a nice weight lifted. Knowing who your people are and I think this is where I want to be.”