Ikaika Malloe remembers the day his walk-on status transformed into a scholarship.
“I really cried,” UCLA football’s defensive coordinator said. “I cherish those moments, and I’ve always held that deep inside.”
More than 25 years after his time as a Washington linebacker, one of Malloe’s players experienced the same transformation as his coach. Freshman defensive back Kanye Clark earned a scholarship Tuesday after coming to the school as a walk-on.
“He represents the D.R.E (discipline, respect and enthusiasm),” Malloe said. “When coach (coach DeShaun Foster) gave him that scholarship, that made me, it filled me with pride more than just Kanye because it just showed the hard work, regardless of scholarship, walk-on.”
Clark decided to be a Bruin despite receiving scholarship offers from other schools.
“I had probably around 13 to 15 other offers,” Clark said. “But the day before signing day, I got a call and UCLA offered me a walk-on spot, so I decided to gamble on myself, come here and just prove myself again.”
In a video UCLA football posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, announcing Clark’s scholarship, Foster highlighted the defensive back’s individual efforts in practice.
He showed a clip where the Sacramento local beat out redshirt sophomore wide receiver Ezavier Staples in a one-on-one rep.
“Off that play right there, we’re going to offer you a scholarship to play at UCLA football,” Foster said in the video.
Clark’s teammates erupted into cheers, then swarmed him with celebratory hugs.
No tears for Clark, however. At least, not until later.
“At first I didn’t. I was in front of the team. So I didn’t want to let my emotions out,” Clark said. “But eventually, I was by myself and I realized the hard work had paid off, so the tears came out.”
With Clark’s promotion comes big shoes to fill.
After the 2023 season, UCLA’s defense lost key defensive backs in safety Kamari Ramsey and cornerback John Humphrey, who both transferred to USC to follow former UCLA defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn, who now fills the same role across town. Additionally, redshirt senior defensive back Alex Johnson – who led the team in interceptions – exhausted his eligibility.
“We lost some players, new coaching change, but we’re all going to come together,” Clark said. “We’re a great community, we’re a great brotherhood.”
Acknowledging the loss of important defensive players, Malloe said the defense’s emphasis would switch to the unit as a whole.
“What they’re learning is team. We can lean on each other, right, we don’t need — I’m saying this respectfully — we’re not going to rely on the Latus (defensive lineman Laiatu Latu) and the twins (defensive linemen Grayson and Gabriel Murphy) to go get home,” Malloe said. “We’re going to have to rely on everybody.”
Clark and other defensive players’ efforts were evident in Thursday’s practice, with the defense putting on a strong showing, besting the offense 21-14 in the squad’s seven-on-seven and 11-on-11 exercises.
“What motivates me now is that now that the hard work paid off, just to keep going,” Clark said. “Scholarship, that’s one thing, but also want to do more. I want to be on the field making plays.”
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