Brighton star is weighing his options

Editor's note: This is the first in a four-part series leading up to Wednesday's National Letter of Intent Day.

Ricky Heimuli dresses the part of a kid who would fit in great at UCLA.

Regardless of the gloomy winter weather outside, the highly-recruited Brighton lineman is almost always wearing shorts, a T-shirt and sneakers. Along with the backpack he's usually lugging around, Heimuli already looks like a Southern California college student.

Then again, why would the extremely sought-after 280-pound lineman want to play for UCLA when he could sign with the University of Utah to play alongside first cousin Latu Heimuli, another highly-recruited lineman who signed with the Utes out of Highland High School last year?

Then again, with National Signing Day roughly 72 hours away, and with all the interest Oregon has shown, why wouldn't Heimuli want to sign with the Pac-10 champion Ducks?

And finally, Washington is a program on the rise, guided by former BYU gunslinger Steve Sarkisian, and what's not to love about spending four to five years on one of the nicest college campuses in America?

These are among the many thoughts racing through the 18-year-old's head with decision day just around the corner.

"I am nervous, because right now I'm still up in the air. I still don't have a clue where I'm going yet," said Heimuli. "But I have a feeling when it comes down to it, I'll make the right choice for what's best for me."

That decision could make or break the 2010 recruiting class for any of the four schools. Heimuli is the 10th-ranked defensive tackle in the country, according to Scout.com, and Rivals.com ranks him eighth.

Heimuli returns from Seattle today after making his last recruiting visit to the University of Washington. Beginning tonight or Monday, Heimuli's father Okusitino Heimuli said his son will begin whittling schools off the list and making thank-you-but-no-thank-you phone calls to the disappointed.

With UCLA, Oregon, Washington and Utah all making official visits to the Heimuli home in Glendale this past week, Okusitino Heimuli has sensed his son is tiring of the recruiting process. Plus, he's still receiving calls from schools like Penn State and West Virginia, wondering if they can sway his decision.