UCLA football: All’s fair in love, war and recruiting (by NCAA rules)

A small group of Internet-obsessed UCLA football fans were worked into a frenzy Friday from reports that a Louisiana State coach was on the same flight with high school players from that state who were coming to Westwood.

Tigers’ offensive coordinator Cam Cameron flew west at the same time as receiver Malachi Dupre (River Ridge Curtis High), linebacker Kenny Young (Curtis High), and defensive end Davon Godchaux (Plaquemine High), who are on official visits to UCLA.

There’s a word for it: recruiting.

Finding loopholes is the game.

Why was it OK for Cameron to be on the same plane with three players? He is allowed to visit recruits one day per week.

As for the return flight, the three leave UCLA on Sunday. The NCAA calls Sunday the first day of the week. Cameron would be allowed to visit again.

Such posturing will be prevalent until national letter of intent day Wednesday.

Former UCLA coach Bob Toledo once recalled a moment while leaving the House of Blues with recruits. He ran into USC assistant Ed Orgeron, who was escorting another batch of recruits into the restaurant.

“It was the damnedest thing I had ever seen,” Toledo said. “They start talking to our recruits in the parking lot and I was getting mad.”

Appalling … except for one thing.

Toledo admitted, “We were talking to their recruits too. We ended up with Marcedes Lewis out of that group. They got Darnell Bing.”

Remember, it’s called recruiting.