Former SMC Player Charms UCLA—Will he Play?

Alexandru “Cheech” Ceachir, a lineman at Santa Monica College last fall, is starting to fulfill a dream of one day playing on the field for a Division I school. He's played in a spring scrimmage game in front of 13,000 Bruin fans, but whether he's ready for the fall, is still up in the air, according to the Corsair.

That's because he's transitioning into a new position as a guard.

“I need more work,” Ceachir told the student-run paper. “I am not used to this tempo. It’s a huge difference from everywhere. From practice, to film, studies, exercises, lifting, it’s all a new life. It’s really fast and intensive and there is no one that is special, so you need to work hard to be better then everyone.”

Ceachir signed a two-year contract to play on the offensive line at UCLA last spring, just a couple of years after taking up the sport. He started playing when he came to America from Moldova, a country located between Romania and the Ukraine, according to ESPN.

“He is just a natural, physical guy but it’s hit or miss with him," offensive line coach Adrian Klemm told the Corsair. “Some things he understands right now and some things he doesn’t. But I am keeping in mind this is a new position for him and a new system for him and there is a little bit of a language barrier at times.”

For the full story, visit the Corsair.