Barksdale's Family Makes the Cross-Country Trip to Every UCLA Game

The Barksdale family starts planning their trip on Friday morning, and sometimes on Thursday evening. From Rock Hill, South Carolina, they travel 2,402 miles to Pasadena to watch their son, UCLA cornerback Derrick Barksdale, play.

Location has never mattered much. His father, Derrick Sr., and his mother, Wakita, have rarely missed any of his 47 career games, split between UCLA and his three seasons at James Madison. Last Saturday brought another weekend of cross-country travel, and they were in the stands at the Rose Bowl as UCLA beat Michigan State 28-10.

Barksdale recorded two tackles against the Spartans. He has 15 tackles this season, including two pass breakups, as UCLA improved to 7-0 for the first time since 2005. Spotting his family in the bleachers gives him reassurance and comfort.

"We've been doing this since he was five years old," Barksdale Sr. said. "There's an expectation that where he's traveling, we are traveling with him. For him, it's a comfort to see his parents in the stands."

Derrick Sr. works for GrandPad, a company that makes electric tablets for the elderly, and Wakita is an administrator at Clinton College, an HBCU in Rock Hill. To make the trip work, they drop off their 14-year-old nephew, Braelyn, at a friend's house and drive 29 miles north to Charlotte Douglas International Airport before flying to LAX. Barksdale's older sister, Patience, who attends South Carolina University, was picked up on Thursday and joined them for her first trip to California. "It's everything I imagined California to be," she said.

Football is central to life in Rock Hill, a town of just over 75,000 people nicknamed "Football City U.S.A." for producing 41 NFL players. Stephon Gilmore, the 2019 AP Defensive Player of the Year, and Carolina Panthers linebacker Jadeveon Clowney grew up there too. Barksdale has played tackle football since he was five. "We say football and family. It's what we do," Wakita said.

The family's bond with UCLA coach Bob Chesney goes back to Barksdale's recruitment to James Madison, when Curt Cignetti was the head coach there. Barksdale stayed at James Madison after Cignetti left for Indiana following his freshman year, and later transferred to join Chesney at UCLA.

Wakita said that being so far from her son makes it important to know he is surrounded by people the family trusts. "They're a call away, and you don't get access like that to a lot of college coaching staffs on this level," she said. Barksdale Sr. praised Chesney as family-oriented and noted that the coach's own father was running up and down the field with excitement.

That relationship-driven approach is also helping on the recruiting trail. Moreno Valley four-star quarterback Josiah Boyd committed to UCLA before kickoff on Saturday, and the Bruins now hold one of the top 10 recruiting classes for 2028.

For Derrick Sr. and Wakita, the Rose Bowl completes a long circle that began at District Three Coliseum, Winthrop Coliseum and Manchester Meadows. "The greatest thing is watching my child run out the tunnel," Wakita said. "I remember him coming out of his first tunnel at five years old, and that's my baby."