Cal Commits (So Far)

Just to break up the flood of NFL training camp news and thoughts here's a look at the high school football players that have made early commitments to the University of California. The Bears received four strong commitments in recent days so it's been on my mind. It seems that new head coach Justin Wilcox and his staff are hitting their recruiting stride.

Will Craig, OT, Granite Bay (Granite Bay, CA) 6'5" 265
Nikko Remigio, WR, Mater Dei (Santa Ana, CA) 5'10" 160
Omari Harris, OLB, Antioch (Antioch, CA) 6'0" 202
McCallan Castles, TE, South Tahoe (South Lake Tahoe, CA) 6'5" 230
Jasper Friis, OT. Aquinas (San Bernadino, CA) 6'7" 315
Nick Alftin, DE, Archbishop Mitty (San Jose, CA) 6'5" 224
Miles Owens, OT, Bishop O'Dowd (Oakland, CA) 6'7" 315
JH Tevis, DE, Menlo-Atherton (Menlo Park, CA) 6'5" 227
Evan Tattersall, OLB, Granite Bay (Granite Bay, CA) 6'2" 215
JT Shrout, QB, William S. Hart (Newhall, CA) 6'3" 190
Antonio Mafi, G, Junipero Serra (San Mateo, CA) 6'3" 360
Chigozie Anusiem. CB, Sonora (La Habra, CA) 6'2" 175

Star-rankings (if you're into that sort of thing):

4-stars
Will Craig
Nikko Remigio
Omari Harris

3-stars
McCallan Castles
Jasper Friis
Nick Alftin
Miles Owens
JH Tevis
JT Shrout
Chigozie Anusiem

2-stars
Evan Tattersall
Antonio Mafi

In the months since he was hired, Wilcox has stated his desire to establish a strong Cal recruiting presence in the Bay Area. That presence had evaporated under the previous coaching regime. If this recruiting class, Wilcox's first, shows anything it's a Bay Area presence.

This class also shows a lot of size. Half of the players are 6'5" or over. And some can be considered huge. Tackles Jasper Friis and Miles Owens are 6'7" 315. That's NFL size and they have another year of high school football. Then there's Antonio Mafi. Size-wise, he's something completely different. 6'3" 360! Perhaps I'm mistaken but when he first committed I thought I read that the Cal coaches were looking at him as a nose tackle. A player at that position with Mafi's size is something that Wilcox needs and wants in his 3-4 defense. They don't currently have such a player on the roster right now.

Cal's coaches/recruiters have had to rally to fill two positions that didn't exist on the roster the last four years. Nose tackle and tight end. At nose tackle they have to do what they can this year and hope that Mafi is ready next year. They brought in some tight ends in the little time that was remaining in the 2017 recruiting cycle. They converted some of the bigger receivers on the current roster. McCallan Castles should join that group in 2018.

One of the more intriguing players among Cal's early commits is quarterback JT Shrout. He was injured as a junior last year so he's yet to play much in high school. He's turned a lot of heads at the passing camps and could be one of the top quarterbacks in the country as Signing Day approaches. Cal offered early and got a commit but he's starting to get a lot of national attention. Shrout appears committed to his Cal commit as he's been sending "welcome" tweets to fellow commits as they're announced. We'll see what happens. Cal already lost a quarterback commit Adrian Martinez to Texas once things heated up for him.

It's a promising recruiting start for Justin Wilcox and his coaches. Especially in the Bay Area.