Cal Commits

Wednesday was the first day that college football hopefuls could sign National Letters of Intent. Signing Day. The NCAA has had this early signing day for a while but it still feels too damn early. The first week of February still feels like Signing Day. It's not. Well, actually there's still a February signing day but most of the signings are now done in December. 

Cal football. The Golden Bears' hacked up 2020 season didn't "start" until November. Their first game was cancelled. Their next first game was a hastily arranged affair. COVID visited the Cal roster and quarantine protocols prevented the full team from ever properly practicing together. Unfamiliarity was the theme in the four games that Cal did play. Especially on special teams. The lowlight was a disappointing loss to Stanford. The highlight was an upset of Oregon. The season finale against the Ducks was a brief glimpse of what this Golden Bears team could've been. 

So, here we are. It's hard to imagine high school kids with football dreams making life decisions during these uncertain times. College football rolls on and 19 high school kids decided on Wednesday to commit to the California Golden Bears. 

Cal Commits

J. Michael Sturdivant, WR, 6-3/185, Marcus, (Flower Mound, TX)

Jermaine Terry, TE, 6-4, 255, Kennedy (Richmond, CA)

Mavin Anderson, WR, 6-0/195, Mission Viejo (Mission Viejo, CA)

Kai Millner, QB, 6-2/195, Higley (Gilbert, AZ)

Akili Calhoun, DE, 6-4/265, Liberty Union (Brentwood, CA)

Derek Wilkins, DE, 6-5/270, Santa Margarita Catholic (Rancho Santa Margarita, CA)

Kaleb Elarms-Orr, DE, 6-3/225, Moreau Catholic (Hayward, CA)

Kaleb Higgins, CB, 6-2/196, Folsom (Folsom, CA)

Bastian Swinney, OT, 6-6/290, Edina (Minneapolis, MN)

Moses Oladejo, OLB, 6-3/235, Cosumnes Oaks (Elk Grove, CA)

Hunter Barth, S, 6-2/205, Queen Creek (Queen Creek, AZ)

Nate Rutchena, LB, 6-3, 225, Monte Vista, (Danville, CA)

Myles Williams, DE, 6-3/250, Bishop Alemany (Woodland Hills, CA) 

Patrick Hisatake, OLB, 6-5/250, Westview (Clackamas, OR)

Keleki Latu, TE, 6-6/205, Jesuit (Carmichael, CA)

Ryan Lange, OT, 6-6/330, Pittsburg (Pittsburg, CA)

Lu-Magia Hearns, CB, 5-10/165, De La Salle (Concord, CA)

Fatuvalu Iosefa, S, 6-0/185, Mililani (Mililani, HI)

Dylan Jemtegaard, OG, 6-4/305, Yelm (Yelm, WA)

This has been a very different recruiting cycle. Only four of the 19 were able to play their high school senior seasons this fall. None of them were permitted to make campus visits. Despite those difficulties, Justin Wilcox and the Golden recruiters were able to gather a fine group of football players. It's a group with a strong Bay Area base. That's a refreshing change from the recruiting strategy of the coach that preceded Wilcox. It's also a group that earned a #20 national ranking from ESPN.

247Sports ranked Cal's class #25 nationally, third in the Pac-12

Rivals sees things differently. Somehow, they penciled Cal in at #41.

Recruiting locally:

11 of the 19 are from California

8 of those 11 from Northern California

6 of those 8 from the East Bay Area

"We're always going to start here."-Justin Wilcox

Cal even pulled a player (Lu-Magia Hearns) from annual football power Concord's De La Salle. 

Wilcox and his coaches have built a stout defense in Berkeley but they had to reload. 11 of the 19 new Golden Bears are on the defensive side of the ball:

3 defensive linemen

4 linebackers

4 defensive backs

They recruited a complete defense. Perhaps those 11 are the starting 11 in 2-3 years. 

There was a focus on defense but the headliners of the class are a couple of offensive playmakers.

WR J. Michael Sturdivant

TE  Jermaine Terry

If you're a fan of the wildly subjective star rating system, each is a consensus 4-star recruit. 

And they added a quarterback. They went to Arizona to find Kai Millner.

Eight members of the 2021 Cal recruiting class plan to enroll in January. 

Welcome to Berkeley!