The Cal Football Fan

Cal lands big TE

Spencer Ladner (6′7″/235) has given a verbal to Cal. He comes out of Kansas City, MO and lists Cal’s reputation as the #1 public school in the nation as a primary reason for choosing Cal. He is rated as a 3 star TE by Scout.com and a 4 star recruit by Rivals.

There’s a couple reasons that this signing means a lot. First, this guy is BIG. Just for reference, Lebron James is 6′8″/250. Craig Stevens is 6′5″/254. With a year in the weight room, Ladner can be a great endzone target or a blocker in the Tedford tradition. Second, Ladner comes from Missouri. This shows that Cal’s reach on the national recruiting front has grown even further after last year’s record number of out-of-state commits. Third, this confirms that Cal’s reputation as an academic leader will continue to land some top recruits.

EDIT BY ERIC: Also, it’s noteworthy that Ladner turned down offers from traditional powerhouse schools like Michigan and Oklahoma, showing that Cal is really on its way up in terms of nationwide recruiting.

QB commit Beau Sweeney

Last week, quarterback Beau Sweeney (6′1.5″, 200 lb, 4.65 forty) out of Clovis West High School (Fresno, CA) committed to Cal’s 2008 class. As pointed out by Scout, Sweeney is not only a great athlete but an excellent student (4.0 GPA), and he has an incredible football pedigree with connections to Coach Jeff Tedford:

Sweeney’s uncles played at Alabama, Ohio State (2) and Montana State and Sweeney’s father, Kevin set an NCAA record for career passing yards with 10,623, passing Doug Flutie of Boston College in the process in 1986. Sweeney’s grandfather, Jim was the longtime Fresno State Head Football Coach as well. …

Tedford played quarterback under Jim Sweeney and was teammates with Kevin during Sweeney’s redshirt freshman season…

Sweeney picked Cal over offers from other Pac-10 schools and some interest from USC as well. He looked good after participating in the Elite 11 workout and Nike camp per Rivals:

Fresno, California’s Clovis West quarterback Beau Sweeney made a name for himself as he attended both the Elite 11 Workout and the Nike Camp the following day.

Also, here’s a brief from ESPN and longer pieces from the Fresno Bee and the Contra Costa Times about Sweeney’s commitment.

JC WR Tucker commits

Verran Tucker, a wide receiver from El Camino Junior College, is the fourth recruit to commit to Cal’s 2008 recruiting class. Tucker is a fast (4.42), tall (6′2″), and athletic (36″ vertical) receiver who appears to have a lot of upside. A look at the recruiting videos make him out to be a tough receiver willing to hang on to tough throws and take big hits. With 3 years to play 2, we’ll probably be seeing Tucker become a big part of the offense in future seasons.

WLB Shaun Mohler commits

Shaun Mohler verbally committed to Cal yesterday, intending to transfer from Orange Coast City College. The 6′3″ 225 pound weakside linebacker, ranked by Scouts as a 4-star recruit, is an excellent addition to a defense that has lost many core starters. He is a strong athlete, capable of benching 20+ reps of 225 and running a 4.62 forty, and with his prior JC experience he is expected to make an immediate impact.

Cal adds second recruit

J.P. Hurrell, a linebacker out of San Mateo, CA, verbally committed to Cal today. He is listed at 5′11″/195 lbs and runs a 4.58 40. Although he played linebacker in high school, he is expected to play as a safety in college.

While probably not a big name recruit, it is good to see the Bears get a second recruit on board. It is also significant that Hurrell comes out of the Bay Area, showing that Cal can keep recruits at home. He also had offers from BYU, Washington, and Oregon. Hurrell joins Tyler Rigsbee as Cal’s second recruit of the season.

Jahvid Best: speed

One of our committed recruits coming in the fall, RB Jahvid Best, is currently blowing away the competition in track and field.

In the Sacramento Meet of Champions this past weekend, Best posted a 10.36 in the 100m and 21.16 in the 200m and won both events. Neither was wind-aided, and these times are the fastest in the state of California this season.

This guy is fast. Look for him to have the potential to make an impact as a freshman.

DE Justin Gates invited to walk on

Justin Gates, a 6′3″/255 high school OG/DE out of Nevada has committed to Cal as an invited walk-on. He looks like a solid prospect and great addition to an already-strong class.

Cal football means family: Kapp to walk on

Will Kapp, son of Joe Kapp, has been invited to walk on the team as a strong safety. He played at Los Gatos High in the south bay.

Joe is a huge figure in Cal football, as he was the quarterback who led the Bears to their last Rose Bowl in 1959. He also was head coach 1982-1986 and is famous for being the coach who called The Play.

More about recruited walk-ons will be posted as the news comes out.

Final 2007 recruiting class list

I’ve compiled a final list of Cal’s 2007 recruiting class, including ratings, stats and links to the Scout/Rivals page of each recruit. Overall, I think this is a very strong class that is talented and fast, adding incredible depth to Cal’s roster at all positions. Jeff Tedford and the coaching staff have really put together a winner in this year’s recruiting class.

As a side note, I’ve ignored ESPN’s recruiting coverage and ratings completely because Tom Luginbill has seemingly ignored anyone on the West Coast who USC hasn’t made an offer.

EDIT 2007-02-08: Included Florida transfer Nyan Boateng on the list.

OFFENSE

Pos	Name	Scout	Rivals	Ht/Wt/40	Hometown	Committed
FB	John Tyndall		(5.5)	6-3/220/-	Pacific Grove, CA	1/21/07
OL	Justin Cheadle		(5.7)	6-2/266/4.9	Bakersfield, CA	9/26/06
	Sam DeMartinis		(5.6)	6-6/252/5.48	Sherman Oaks, CA	11/5/06
	Todd Huber		(5.7)	6-2/273/5.04	Palos Verdes Estates, CA	10/21/06
	Mitchell Schwartz		(5.7)	6-5/297/5.51	Pacific Palisades, CA	12/29/06
	Matt Summers-Gavin		(5.9)	6-5/271/5.1	San Francisco, CA	1/5/07
QB	Brock Mansion		(5.7)	6-5/221/4.75	Dallas, TX	6/22/06
RB	Jahvid Best		(5.9)	5-10/183/4.4	Richmond, CA	12/12/06
	Shane Vereen		(5.9)	5-9/170/4.5	Valencia, CA	8/11/06
TE	Skylar Curran (JC)		(5.4)	6-4/245/4.67	Woodland, CA	12/14/06
	Savai’i Eselu		(5.7)	6-3/245/4.8	Honolulu, HI	12/18/06
WR	Nyan Boateng (SEC)	Transfer	Transfer	6-2/205/4.45	Brooklyn, NY	01/13/07
	Mike Calvin		(5.6)	6-2/188/4.48	San Lorenzo, CA	11/16/06
	Alex Lagemann		(5.6)	6-2/205/4.53	Saratoga, CA	6/19/06

DEFENSE / SPECIAL TEAMS

Pos	Name	Scout	Rivals	Ht/Wt/40	Hometown	Committed
DB	D.J. Campbell		(5.6)	6-0/177/4.54	North Las Vegas, NV	11/19/06
	Sean Cattouse		(5.6)	6-2/180/4.63	Chicago, IL	1/2/07
	Chris Conte		(5.8)	6-3/180/-	Los Angeles, CA	2/7/07
DE	Solomona Aigamaua		(5.4)	6-3/215/4.6	Honolulu, HI	1/17/07
	Cameron Jordan		(5.6)	6-3/250/5.14	Chandler, AZ	1/29/07
	Ernest Owusu		(5.7)	6-4/245/4.9	Princeton, NJ	2/7/07
	Scott Smith		(5.6)	6-7/240/4.90	Honolulu, HI	1/17/07
LB	Devin Bishop (JC)		(5.7)	6-2/225/4.7	San Francisco, CA	1/1/07
	Alex Cook (JC)		(5.8)	6-3/225/4.5	Brenham, TX	2/5/07
	D.J. Holt		(5.7)	6-0/236/4.75	Encino, CA	12/10/06
	Robert Mullins		(5.7)	6-0/191/-	Los Angeles, CA	1/23/07
K	Bryan Anger		(5.5)	6-4/189/4.7	Camarillo, CA	11/18/06

By the numbers:

• 26 total recruits, with 14 on offense (1 FB, 5 OL, 1 QB, 2 RB, 2 TE, 3 WR), 11 on defense (3 DB, 4 DE, 4 LB) and 1 kicker
• 3.44 average stars per Scout (with 12 four-star recruits), and 3.12 per Rivals (with 5 four-star recruits)
• #12 recruiting class in the nation according to Scout, #21 according to Rivals
• 10 out-of-state recruits, representing Hawaii (3), Texas (2), Nevada, Arizona, Illinois, New York, and New Jersey

Wednesday: Signing Day

Today is the day we find out for sure what our 2007 recruiting class looks like. We already know that these verbal commitments can come and go, but once a letter of intent (LOI) is signed it’s a done deal.

Updates will be posted as news comes in. I have heard that there may be a last minute surprise in store, and Ken over at Bear Territory alludes to this in his blog.

In the meantime, TBIOOTF has posted a nice overview of Cal’s recruiting over the past few years, and Tightwad Hill also has some pretty good posts cautioning against taking the recruiting star rankings too seriously. Take a look.

EDIT 11:13am: All 25 LOI’s in, according to Scout. Signing Day was very smooth, with a couple of pleasant surprises.

EDIT 10:10am: Scout is reporting that all expected LOI’s plus Conte/Owusu are in, other than Smith/Aigamaua in Hawaii who will wait a bit for a ceremony with their coach. 23 down, 2 to go!

EDIT 8:30am: Here’s a surprise: Chris Conte, a safety who committed to Cal early (6/10/06), then switched his commitment to UCLA (1/20/07), has in the end submitted his LOI to Cal! Here are the Scout, Rivals articles linked. Also, Rivals has re-rated him since earlier in the recruiting process and now has him listed as a 4-star safety. This is great news for the defense.

EDIT 7:04am: Rivals is reporting that Ernest Owusu (3-star DE from prep school in New Jersey who did not previously announce a commitment) has decided to come to Cal over Stanford, Minnesota, UNC, and some other BCS conference schools.

EDIT: The SF Chronicle writes:

Cal football coach Jeff Tedford is expected to announce today an incoming class of 23 recruits that makes a statement … “Jeff Tedford and his staff have firmly established themselves as great recruiters,” Rivals national recruiting editor Jeremy Crabtree said. “When you talk about the top classes each and every year, Cal now has to at least be in the conversation.” …

Crabtree estimates … Rivals will rank the Bears’ class in the top 25 for the fourth consecutive season despite the absence of a five-star recruit … Cal’s recruiting class is solid from top to bottom, fills needs and includes a bevy of linemen … According to Scout.com, Cal is No. 15 in overall points, trailing only No. 5 USC and No. 8 Oregon in the Pac-10.

Cal’s group includes 20 high school players and three junior-college transfers, and is especially strong at running back, linebacker and along the offensive line. By position, the class has five linebackers, four offensive linemen, four defensive linemen, two running backs, two wide receivers, two tight ends, two defensive backs, a quarterback and a punter.