Cal football recruiting: 2022 Junior Day confirmed visitors a gold mine of talent
Cal football recruiting: 2022 Junior Day confirmed visitors a gold mine of talent
Here's a look at Cal recruiting targets who have officially decided to attend Junior Day.
Cal football recruiting: 2022 Junior Day confirmed visitors a gold mine of talent
Junior Day is the first major recruiting visit day of the 2022-23 recruiting cycle. You can get a sense for which Cal recruits the Bears will pursue this fall and who the top targets are on the board. Expect a flurry of offers to come after Junior Day, with the potential for one or two commits.
This is not a full list—more visitors will likely be leaked through the weekend, but these are the ones we can publicly confirm will be in town. This is one of the best Cal Junior Days in some time.
2023 commits
Four-star Cal safety commit RJ Jones (Bellflower), St. John Bosco
Offers: 20 in all, eight in Pac-12 including Oregon/USC, as well as Michigan and Ohio State.
Highlights: Hudl, Twitter
Read our story on Jones’s commitment here:
RJ Jones holds offers from 20 D1 programs including Michigan, Ohio State, Oregon, USC, Michigan State, and BYU (8 of the Pac-12 programs).
He’s ranked as the 207th top recruit, 19th safety, and 18th best recruit out of CA per 247. His ranking in those categories is the same on Rivals.
Some of Jones’s teammates are joining him on this trip as well.
2023 quarterbacks
Five-star QB Jaden Rashada, (Pittsburg, CA), Pittsburg
Offers: 30+, 11 Pac-12 programs (except USC), seven SEC (Arkansas, Auburn, Florida, LSU, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, Tennessee), three B1G (Penn State, Michigan State, Purdue)
Highlights/Interview: Hudl, Twitter (7-on-7 footage from Vegas)
Social: @jadenrashada on Twitter, Instagram
The top target of the class, Rashada is the local grown product the Bears would love to keep at home. Getting Rashada to come to Junior Day when a host of other top Cal targets will be in town is a potentially huge development, particularly if Rashada conveys interest to the rest of the Pittsburg crowd (read more about them in our premium article here ($)).
Three-star QB Brennan Storer (Dallas, Texas), Highland Park
Offers: Cal, Kansas, Akron, Illinois State, Kent State, Texas State
Interview: YouTube
Social: @Brennan7Storer on Twitter, Instagram
Storer has attracted some early interest from the Bears and is the first major offer. Can the Bears lock into an early commit in this cycle from outside the state? Cal Rivals had more in an interview with Storer ($):
“The stuff they offer you, not even just football -- school, the education it can get you, it's hard to turn down."
Three-star QB Ty Dieffenbach (Agoura Hills, Ca.), Agoura High
Offers: Colorado
Highlights: Hudl
Interview: Twitter (Los Angeles Times)
The Buffs have zoned in on Dieffenbach as their top target with multiple visits, but Cal seems to have taken an interest as of late. Can an offer follow after Junior Day?
2023 running backs
Three/four-star running back Roderick Robinson (San Diego), Lincoln
Offers: Dozens, including nine Pac-12 programs (Arizona, Cal, Colorado, Oregon, Oregon State, UCLA, USC, Utah, Wazzu), as well as Duke, Texas A&M, and Tennessee.
Highlights: Hudl, Twitter (RivalsCamp)
Social: @rodrob204 on Twitter
Robinson is ranked as a top-25 national running back and top-30 California prospect by 247Sports Composite. At 6-1, 230 pounds, Robinson would be Cal’s most built high school running back prospect in quite some time.
Some promising quotes arose from a recent interview with Cal Rivals as well:
“Cal is great. I love the coaching staff there. Coach AT is another father figure.”
Three-star RB Johnny Thompson Jr. (Westlake Village, Calif.), Oaks Christian
Major offers: Six from the Pac-12, including Cal, Oregon, Oregon State, USC, Washington, Washington State
Social: @johnnythompsonj on Twitter, @johnnythompsonjr on Instagram
Thompson committed to USC early in 2022, but reopened his recruitment earlier this cycle. Donte Williams is his primary recruiter though, so considering he was retained on staff by Lincoln Riley, USC might still be the frontrunner.
2023 wide receivers
Four-star WR Rico Flores (Folsom), Folsom
Major offers: Alabama, Georgia, LSU, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Texas, all 12 Pac-12 programs
Social: @lil_reek_ on Twitter, and Instagram
Yeah, you can see from this list that Flores will be a tough get. But these are the battles Cal needs to start winning to uplevel with the rest of the Pac-12. Flores didn’t put Cal in his top ten, but situations are fluid and Cal is one of the closest programs to home.
Three-star wide receiver Ismael Cisse (Englewood, Colo.), Cherry Creek
Offers: Cal, Colorado, Colorado State, UNLV, USC
Highlights: Hudl
Social: @IsmaelCisse_ on Twitter
Cisse appears to be a priority for the Cal recruiting staff, as both Burl Toler and Bill Musgrave are trying to get Cisse.
2023 offensive linemen
Three-star OG Simione Pale (Elk Grove, Calif.), Elk Grove
Major offers: ASU, BYU, Cal, Oregon, Oregon State, Stanford, UCLA, USC, Utah, Washington State
One of the biggest local prospects in the Sacramento area, Cal would love to win this battle. There will be heated competition from across the Pac-12.
Three-star OG Micah Banuelos (Burien, Wash.), Kennedy Catholic
Major offers: Cal, Oregons, Texas A&M, USC, Washingtons
Highlights: Hudl, Twitter Giant Skillz 5 on 5s
Social: @MicahBanuelos23 on Twitter, @micah_banuelos23 on Instagram
Interview: Cal Rivals on Junior Day visit ($)
Banuelos seems to be another top target for the Cal staff. Washington is likely on top at the moment due to the local proximity.
Three-star offensive lineman Jason Steele (Murrieta, Calif.), Murrieta Valley
Offers: Five Mountain West schools: Boise, Colorado State, Nevada, San Jose State, Utah State
Social: @jvsonsteele on Twitter, Instagram
Steele doesn’t have a Cal offer yet, so this could serve as a good time for him to get to know Angus McClure to see if he’d be a good fit for what the Bears are looking for.
2023 defensive lineman
Four-star defensive end Enow Etta (Colleyville, Tx.), Covenant Christian
Major offers: Alabama, LSU, Michigan and Sparty, Oklahoma and Okie State, Wisconsin, half of Pac-12 (ASU, Cal, CU, Stanford, USC, Utah, UW)
Highlights: Hudl
Social: @EnowEtta1 on Twitter
Etta will be splitting his time between visits at Cal and Stanford this weekend. This would be the first major national line prospect Cal would’ve landed in the Justin Wilcox era. But this recruiting battle looks fierce. Etta wants to commit this summer.
2023 linebackers
Three-star linebacker Blake Purchase (Englewood, Colo.), Cherry Creek
Major offers: ASU, Cal, Colorado, Iowa State, Nebraska, Oregons, Washingtons, Wisconsin, USC
Highlights: Hudl, Twitter (sophomore highlights)
Social: @BlakePurchase on Twitter
Interview: In a recent chat with Cal Rivals ($), Purchase indicated the recent hire of director of player personnel Marshall Cherrington has been an important part of his recruitment.
Three-star ILB Cade Uluave (Herriman, Utah), Mountain Ridge High
Major offers: Boise State, Utah State, Washington State
Highlights: Hudl, Pylon 7on7 on Twitter
Social: @CadeUluave on Twitter
2023 defensive backs
Four-star cornerback Jshawn Frausto-Ramos (Bellflower), St. John Bosco
Major offers: Eight Pac-12 (Arizona, ASU, Cal, Colorado, Oregon, Oregon State USC, Washington), four B1G (Michigans, Ohio State, Wisconsin), three ACC (Boston College, Louisville, Virginia Tech)
Highlights: Hudl, Twitter 7on7 footage
Interview: Scott Schrader chatted with Frausto-Ramos about spring visit plans and touched upon reasons for visiting Cal.
Jones’s teammate, this would be quite the coup to get two top defensive back talents. According to Greg Biggins, Frausto-Ramos has a good relationship with defensive back coach Tre Watson and the recruiting press has been strong from the Bears. Frausto-Ramos will also visit Stanford the day before.
Four-star cornerback Maliki Crawford (Oxnard, Calif.), Pacifica
Offers attracting most interest, via Greg Biggins interview: USC, Cal, Washington, UCLA, Arizona, Oregon State, Colorado, Oregon and TCU
Highlights: Hudl, workout drills on Twitter
Social: @MalikiCrawford on Twitter
The one-time UCLA commit is going to be highly coveted on the West Coast. Expect Cal to make its pitch.
Three-star safety Ty Lee (Bellflower), St. John Bosco
Offers: Arizona State, Boston College, Cal, Michigan State, Ole Miss, Oregon, Oregon State, USC, Utah
Highlights: Hudl, Twitter (sophomore highlights)
Social: @Ty5_Lee on Twitter
Another St. John Bosco player! Can Cal lock down the secondary prospects from one program and establish a new pipeline to one of California’s biggest high school programs?
Three-star safety Jacob Lewis (Lawndale, Calif.), Leuzinger
Offers: P5s include Arizona, Boston College, Cal, Northwestern
Highlights: Hudl
Social: @jayfrm310 on Twitter
Cal definitely is making safety recruiting a priority, with Jones already in and several major safety/athlete prospects visiting.
2023 athletes
Four-star athlete Isaiah Carlson (Ferndale, Wash.), Ferndale High
Offers: Arizona, Cal, Nevada, Oregon State, Washington State
Highlights: Hudl
Social: @IsaiahCarlson4 on Twitter
Cal was early in on Carlson, who has been primarily recruited by running backs coach Aristotle Thompson.
Three-star athlete Chris Snyder (Chula Vista, Calif.), Mater Dei Catholic
Offers: BYU, Cal, Colorado, Oregons, Pitt, San Diego State
Highlights: Hudl
Social: @chr1zzss on Twitter, Instagram
Snyder’s frame translates to defensive back, so you’d have to imagine this is where the Cal defensive staff sees him at the next level.
Who’s next to commit for the Bears?
For a minute at least, I construed Junior Day was the name of a player, but could not find him as I read the article.
Gobears49
Seems like the recruits love the exciting and knowledgeable assistant coaches we have, led by Wilcox, the campus and Memorial facilities, and the fact that Cal is at the very top rung in academics and a very exciting place to play football. Like the fact that we are in the running for QB Rashada, a five star recruit. Anyone know what year we last had a 5 star recruit sign with Cal? Must be several years ago.