Cal Football wraps up final weekend of OVs
This weekend marks the last time recruits can visit before the July dead period
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Recruits from around the nation have flown and are flying into Berkeley for official visits in the last time coaches can bring recruits for the next month. Every player visiting Berkeley this weekend is a top target on the Bears’ board, and the staff would take a commitment from any.
I believe that one of the best indicators of the Bears’ chances is the length of relationship between player and coach, so I’ve included the month of offer for each school involved (though some schools *cough* Arizona State/Colorado/Michigan *cough* like to throw out offers to any warm body). Most of Cal’s top targets are offered around two years before their graduation.
Avyonne Jones - CB, Southlake Carroll (Southlake, TX) 0.8465 247Sports Composite
The 5-11, 180 lb Texan flew in for a visit on the 22nd after being offered by new DBs coach Tre Watson in March. The former Oklahoma State commit appears to favor accepting the overtures from Wisconsin, who offered in February. Still, with the Bears among Jones’ last visits, Watson’s chance to pull his first recruit remains decent.
Jaydn Ott - RB, Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas, NV) 0.9003 247Sports Composite
The 5’11, 195 lb speedster was originally an Oregon commit who decommitted in June 2020. Since then, Ott has clearly favored the Bears, who offered in March, on social media and in his recruiting process. After visiting the Bears on Friday, Ott has no further scheduled visits and would be a huge addition to RBs coach Aristotle Thompson’s room.
Jack Nickel - TE, Milton (Alpharetta, GA) 0.8784 247Sports Composite
Originally a Notre Dame commit, Nickel decommitted in April after the Fighting Irish chose to take two other tight ends. The next month, new TEs coach Geep Chryst offered Nickel, and the relationship has grown exponentially. Michigan State, who offered the 6’4, 230 lb star in April 2020 and hosted him for a visit on June 4th, appears to be the Bears’ strongest competition. Furthermore, LSU lurks in the background with a currently unactionable offer that could change depending on LSU’s class size. Still, the quickness of Nickel and Chryst’s relationship development portends well for the Bears.
Jaiven Plummer - WR, Episcopal (Alexandria, VA) 0.8627 247Sports Composite
The 6’3, 195 lb speedster looks to be headed towards the West Coast as he also took a visit to Stanford last weekend (they offered in August while the Bears offered in October). Although the Bears only are looking to take one wide receiver in this class, Plummer has been a top target due to his ability to take the top off of a defense. It’ll be a battle with the Trees on this one until the end, it appears.
The Bears’ class is approaching the halfway point with eight members already in as they hover around the top-30 national ranking for this year. After this weekend, recruits are prohibited by the NCAA from visiting campuses on an official bases until July 25th. With that being said, Benji Palu and the #CalGang22 are ready to seal the deal on all four from this week in any way possible, even with some shrimp.
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On a completely other subject, haven't the sports writers observed that we have beat WA the last two times we played them and we beat the Ducks last year and almost beat them the year before with back up QB? https://www.si.com/college/cal/news/pac-12-over-under
Seems hopeful we will get some new Bears out of this strong group. If we get the TE then we are stacked there for a few years. Wilcox has recruited coaches at every position that can coach, and recruit, aside from Musgrave, who is more coach. Clearly Wilcox realizes that the best coaches in the world cannot get our Bears to the top of the Pac without the horses we need. When Erickson had the Beavers so good he was able to get top talent to Corvallis. While our Bears have had NFL talent on most every team for many years, we have not had the overall talent to rise above the middle. And as we know, we have to win the trenches, which is clearly the priority of these coaches. Hope springs eternal, but I truly am pumping sunshine on where our Bears can be this year and especially in 2 or 3. Fiat Lux! Go Bears!