BearTalk

Don’t expect class of 2014 recruits Luke Rebenzer or Vic Enwere to arrive at Berkeley ahead of schedule as did 2013 newcomer Jared Goff, who graduated from high school mid-year in order to enroll at Cal and attend spring workouts.

“It’s not in the cards for me,” said Enwere (pronounced en-WHERE-ee), a running back from Sugar Land, Texas, a Houston suburb. “I have things I want to do at home … I want to graduate with my class from high school.”

Likewise, Rebenzer, a quarterback from Scottsdale, Ariz., said he’s thought about it, but added, “At this point, it’s kind of too late to do anything about it.”

Rebenzer, who gave Cal an oral commitment last week, said offensive coordinator Tony Franklin floated the idea of red-shirting as a freshman or perhaps gray-shirting, meaning Rebenzer would not arrive on campus until the start of the spring semester (January 2015), delaying the start of his eligibility clock.

All that is down the road.

One thing seemed clear in my phone conversations with the two on Wednesday — each is as committed as a 17-year-old who has not signed a binding letter of intent can be.

Rebenzer had planned to take summer trips to check out the Air Force Academy and a couple Ivy League schools. “Now that I committed,” he said, “I’m just laying back the rest of the summer, just chilling.

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I spoke this morning with Cal commits QB Luke Rebenzer and RB Vic Enwere (pronounced en-WHERE-ee) and will post their comments, along with those from their coaches, later today.

I can tell you this: Enwere made it clear he was recruited by the the Bears to play running back and intends to do that. Said he’s not sure about the origins of the internet chatter about him switching positions in college, but said it ain’t so.

Check back later for more.

Looks like it was a productive recruiting week for the Bears while I was off on vacation.

(And to all of you, including the omni-present Juancho, thanks for keeping the conversation going here while I was absent).

First, as most of you no doubt know by now, quarterback Luke Rebenzer of Saguaro HS in Scottsdale, Ariz., committed last week. Then, on Monday, running back Vic Enwere of Fort Bend Austin HS in Sugar Land, Texas, became the sixth player to join Cal’s class of 2014.

Rebenzer is just 6-foot, 186 pounds, but is accurate and mobile. His size may not matter as much in the Bears’ new offense, but coach Sonny Dykes and offensive coordinator Tony Franklin apparently were sold on his skillset.

As a junior, Rebenzer completed 68.7 percent of his passes for 2,834 yards with 36 touchdowns and just six interceptions. He also rushed for 1,184 yards and 10 touchdowns. Add it up and he contributed 4,018 yards of passing and running, an average of 334.8 yards per game, and 11.5 yards per play.

The kid is a first down machine.

The Sabercats were 8-4, averaging 46.6 points per game, including at least 55 in five games.

Rebenzer also reportedly is smart, as evidenced by the fact that he was offered by Columbia and all three military service academies.

Enwere is the second running back to commit to Cal, which no doubt still has its sights set on 5-star prospect Joe Mixon of Freedom-Oakley. Enwere, a 3-star prospect, is rated as the nation’s No. 53 running back by Rivals.com, No. 54 by ESPN and No. 77 by Scout.com. Everyone has an opinion.

He reportedly rushed for more than 1,600 yards and 16 touchdowns last season and was district MVP.

Enwere comes from a different high school but the same Texas town as legendary prep star Ken Hall, known as the “Sugar Land Express.” From 1950-53, Hall rushed for 11,232 yards, including more than 4,000 as a senior.

At 6-1, 213 pounds, Enwere picked the Bears over the likes of Michigan, Michigan State, Missouri, Colorado and Utah.

Man, is this kid fast.

Khalfani Muhammad, who will play football at Cal next fall, defended his 2012 CIF state meet titles in the 100 and 200 meters on Saturday at Clovis. And he wasn’t really challenged.

A 5-foot-8 senior at Notre Dame HS in Sherman Oaks, Muhammad equaled his personal best with a wind-legal 10.33-second clocking to win the 100. He came back to capture the 200 20.86, also a legal time.

Muhammad ranks third and fourth nationally among HS sprinters in the 100 and 200, respectively.

Earlier, he helped his team with a No. 9 seed and difficult outside lane position to a third-place finish in the 4×100 relay with a time of 41.01.

Isadore Outing, a 6-foot-3, 215-pound defensive end from Andy Dekaney HS in Houston, Texas, has committed to Cal, according to multiple recruiting websites.

Outing is rated as a two-star prospect by Rival.com. Scout does not rank him.

The Bears now have commitments from four players in the class of 2014.

Cal football signee Khalfani Muhammad had another spectacular day on the track for Notre Dame HS of Sherman Oaks.

The senior two-sport star won both sprint events at the CIF Southern Section Masters meet at Cerritos College on Friday night in times that were spectacular, albeit wind-aided.

Muhammad, who will play running back for the Bears next fall, repeated as 100-meter champion, running 10.22 seconds, backed by a wind of 2.1 meters per second — barely over the allowable limit of 2.0. His time, while not eligible for record purposes, was faster than the Southern Section mark of 10.25 set by Hawthorne’s Henry Thomas in 1984.

It’s also faster than any wind-legal time run by a prep sprinter in the country this season, according to the website Dyestat.com.  Only five sprinters nationwide have run faster this season under any conditions.

In the 200, Muhammad ran a wind-legal 20.73 to break his own school record. It was the third-fastest legal time in the country this season by a high school runner and the fastest mark by a San Fernando Valley spring since 1987, when future Olympian Quincy Watts ran 20.50.

How fast are his times?

Consider that Muhammad’s 10.22 — if wind-legal — would rank No. 2 on Cal’s all-time career list for the 100. His 20.73 mark in the 200 would sit at No. 3 all-time.  

Muhammad will be the favorite in both events next weekend at the CIF State Meet in Clovis, where he will attempt to defend his titles in the two sprint races.

“I like being the favorite because there’s more pressure and that brings out the best in me,” Muhammad told the Los Angeles Times.

It  will be interesting to see how Sonny Dykes and offensive coordinator Tony Franklin can utilize the speed that Muhammad and Brendan Bigelow bring to the field.

And whether Dykes will let Muhammad find his way to Edwards Stadium to run track for the Bears.

Cal coach Sonny Dykes has identified running back as an area of need in the 2014 recruiting class, and he got his first commitment at the position from Tre Watson, a 5-10, 184-pounder from Centennial-Corona.

He likely won’t be the last, especially if the Bears can lure four-star local talent Joe Mixon of Freedom-Oakley.

Watson committed Sunday, according to Rivals.com, which ranks Watson as a three-star prospect. Scout does not rate him.

Still, hard to say just how good Watson might be. He rushed for 1,483 yards and scored 24 total touchdowns last season, despite barely playing half a game because Centennial was so far ahead on most nights. He averaged 9.1 yards per carry for the season and scored two TDs in a 41-34 win over Narbonne Harbor in the SoCal open division title game.

He carried seven times for 33 yards in Centennial’s 48-24 loss to De La Salle in the state open division championship.

Watson had offers from BYU, Washington State, Nevada and Fresno State, among others, according to Rivals.

Khalfani Muhammad, who will be a freshman running back for the Bears next fall, showed off the speed he will bring to Berkeley by winning four events Saturday at the CIF Southern Section championships.

Muhammad, who competes for Notre Dame HS in Sherman Oaks in Division 3, won the 100- and 200-meter dashes and anchored winning teams in the 4×100 and 4×400 relays.

Muhammad logged a wind-aided 100-meter time of 10.33 seconds. Although not eligible for record purposes, because of the 3.1-meters-per-second wind reading, the time was the fastest Muhammad has run under any circumstances.

It’s also faster than any California sprinter has clocked this season, according to the website www.dyestat.com.

Later, Muhammad won the 200 meters with a wind-legal time of 20.84, crossing six-tenths of a second ahead of the runnerup. That time is the third-fastest in the country this year.

Muhammad also anchored his team to victory in the 400 relay with a time of 41.27, and 1,600 relay to first place in 3:18.92.

Roger Moute a Bidias, younger brother of former UCLA standout and current Milwaukee Bucks player Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, has signed a national letter-of-intent to play next season at Cal. We reported his commitment to the Bears last week.

The 6-foot-7 forward, a consensus three-star prospect, is the fifth member of the Bears’ recruiting class that is headlined by top-20 talent Jabari Bird of Salesian High.

Cal coach Mike Montgomery called Moute a Bidias “an extremely athletic young man with great upside. Roger is a very engaging individual that I think is going to be a tremendous asset to the Cal community.”

A native of Cameroon, Moute a Bidias averaged 10 points and 10 rebounds last season at Notre Dame Prep in Fitchburg, Mass.