BearTalk

Former Cal star Aaron Rodgers was a runaway winner of the NFL’s Most Valuable Player award. Here’s the story.

Cal made official on Friday the signings of defensive end Maurice Bennett and defensive back Willie Fletcher, giving the Bears a 19-member recuiting class.

Cal added two players to its recruiting class, signing Maurice Bennett (6-1, 295), a 3-star defensive tackle from Madison Central High in Madison, Miss., and Willie Fletcher (6-2, 185), an unranked cornerback from Lutheran High in Orange, according to Scout.com.

Cal had not officially announced the signings, which bring its class to 19 newcomers.

Wednesday was hectic — and I would up having some computer difficulties late — so here are a few notes and quotes I wanted to pass along.

Glad everyone enjoyed our blog coverage of national signing day. Many thanks for checking us out, for your many comments and for the kind words about my coverage efforts.

Some leftovers:

   — Jeff Tedford on five-star wideout Bryce Treggs: “Treggs is an explosive player. When you watch him play and you watch the speed and athleticism he kind of reminds you of a guy like DeSean Jackson, who can run like that. The great thing about this as far as receivers are concerned, they’re all going to have the ability to come in and compete to play right away. I think they all have the skill to do that.”

   — On whether he was nervous in the final hours about efforts by USC and UCLA to lure away Treggs: “A lot of recruits say they’re with you and they keep getting calls, so it’s never over ’til it’s over. I’m really proud of Bryce that he was able to stay strong with his commitments. He’s a man of his words.”

Read the rest of this entry »

The dust has settled a bit  — although Cal and other teams still will sign a few more players. So let’s take a look at the team rankings.

Of course, we won’t know for another 3 or 4 years how good these classes turned out to be. My guess is Cal’s group — especially with the receivers, offensive linemen, Zach Kline and Michael Barton — will turn out to be just fine.

RIVALS
5. Stanford
7. USC
13. UCLA
16. Oregon
20. Washington
24. Cal
28. Utah
34. Colorado
37. ASU
38. OSU
45. Arizona
Note: Rivals ranked only the top 50 and WSU did not make the cut.

SCOUT
6. Stanford
11, UCLA
15. Oregon
19. USC
22. Washington
29. Colorado
32. Utah
38. Cal
43. ASU
44. OSU
46. Arizona
53. WSU

ESPN
12. Stanford
13. USC
18. Oregon
19. UCLA
22. Cal
23. Washington
Note: ESPN ranked only the top 25.

COMPOSITE AVERAGE
 7.67: Stanford
13.00: USC
14.33: UCLA
16.33: Oregon
21.67: Washington
28.00: Cal

TIPOFF: Cal (15-6, 6-3 Pac-12) at Arizona (13-8, 2-7) , Thursday, 6 p.m.  TV: None.

GAME THEME: The Golden Bears try to stay in a tie for second place with Arizona State, whom they visit on Saturday. Cal is coming off a 74-71 overtime loss at Stanford, its first loss after six straight wins. The last-place Wildcats have dropped four in a row, six of seven.

NOTES: Cal has four losses this season to top-25 teams by a combined nine points . . . Freshman PG Brittany Boyd, coming off 19 points vs. Stanford, has 28 points, 16 rebounds, 11 assists and seven steals past two games . . . Layshia Clarendon has averaged 15.2 ppg over her past four road games . . . Despite being outrebounded 51-47 at Stanford, Cal stil No. 2 nationally in rebound margin at plus-15.1 . . . Arizona is first in Pac-12 in 3-point accuracy at .351, Cal 11th at .283 . . . Bears also last in conference in FT pct at .613.

NEXT TIME: Cal at Arizona State, Saturday, Feb. 4, 1 p.m.

7:35 p.m. Heading home. Just filed my story, which should be posted shortly on www.insidebayarea.com/sports or www.contracostatimes.com/sports. May have more later. Bye for now.

6:15 p.m. CB Raymond Ford of Serra-Gardena has announced he is signing with Cal. That brings Cal’s total to 17 — a final count for Wednesday. Tedford said there may be a couple more in coming days.

4:50 p.m. Said his mother told him always be a man of his word. “Going to be a great honor” to play with Keenen Allen, he said.

4:49 p.m. Cal!

4:48 p.m.  Treggs on TV with mom and dad and family. Very nicely dressed. Said he tied his own tie. “It’s been a bit stressful,” he said. Well, then get it over with, already! 

4:45 p.m. The FoxSportsWest show is comprehensive . . . but it’s dragging on a bit. A deep discussion of top SoCal quarterbacks, now running backs. Maybe wideouts next, but Tedford just stepped out. Hopefully he brings a large pizza when he returns.

4:41 p.m. Tedford just walked into the room as Treggs prepares to make his announcement on FoxSportsWest. Tedford looks relaxed — like a man who knows something the rest of us don’t.

4:25 p.m. Cal just tuned into FoxSportsWest’s live feed on an 8×5-foot screen here in the Cronk meeting room where the press conference will take place. Gee, wonder if that means they’re expecting good news on the Bryce Treggs question? You think?

Read the rest of this entry »

UPDATED 10:15 p.m.

Wide receiver Jordan Payton announced he will attend Washington, but Cal scored a much-needed recruiting victory when wideout Cedric Dozier spurned advances from Washington State and maintained his commitment to Cal.

The late news is that Adam Gorney of Rivals reports that USC has offered Cal long-time commit Bryce Treggs and says he will seriously consider the Trojans, Bears and UCLA. The senior from St. John Bosco HS in Bellflower plans to make his announcement Wednesday afternoon.

Treggs, whose father Brian starred for the Bears, may simply be confused given the upheaval surrounding Cal recruiting. Who could blame him? It would be surprising if any 18-year-old wasn’t confused by all that is happening.

But Treggs is a five-star Scout.com prospect and Jeff Tedford cannot afford another piece of bad news.

Dozier reopened his recruitment a couple weeks ago and apparently was pursued hard by new WSU coach Mike Leach, whose teams will throw the ball about 50 times a game. At 5-foot-11, 175 pounds, Dozier is categorized an “athlete” by recruiting sites, including Rivals.com, which gives him a four-star rating. 

Dozier told the Tacoma News Tribune he waffled a bit before settling on Cal. “I made up in my mind earlier in the week that I was committing to WSU,” Dozier said. “But I kept praying and it came to me today at lunch.”

While announcing his decision at Lakes High, according to Rivals, Dozier said, “I chose Cal because you can’t go wrong with Cal. It’s a great situation with academics and sports. It’s a win-win situation.

“They’re great people,” Dozier said of Cal. “I want to be well-rounded in my environment.”

———————————————————————————

Click here for my story on our website.

———————————————————————————

Payton, a 6-foot-2, 205-pounder from Oaks Christian HS in Westlake Village, gave Cal an oral commitment on Jan. 8, the same day Saf Shaq Thompson (Washington) and DT Ellis McCarthy (UCLA) did.

On the heels of Thompson’s announcement Monday night, Payton is the second top recruit to follow ex-Cal receivers coach Eric Kiesau and former recruiting coordinator/defensive line coach Tosh Lupoi from Berkeley to Seattle in the space of 16 hours.

He is rated as the nation’s No. 15 wideout prospect by both Scout.com and Rivals.com.

Also . . .

   — Greg Biggins of ESPN is reporting that Kennedy-Richmond wideout and Cal commit Kenny Walker’s father said his son will sign Wednesday with UCLA.

   — Biggins also said 6-4, 230-pound tight end Christo Kourtzidis, originally a Florida State commit, still is deciding between the Seminoles and Cal. Kourtzidis, from Lutheran HS in Orange, is rated the No. 8 TE in the country by Rivals.com.

   — LB Markuss Eligwe of Stone Mountain, Ga., a Florida State commit who visited Cal last weekend, just tweeted he will pick a school Wednesday. He said earlier he plannned to wait until Monday. Good news for Cal? We’ll see. Eligwe’s 1:30 a.m. EST tweet: “I probably won’t even sleep tonight truthfully I dont think I can.”

   — Wideout Jaydon Mickens of Dorsey HS in Los Angeles picked Washington over Oklahoma State. Mickens also had an offer from Cal.

   — As of 9 p.m. Tuesday, Rivals.com ranks Cal’s class No. 27, Scout.com places the Bears at No. 42. At their peak a couple weeks ago, the Bears were No. 8, according to Scout. ESPN.com has the Bears at No. 16. All very fluid through Wednesday . . . and perhaps beyond.

   — Wideout Kenny Lawler, a 4-star Rivals pick from Upland, still hasn’t made a decision, but reports are he may be leaning to Cal.

   — Cornerback Brandon Beaver of Dominguez-Compton, rated No. 12 at his position by Rivals, apparently is favoring UW or Utah over Cal.

Safety Shaq Thompson of Grant High in Sacramento has tweeted: “Just committed to the UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON”

No real surprise, but the Bears lose another elite prospect.

Joe Davidson of the Sacramento Bee, on his Twitter account, quoted Thompson as saying, “It’s where my heart is; second highest graduation rate in the Pac-12…”

Thompson, rated as the nation’s top safety prospect, said there were lots of reasons, including recruiter Tosh Lupoi, who left Cal to UW just weeks ago, and the presence of his best friend, Husky freshman James Sample, a Grant HS alum.

Earlier Monday, Thompson said he would make his announcement Wednesday at 8 a.m. Apparently, he knew what he wanted to do and figured it would be easier to put it behind him.

Here’s the latest story from the Sacto Bee.

Cal recruit Bryce Treggs tweeted: “I’m not mad at Shaq at all though. That’s my brudah for life.”

FYI, Cal fans: Thompson and the Huskies visit new Memorial Stadium on Friday, Nov. 2; Arik Armstead and Oregon visit on Saturday, Nov. 10.

UPDATED

Rivals.com has reported that Jeffrey Coprich Jr., a small but fast multi-purpose athlete from West Ranch HS in Stevenson Ranch (Los Angeles County), has committed to the Bears.

Coprich is 5-foot-9, 182 pounds, but boasts 4.46 speed for 40 yards. He is rated a three-star prospect by Rivals and categorized as an “athlete,” meaning his position is undetermined. But Coprich  said he wants to play running back.

“I want to be their next big star,” Coprich, Jr., told Rivals. “I want to be like Jahvid Best and Shane Vereen. I  know the legacy they put up, playing running back. All of them have gone to the NFL, so I want to live up to that.”

Elsewhere . . .

   – Florida State commit LB Markuss Eligwe of Stone Mountain, Ga., who visited Berkeley last weekend, is giving Cal fans hope with this twitter post: “I won’t be signing on National Signing day. I will be signing on the 6th. FSU. CAL” Eligwe, who committed to FSU last April, told Scout.com:  I just need more time. It will be Florida State or California.”

   — For those of you who still want to hear from Oregon-bound Arik Armstead, here are Monday’s stories from the Eugene Register-Guard and the Sacramento Bee.

   — Which, of course, brings us to Shaq Thompson, who made an unofficial visit to Washington over the weekend. Here’s an update on his situation. Thompson said today he plans to announce his school on Wednesday at 8 a.m. 

   — Wideouts Jordan Payton and Kenny Walker of Kennedy-Richmond (both Cal commits) also visited UW, and Walker plans to announce his latest decision Monday afternoon. Payton tweeted that he will make an annoucement on Tuesday.

   — Cal commit Cedric Dozier, a four-star athlete from Lakewood, Wash., was believed to be considering UW. But he canceled his visit to Seattle over the weekend and is being pursued by new Washington State coach Mike Leach, who wants to make him a wideout and use him in a pass-happy offense. The Seattle Times is reporting that Dozier will decide Tuesday between Cal and WSU.