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I take a break from reporting on National Signing day to reiterate my man crush of Mark Brazinski.
Not only was Mark the first to send in his letter of intent this morning at 6:11, but the big man can dance. Okay, not really, but he sure as well tries.
Watch in full glory as 6’4, 300 lb center dances to Soulja Boy.
| Theo Riddick and Mark Brazinski dance to "Crank That" |
College recruiting is sometimes exciting, sometimes pathetic, and nearly always unpredictable.
It’s national letter of intent day for the college football world, and a handful of fans await the faxed carbon copies of official letters of intent to welcome in new football players and say a gracious “F YOU” to those who chose not to attend their respective universities.
You can follow the official page for Cal’s Signing Day here.
So there’s a bit of good news and a bit more bad news.
What do you want first? The good news? You’re an optimist you say? Well screw you, I’m knocking out the bad first.
The Bad News?
While no official conference has been given yet, all signs are looking as if OL Stan Hasiak has decided to switch back to UCLA. This is a pretty big blow for the Bears, not because Cal was desperately lacking in offensive linemen, but Hasiak’s commitment would have solidified the best offensive line class in Coach Tedford’s tenure, amazing considering they had just lost Jim Michalczek, their o-line coach.
Needless to say, UCLA definitely needed Hasiak a bit more. Again, no official word yet, and I’ll let you know if anything changes, but most reports are saying it’s all but done.
[Edit: Hasiak made UCLA his official choice at a ceremony this morning. Watch the pain here]
Also, despite having committed to the Bears earlier in the week, it’s looking like Markish Jones has decided to commit to Colorado. Again, no official word yet, but it appears that that might be done as well.
[Edit: Jones has officially sent in his letter of intent, so another piece of great news. Apparently, there are reports that Jones sent in two LOIs, including one to Colorado, which would be beyond hilarious if true. I'll let you all know if there's any truth to that rumor.]
The Good News
The first bit of good news is that for the most part, the committed class stays in tact. It was particularly relieving to see no real late switches from most of the big names, such as Bridgford, Yarnway, Coleman, or Williams. Even DB Vachel Samuels who had visited with a few other schools, sent in his LOI today.
An even more pleasant surprise was having DE Ryan Davis switch back to the Bears after reportedly making the switch to Washington over the weekend. I’m guessing Davis’ epiphany over the weekend, “Holy crap, I just committed to the worst team in college football.”
Oh, and the Bears just might have solved their kicking woes by signing Vince D’Amato, one of the top kickers in the state. Naturally, we won’t know what he can do at the collegiate level for at least a year, but the staff must be feeling pretty high on the guy to have offered him a scholarship. At this point, Cal fans are just clamoring for ANYONE who can knock the ball anywhere near the endzone consistently on kickoffs. The Bear Insider has a report here.
Keep it locked in on Cal’s page for the last few letters of intent, and I’ll be sure to update this if anything changes.
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I got a flurry of emails this morning from some people, namely Tom Bergeron, the Sports Editor at the Star-Ledger, about the Mark Brazinski video they did. Brazinski is a Cal recruit who also happens to be one of the, if not THE, top high school centers in the nation.
After watching the video, you'll see that only is the kid huge, but he's got one heck of a personality. I can see Cal sports beat writers already drooling to get some quotes from this guy for years to come.
| Video: University of California recruit Mark Brazinski |
Alright so we got some bad news, a little bit more bad news, and then some good news on the recruiting front.
Missed on 3
The first bid of bad news a bit on the older end, but just so everyone knows, Cal missed out on its top three recruiting targets last week, with DE Devon Kennard committing to USC, WR Randall Carroll dropping Cal from its top 3, and ATH Adam Hall committing to Arizona. While I still think Cal still has a pretty good class, it’s disappointing that the Bears were unable to steal one of those guys away.
Davis Decommits from the Bears
The news gets a little bit worse with reports that DE Ryan Davis has decommitted from the Bears, and has made the switch over to Washington. Davis was a big 3-star DE prospect with legit size (6’4, 260 lbs) and made the switching citing reasons on preferring to play in a 4-3 versus Cal’s 3-4 scheme. While the switch doesn’t immediately hurt the Bears, with Cal having locked in starters with Alualu and Jordan, and pretty good depth, it still stings to lose a prospect with so much potential.
New Recruit: Markish Jones
Fortunately, it picks up a bit with some good news. The Bears reportedly landed Markish Jones, a JC WR Transfer. Jones has a bit of an interesting background. Markish was a highly touted 4-star South Carolina WR recruit who decommitted from Clemson at the last minute in 2007, before signing his letter of intent with Florida State. Jones was declared academically ineligible due to low SAT scores, and has played the past season with Compton City College with fellow Cal commit Jerome Meadows.
While Jones has probably flown under the radar a bit, this is a big time get for the Bears who were looking for a big time WR recruit. Jones was ranked the 28th best receiver in 07, receiving offers from a number of SEC schools including LSU and Tennessee.
Jones also reports good size at 6’0, 183 lbs, and runs a 4.4 forty, which would make him one of the fastest wide receivers on the team. Jones will have three years to play two seasons with the Bears. If the commitment holds, the Bears will have essentially gotten a 4-star WR who has had the chance to polish his skills at the JC level.
The Bear Insider has a short writeup here.
Welcome to the Bears Jones. You and Marvin can be the M. Jones brothers.
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Well the Super Bowl has come and gone, and boy was it a dandy. I didn’t really have any particular affinity towards either team. The Steelers aren’t really a hateable team, and the Cardinals tug on as much of a Cinderella sentiment as you can have in the NFL. On the on the other hand, I’m a Niners fan and it was unsettling seeing a division rival do that well. From the NFC West no less.
Whatever happened, I wanted my boy JJ Arrington, former Cal great exceed in the game. Although Arrington didn’t have a spectacular day returning kickoffs, averaging just 20.5 on 4 returns, he did notch 2 receptions for 35 yards. I also noticed that he was the primary back used on the final two drives, most likely due to the fact that Cardinals weren’t really going to run the ball much, and Arrington was a viable threat to catch the ball out of the backfield.
In any matter, shame to not see a Cal Bear get a Superbowl ring yesterday, but with the increasing presence of high-level former Cal players in the NFL, it’s only a matter of time.
NFL Combine
In other news, 6 Cal Bears were invited to NFL Combine over the weekend from February 18th to the 24th.
(MLB) Anthony Felder
(OLB) Zack Follett
(MLB) Worrell Williams
(TE) Cameron Morrah (JR)
(C) Alex Mack
(DE) Rulon Davis
Again, Cal is pretty well represented at the combine, third only to USC’s 12 players and Oregon’s 7. While we probably won’t see another record draft class, the combine should give a number of these players to show off what they can do. Stay tuned for more draft coverage.
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