Joel Willis, Athlete From Pacifica, Commits To Cal Football
by Avinash Kunnath on Jan 10, 2011 2:35 PM PST
in California Golden Bears Recruiting
Email
PrintCal football fans gets a little surprise today with the commitment of Joel Willis ($), an athlete from California. Willis was originally a commit for the Washington Huskies, but like Brendon Bigelow, he decided to look elsewhere and eventually was happy with what he saw with the California Golden Bears. Willis chose Cal over primarily Washington and Utah. He's a three star recruit on Rivals (85th best athlete, 73rd best California recruit), a three star recruit on ESPN and the 69th best athlete, and a three star recruit and 69th best cornerback by Scout three star recruit and 69th best cornerback by Scout. Tosh Lupoi [surprise, surprise] was his main recruiter.
With Cal short on defensive backs for next season and only three players currently on roster slated at cornerback, the Bears are looking for players that can come in and play corner, and Willis is the type of player the Bears are looking for. He possesses blazing speed, a 4.42 40 time, and pretty good measureables that could help him grow into an aggressive coverage man corner (5'10", 180 lb). And his GPA is pretty polished, implying he can get it done in the classroom at the same time.
Welcome to Cal, Joel. GO BEARS!
After the jump, highlight reels, interviews, and speed!
Joel Willis 2009 Junior Year.wmv (via jblazin11)
Joel Willis Highlight 2010 (via wyldtaz)
WR MVP, Fastest Man- 11th Grade - Joel Willis - U100 West, Los Angeles 2010 (via NUCfootball)
Joel Willis 100m (via scraps714)
Joel Willis 200m (via scraps714
32 comments
|
0 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
GO BEARS!
I like this pickup because it adds versatility in an area of need and this guy can play elsewhere. Safety, Corner, RB, slot WR. This is a great pickup for the Bears.
He was under the radar because he committed to Washington a long time ago. Apparently that was a very soft verbal.
Eval on offense per ESPN:
Flashes very good speed, acceleration and a natural stride that can kick into an extra gear. Elusive as well showing fluid hips cutting laterally to avoid and smooth movement skills in the openfield. Hands are soft, transitions up-field quickly after the grab and overall displays polished receiving skills out of the backfield or if positioned in the slot. The flexibility to motion in and out and create mismatches and personnel problems for opposing defenses is invaluable.
Eval on defense per ESPN:
On defense, he closes and drives on the ball with good speed and burst. Gets downhill quickly on run support and shows some pop as a tackler. Reliable in the open field and has the coveted speed to recover and prevent the big play. Appears more adept and natural at defending and breaking on the ball in front of him than flipping his hips in transition as a man-to-man guy. We feel like he would take some to time to develop the footwork and skill set to play corner and gain the size to play safety. Struggles at times getting off blocks and through the alley trash despite being a quick and aggressive pursuer.
Say it like Ron Burgandy signing off: "Stay Classy, Bears!"
by PlayClassyBears on Jan 10, 2011 2:38 PM PST reply actions
I literally live down the street from his high school maybe 12 minutes away. He plays at field about 4 minutes from my house.
He plays DB and WR. Don’t really know which he will play for use although everyone on BI seems to place him at DB. His ranked as the 15th best high school senior in Orange County by the local paper.
From Willis’s local newspaper:
15. Joel Willis, Pacifica, Sr., (6-0, 195, ATH) – His acceleration while on the move rivals Victor Blackwell.
link to the quote
http://www.ocvarsity.com/articles/season-21347-county-alamitos.html
This seems to be one of those pickups that will seem better in a year or so than right now.
Aside from the nice feeling of taking yet another prospect away from conference foes, as both Avi and PlayClassyBears mentioned, he fills a need and could potentially be a very important recruit.
That gives us 17 commits so far, I think. I wonder how many are left, and who the most likely kids are.
Well, you're not hardcore unless you live hardcore.
Just checked Calbears.com, he wears 45. I’ve seen him warm up next to Anger and thought he was pretty solid. Nowhere near the leg strength of Anger, but seems to have at least an average leg. I remember thinking how “that 45 guy” kicked pretty well but next to Anger in warmups, he looked like a chump. Not really a fair comparison for a freshman.
hopefully we won’t have to punt so much in a few years.
"We lose to Stanford in many sports, but if you want to make a Cal team quit, bring a weapon."
--Coach Clark
by carp on Jan 10, 2011 4:56 PM PST up reply actions 2 recs
this!
Drinking the Kool-Aid. Pumping the sunshine. Livin' the dream. Go Bears!
by dballisloose on Jan 10, 2011 5:04 PM PST up reply actions
Welcome Joel from Pacifica!
Recruiting updates on Twitter
by CaliforniaEternal on Jan 10, 2011 3:01 PM PST reply actions
Pacifica High School in Garden Grove, not the SF suburb.
Recruiting updates on Twitter
by CaliforniaEternal on Jan 10, 2011 3:18 PM PST up reply actions
WOOOO GARDEN GROVE BABY
California Golden Bears: 2nd place is nothing to sneeze at!
by atomsareenough on Jan 10, 2011 3:37 PM PST up reply actions
As I learned from Bruce Feldman’s Meat Market, if you run track you have legit speed.
I look forward to getting more meat n potatoes guys; we’ve been a quart low on the O-line, NT (before Tiny), and run-blocking TE’s and FB’s. I know we don’t really offer FB’s schollies out of HS, but we haven’t exactly lit it up at that position since ‘08. We seem to do OK in the LB, DB, WR, and RB areas year in/out. QB’s, by and large, seem like the Elite 11 type but run spread-type offenses or have fairly significant flaws. The exception seems to be Kyle Boehm, but if I recall he isn’t as highly regarded nationally?
"We lose to Stanford in many sports, but if you want to make a Cal team quit, bring a weapon."
--Coach Clark
Well, you mean if you do well running track. Anyone can go out and just participate. ;)
by Missing Barry on Jan 11, 2011 7:56 AM PST up reply actions
2nd gear
He really seems like he’s got an extra gear that he hits right when he makes his first cut….which is great if he ends up at CB, because it means he can turn his hips and track the WR easily, and/or make up ground if he gets beat.
Funny though, says he can bench 315lbs?! I know these self-reported stats are always a bit inflated, like his height and weight which say 6’0, 195lbs, when the recruiting boards say 5’10, 180lbs. Seems like a strong, quick, bright kid. Welcome to Cal!
Drinking the Kool-Aid. Pumping the sunshine. Livin' the dream. Go Bears!
Welcome to Cal Joel!!!
Never have to much speed! Go Bears!
Bring back the Pac-10!!!
Smart & Fast
“Academics are important to me and Cal’s business school is one of the top programs in the country. The same with engineering. I was interested in both but when I considered how much time I’d have available with football and the fact that it’s a difficult profession to get into, I feel like business is a better direction for me.”
…
Beyond coverage ability, speed is Willis’ calling card, with the speedy cornerback boasting a 4.37 hand-timed forty along with a 10.7 100 and 21.9 200 meter time, run during his sophomore track season. Willis will be back running track this spring and has recently begun workouts.
http://bearinsider.com/news/story.php?article=1198
http://twitter.com/solariseCGB
Joe Igber baby! Follow your dreams!!!!
California Golden Bears: 2nd place is nothing to sneeze at!
by atomsareenough on Jan 10, 2011 9:59 PM PST up reply actions
If I wasn’t fat. If I wasn’t terrible at all sports. If I was good enough to be a Pac-10 football player, then I would’ve been a proud EECS major and a football player and would’ve gotten special permission to wear a College of Engineering patch on my jersey.
In other words, Go Bears!
I have zero desire to play football. I would’ve loved to be a Cal basketball player though.
California Golden Bears: 2nd place is nothing to sneeze at!
by atomsareenough on Jan 11, 2011 11:52 AM PST up reply actions
If you were an English major. (Respect the subjunctive tense.)
"Let me tell you a story. I was a political prisoner for two years. The instant I was released I ran to McDonald's. I had a Big Mac and a Coke.
It was fantastic."
-Toyama Koichi, US Presidential candidate from Japan
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGZqOkeYbB0
Holy crap… he’s one fast dude. I’ll even go out on a limb and say that (without full knowledge of the differing levels of competition) he makes even Brendan Bigelow and Kaelin Clay’s game speed look slow, and those guys blew by their defenders at alarming speeds. Glad to see we’re starting to focus on getting some fast guys, and that the DBs are finally starting to roll in.
I don’t know what it is, but there is something a bit unnatural about the first two videos. They look like they’ve been sped up just a bit. Is this kind of thing common in recruiting highlight videos?
by BerkeleyChris on Jan 11, 2011 3:35 AM PST up reply actions
Love all these recruit
but it makes me paranoid that some college will snatch Tupoi as their HC based on his recruiting skills alone…
This stat is awesome
“As a senior, Willis had 90 tackles and three forced fumbles on defense along with 40 receptions for 905 yards and five touchdowns at receiver and 345 yards rushing and three more touchdowns rushing. On special teams, he had one punt return for a 75-yard touchdowns and two kick returns for td’s of 95 and 77 yards on the season.”
That sounds very good even for a high schooler.
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
GoldenBlogs' FAQ and Community Guidelines
Related FanPosts on California Golden Blogs
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Recommended FanPosts
Recent FanPosts
FanShots
Quick hits of video, photos, quotes, chats, links and lists that you find around the web.
Recommended FanShots
Recent FanShots
I recorded the entire last out as Cal clinches the first ever PAC12 Softball Title! It was also a...
Pac-12 On SBN
Pacific Takes (Pac-12) NORTH AddictedToQuack: (Oregon)
UW Dawg Pound: (Washington)
CougCenter: (Washington State)
BuildingTheDam: (Oregon State)
Rule Of Tree: (Stanford)
CaliforniaGoldenBlogs: (Cal)
SOUTH
BruinsNation: (UCLA)
ConquestChronicles: (USC)
HouseOfSparky: (ASU)
Arizona Desert Swarm: (Arizona)
TheRalphieReport: (Colorado)
Block U: (Utah)
Golden Bears Football Schedule
| Fresno St. | Sat 09/03 | W 36 - 21 |
@
Colorado
|
Sat 09/10 | W 36 - 33 |
| Presbyterian | Sat 09/17 | W 63 - 12 |
|
@
Washington
|
Sat 09/24 | L 23 - 31 |
|
@
Oregon
|
Thu 10/06 | L 15 - 43 |
|
USC
|
Thu 10/13 | L 9 - 30 |
|
Utah
|
Sat 10/22 | W 34 - 10 |
|
@
UCLA
|
Sat 10/29 | L 14 - 31 |
|
Washington St.
|
Sat 11/05 | W 30 - 7 |
|
Oregon St.
|
Sat 11/12 | W 23 - 6 |
|
@
Stanford
|
Sat 11/19 | L 28 - 31 |
|
@
Arizona St.
|
Fri 11/25 | W 47 - 38 |
|
@
Texas
|
Wed 12/28 | L 10 - 21 |
