It's Wednesday morning. What better time to talk about the state of Cal men's basketball recruiting.
For those who haven't been paying attention, Cuonzo Martin has been going at it in on the recruiting trail. For those who were wondering if we were going to pick it up here in the post-Monty era, there's definitely a lot happening here. Cal is in the hunt for some massive blue chippers!
Ivan Rabb, Oakland (Ca.) Bishop O'Dowd power forward
This is the big one.
Five-star basketball recruiting prospect Ivan Rabb will wait to trim list of schools from seven to five. http://t.co/4M0gYMgnGY
— Jeff Faraudo (@JeffFaraudo) October 20, 2014
North Carolina will meet w/ 2015 F Ivan Rabb Tuesday or Wednesday...expected to set officials sometime afterward.
— Adam Zagoria (@AdamZagoria) October 20, 2014
The other schools on the list: Arizona, Georgetown, Kansas, Kentucky, North Carolina and UCLA.
Rabb's timetable for a decision is still unclear. He could commit sometime this fall, or it could come later in the spring. But it's expected he will set his officials after the North Carolina visit, at which point we will have a good idea of his top five schools. Nothing is clear yet, but Cal is in the hunt.
Tyler Dorsey, Los Angeles (Ca.) Maranatha point guard
@TDORSEY_1 Final 6 are (in alpha order): AZ State, Cal, Colorado, Kansas, Oregon & UNLV. Will visit 1st 5 officially and UNLV unofficially
— Dinos Trigonis (@trigonis30) August 29, 2014
A lot is still happening on this front. Dorsey has visited Colorado, Oregon and Kansas, with Cal likely last among the official visits. Kansas is probably the favorite, but still a long way to go here.
Kerwin Roach, Houston (Tx.) North Shore shooting guard
Four-star SG Kerwin Roach of Houston to choose among Cal, Texas & Wichita State on Friday. http://t.co/KOcRQJpUXf
— Jeff Faraudo (@JeffFaraudo) October 20, 2014
Roach put Cal in his final three, which is great. But Texas has been the odds-on favorite since he got their offer, and it's likely he will stay in-state with the Longhorns. Here's to hoping for a surprise!
Caleb Swanigan, Fort Wayne (In.) Homestead center
Kentucky ✔️ Arizona ✔️ Thinking next week go out and see what coach Conzo Martin has out there in Berkley California
— Caleb Swanigan (@Biggs_Swanigan) October 19, 2014
We're pretty far away from Indiana, so this is noteworthy that Swanigan is paying us an early visit. Unfortunately, Swanigan already has pretty much every big school on his list offering him, so we are decided underdogs.
Brandon Sampson, Baton Rouge (La.) Madison Prep Academy shooting guard
FOUR-STAR Brandon Sampson talks to BearTerritory first about his official visit to #Cal (FREE): http://t.co/384aWQfDqv #CalBasketball
— Ryan Gorcey (@RGBearTerritory) September 29, 2014
Brandon Sampson is down to 6 schools but says he's "iffy" about 1. Who is it? Find that out and more... ($) https://t.co/PsMwWmBA2B
— Cal Rivals (@CalRivals) October 2, 2014
I feel that we have a good shot here. Sampson's list includes USC, Cal, LSU, UCLA, St. John's and Oklahoma State. Sampson has already visited Cal and has good things to say.
"Cal was a great visit for me. That was my first time seeing California so that was a good experience for me. They really broke down the academic there for me, which I liked because I think academics come before basketball."
"I liked that they didn’t just look at me as an athlete. Coach Cuonzo Martin is a great coach in my opinion. He pushes his players and shows he really cares about them. I can see myself there after going on the visit. I liked how that visit went."
If Cuonzo can get Sampson away from LSU (who are probably the slight favorites), this would be a huge recruiting win.
These are the big names we've offered so far who we are targeting. The key is Rabb--if he stays home with the Bears, Cal has a great shot to land one or two of the other names. If Rabb goes elsewhere, Cal might have to start scouting the next echelon of recruits to replace David Kravish and whatever scholarships open up.