This weekend featured the Army All-American Bowl which included four Cal commits.
Cecil Whiteside earned a mention in ESPN's coverage of the game.
California had four commits in the game, but the one who had the strongest outing wasCecil Whiteside (Newport Harbor, Calif./Newport Harbor), who finished with five tackles. Playing linebacker, the versatile Whiteside displayed good short-area quickness and did a good job of locating the ball and tackling. He landed a good stick in the fourth quarter which could be heard throughout the Alamodome.
Meanwhile Chris Martin was one of Rivals.com's top performers of the week.
Martin played linebacker all week and that still might be a stretch for a prospect that looks bigger than many of the defensive ends and some of the tackles in the game. On his 6-foot-4 frame, Martin could easily bulk up to 280 his first year of college if he needed to. He's expected to play linebacker in a 3-4 set and he moves surprisingly well for a big man and is a terror moving forward. Martin is a sure tackler, he loves to hit and he's very powerful when taking on pulling linemen. Linebacker or defensive end, he covers space, makes tackles and is very active.
And the news of Carroll leaving for Seattle rounded out a good weekend for Cal recruiting. Former USC commit Trajuan Briggs is even happier with his decision to come to Cal (where he starts classes next week) after Carroll bolted for the NFL.
After the jump Rob Calonge suggests Best's departure will be beneficial for both himself and Cal, JO reviews the secondary, women's bball narrowly loses to USC, and more.
Cal Football
- Rob Calonge (who is back from a five week excursion during which he bought and fixed up a house) says Best made the right choice. He says if things don't work out for Best in the NFL, he'll still make a ton of money. If things work out in Best's favor, he could be "the new face of the NFL."
- JO reviews the secondary. Orginally projected as one of the best units in the nation, the secondary was ultimately disappointing. Hagan's knee tendinities and Ezeff's lack of practice time due to a class conflict limited their effectiveness, forcing Cal to fill those roles with inexperienced players. Cattouse developed nicely and Nnabufie showed promise, but the secondary was nonetheless a major disappointment. JO gives it a D+.
- Ted Miller's bowl awards gave Cal the lauded 'Worst pass defense" award.
- Women's basketball suffered a tough loss at USC yesterday. Down three with seventeen seconds left, Alexis Gray-Lawson hit a game-tying three with 5.4 seconds left. USC followed it up with a three of their own with only 0.6 seconds left. Boyle says it's tough for any team to lose like that (especially since USC's three was a bank shot), but admits Cal had its chances to prevent USC from coming back from a double-digit deficit.