Another dreary December morning, another Cal commit to brighten it up. Christmas came early this year.
Avery Walls Big Hit (via cbarrett83)
At an announcement around 9:40 AM local time in McDonough, Georgia, Walls committed to the California Golden Bears, picking Cal over the Michigan Wolverines and the Oregon Ducks. Chip Towers of the Atlanta Journal Constitution tweeted the news. Walls also received offers from schools like Michigan State, South Carolina, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Stanford, and UCLA. His primary recruiter was Cal defensive backs coach Al Simmons, and Tosh Lupoi and Jeff Tedford also played a role.. Walls becomes the fifth Golden Bear to commit in as many days, joining tailback Brendon Bigelow, JuCo offensive tackle Matt Williams, defensive end Todd Barr, and outside linebacker/defensive end Jason Gibson.
Here's more courtesy of Towers.
“It’s a long way from home, but the coaches and teammates I’ve met there are going to be my family,” said Walls, after announcing his decision to a gathering of coaches, teammates, faculty and students Tuesday morning at ELCA. “In the end, it came down to academics. I wanted a degree that was going to last a lifetime. That was the case with all my finalists.”
Jim McGill at Bear Insider confirms that Walls will be an early enrollee, and will be signing his LOI tomorrow. Welcome to Cal Avery! GO BEARS!
After the jump, more details on Walls, including recruiting rankings, cursory analysis, and highlight videos.
Standing at 5'11", 184 pounds, Walls is currently a four-star recruit on Rivals, is ranked as the eighth best safety in the 2011 recruiting class, the 14th best player in the state of Georgia, and the 159th best football recruit in the nation. He's a four-star recruit and is part of the ESPNU 150, is considered the sixth best safety and the 63rd best football recruit in the nation in this class by ESPN's recruiting services. Scout also ranks him at four stars and has him the 25th best at his position.
Walls is a bit undersized (so he might not be quite ready to handle tackling FBS tailbacks next year, although a lot can happen between winter and fall) and he can also be super-aggressive in run support (leaving him prone to play-fakes), but he's very intelligent. He can recognize when a play is going to be run or pass in a short period of time, making it easier to play on the ball. More importantly, he's always in position to make a play on the ball. Down the line he can definitely be a leader in the backline and help the defense align properly for the offensive sets he's facing. Don't be surprised to see him vie for the starting strong safety spot, especially with Chris Conte leaving.
Senior highlights are available on Rivals (but paid-only) here and here. For now, if you're cheap, you'll have to settle for his freshman, sophomore, and junior tape, which is still impressive.
(Thanks to Laura McKeeman from Scout for the heads up on Walls's commitment!)
Avery Walls 2009 Junior Season Highlights 1 (via JSTUNNA56)
Avery Walls 2009 Jr Season Full Highlights 3 (via JSTUNNA56)
Avery Walls Highlight Tape (Full Highlights) (via bjtrimble0992)