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(1) Alex Morgan
Here's her profile prior to last summer's Olympics, where she of course was a national hero and won a Gold Medal:
Qualified-Meet Alex Morgan (via Team USA)
Alex Morgan is somewhat of a cult heroine on CGB (mostly on the DBD) because of her wholesome good looks. But she is not CGB HOF-worthy simply because she has so many admirers among Cal fans. Alex Morgan is CGB HOF-worthy because she might be the greatest Cal women's soccer player ever there was. And since Cal is the alma mater of Joy Biefeld Fawcett, that is saying something.
Alex closed her Cal career as the third leading all-time scorer in California women's soccer history with 107 points (45 goals). She was the team's leading scorer in her senior season (2010) despite missing several games due to being called up to play games on the USA National team. She led the nation in scoring for much of the season and it's not a stretch to say she would have won that title easily had it not been for her commitment to USA Soccer.
The accomplishments don't stop there. Alex's career is dotted with achievement:
● First team All-American as a senior
● First-team All-Pac-10 selection four times
● First Cal player ever to be named as a finalist for the Hermann Trophy, the Heisman of women's soccer
● Led Cal to the NCAA tournament in each of her four years
● Second-team Freshman All American in 2007
She started playing regularly for the senior U.S. Women's National Team in 2010 and had her breakthrough in 2011. She scored vital goals all along the way for the Red, White and Blue and ended up accomplishing her goal of earning a Gold Medal.
Alex was also drafted first overall in the 2011 Women's Professional Soccer draft by the Western New York Flash where she helped them win the championship the same year. She is currently a member of the Portland Timbers Women's Soccer club, who play in the W-League.
College Memories with Alex and A.J. (via U.S. Soccer)
(8) Mychal Kendricks
Cal Football: Mychal Kendricks Highlights - LB #30 (via calathletics)
Kendricks was a mainstay in the Golden Bears defense for many years and I think that everyone reading this has to say that they appreciated the intensity and skill with which he played the game. I am sure he'll make his mark while playing on Sundays next year and he should be just as fun to watch in Eagles green as he was in Blue and Gold.
Via Official Cal Bears Profile:
Earned several All-American honors as a senior, including second-team selections
by Phil Steele and College Sports Madness ... also a third-team All-American
selection of Yahoo! Sports and an honorable mention pick of SI.com ... named the
Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year and a first-team all-conference selection as a
senior, after earning second-team all-league honors during his junior campaign ...
finished his career with 258 tackles to rank tied for ninth all-time at Cal, while
adding 36.5 tackles for loss (-144 yards) to miss finishing among the school's all-
time leaders by one-half of a tackle for loss ... also had a punt return in which he
was credited with 26 punt returns yards after he blocked a punt before teammate
Bryant Nnabuife picked the ball up and ran 30 yards for a score vs. Colorado State
in 2008, five pass breakups and a forced fumble ... recorded at least 0.5 tackles for
loss 24 times in his career, including in 19 of his final 25 games ... played inside
linebacker as a 2011 senior after spending most of his collegiate career as an
outside linebacker.
And of course, who can forget this?
Mychal Kendricks vs. Derrick Coleman (via schmeezed)