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The backers are coming! The backers are coming! Let's give a big Golden Bear welcome to Aisea Tongilava, who decided to finalize a commitment tonight.
Orange Lutheran (Calif.) linebacker Aisea Tongilava has committed to #Cal choosing the Bears over #Washington
— Greg Biggins (@GregBiggins) January 28, 2014
Sonny Dykes was, predictably, very pleased.
Fight for California! #gobears #calfamily
— Sonny Dykes (@CALCoachDykes) January 28, 2014
Tongilava was previously committed to San Jose State, but saw late interest from both Cal and Washington, with the Golden Bears winning out. This was not anticipated to be a position of need before the season, but early departures and transfers have forced things a bit.
For what it's worth, SJSU was home to Kenwick Thompson til relatively recently, and being their linebackers coach, I'll bet he scouted/was involved in Tongilava's recruitment there...that's a pretty good stamp of approval to me.
The rankings
247sports: 3 stars [86], 58th ranked outside linebacker