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Welcome to all the new Bears! CalBears.com has profiles of all the signees, focusing on their careers thusfar.
Some quotes from Coach Sonny Dykes about each player has been collected by the SFGate and BearTalk.
Cal coach Sonny Dykes said Rubenzer is the total package. He just comes in a smaller package.
"When you're going to put the ball in somebody's hand every single play and your offense goes through him, you want somebody who's competitive and confident," Dykes said. "His personality is magnetic. He did a great job of holding this class together. He's a natural leader. Those intangibles are his strength."
"The first thing for me was the education and my parents agreed with that, too," said Anoa'i. "Northwestern's a great school, too, but Cal's a great school and one of my dreams has always been to play in the Pac 12. Cal was also on my list of dream schools, too.
"It really wasn't that hard for me to make a decision."
Credit new Cal defensive coordinator Art Kaufman with the late recruiting victory for the Serra athlete, convincing him not only consider Cal but make the switch from Northwestern without an official visit -or any visit at all- to the campus.
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Also give an assist to family friend and new Bear Trevor Kelly, who was more than happy to see Anoa'i join him in Berkeley.
"We grew up together," said Anoa'i of Kelly. "We're family friends and we consider ourselves family. That will be cool to play with him."
Rivals and Scout have evaluated our class, coming in at 43rd and 45th best class in the nation, respectively (which is 8th in the Pac-12 according to both). This is the lowest-ranked class by Cal in a decade.
The Bear Blog took a look at this year's signing day from a more personal perspective, as Dykes was able to spend a full year getting to know all the recruits and prospects
In a way, today marks the end of Dykes' first year at Cal. Although he's actually been here 14 months, Signing Day is the culmination of a cycle. The football calendar is dotted with benchmarks, from spring practice, to training camp to the season and today. In a way, Signing Day puts the previous year in the past and pulls the trigger on the future.
Want to hear straight from the horse's mouth? Dykes conducted an interview with KNBR to discuss the signing class, student-athletes transferring, and why he thinks the star system for rating recruits is silly.
If you'd like to see Dykes's complete signing-day press conference for yourself, check it out below or read the transcript.
And one last-minute addition to our class is walk-on Jonathan McDonald:
I may not be a big name recruit, but I can't wait to go to cal and be a part of something special #CalGang #Gobears pic.twitter.com/9i4l56leKn
— Jonathan McDonald (@Jonomcdonald10) February 6, 2014
Contrary to the beliefs of some, we here at CGB like to highlight the big-name sports like football and basketball as well as the Olympic sports, so check out today's links including the incoming classes for some of our other sports!
Rugby
- Spencer Morris, once a member of the BC Alpine Ski Team, is watching his friends compete in the Sochi Olympics after participating in the previous Winter Olympics in Vancouver. (He also has the highest GPA of all Cal student-athletes with a RIDICULOUS 3.984.)
Women's Soccer
Men's Soccer
Softball
Women's Basketball
- Hind Ben Abdelkader has decided to leave Cal and rejoin Sint-Katelijne-Waver due to problems "fitting in." Best of luck to Hind in her future!
- The Washington Post has a story on Mikayla Lyles's work for the LGBT community
Men's Basketball
- Evil prevailed; Stanfurd 80, Cal 69 (depressing coverage by CalBears.com and Jeff Faraudo)
- Post-game pressers with Coach Mike Montgomery, Tyrone Wallace, and David Kravish
- Our own Vincent Sheu was on-screen during the Cal-Furd debacle playing with blocks
Women's Water Polo
- Kelly McKee has been using all the travelling for road games as a means to get to know her teammates
Men's Golf
Women's Golf
Football
- In this week's most (de)pressing news, QB Aaron Rodgers is officially taken. And when a couple's getting romance advice from Taylor Swift, you know it's gonna last.
- DL Brandon Mebane will be on the cover of Sports Illustrated
- WR Keenan Allen visited Berkeley to watch the Cal vs. Furd basketball game
S/O to former Cal WR @Keenan13Allen and The Mayor K.P support the Bears at the Bball Game!!! #whosnext? pic.twitter.com/1fYIHJrPef
— PIERRE INGRAM (@PIngram1) February 6, 2014
- RB Marshawn Lynch was celebrated in the Seahawks' celebratory parade, even stopping to grab a drink from an adoring fan
Marshawn Lynch rides a duck boat. And starts a Skittles shower in Seattle. WATCH: http://t.co/8iWJVYR7d2 #Celebrate48
— NFL (@nfl) February 5, 2014