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It's official. Cuonzo Martin has struck gold in his first year as head coach of the California Golden Bears, landing the commitment of top ten national prospect Ivan Rabb. Rabb picked Cal over Arizona, with UCLA, Kentucky and Kansas also making his top 5. Rabb joins Davon Dillard & Tyson Jolly as Cal commits for the 2015 class.
I am excited to announce that I will be attending the University of California,Berkeley next year ! #GoBears
— Ivan Rabb (@YoungIvee) April 14, 2015
Ivan Rabb at the moment of his announcement that he will attend Cal: pic.twitter.com/QjlAigrkpb
— Lindsay Brauner (@lindzcatharine) April 14, 2015
We have written so much about Rabb. Check out the scouting report Rob Hwang wrote on him way back when. You should get excited.
His biggest weapon is his positioning and lateral explosion. His go-to move has become a left-handed baby hook shot over his right shoulder. It has become pretty automatic from the low blocks. Rabb started the game by using the move multiple times mixed in with a few pump fakes. The impressive part on all of his possessions was his positioning. He always put himself in a great spot on the blocks to be able to catch and explode straight up over his right shoulder for the left handed baby hook. The consistency is still improving but his ability to catch and explode into his go-to move is very impressive.
Rabb is also extremely active in running the fast break. Whether it was from a rebound or block he collected, Rabb consistently ran the floor to either get the trailer pass for an easy layup or the second chance opportunity off a fast break miss. With his wingspan and leaping ability, he is a huge weapon in transition. One example is at the 0:46 mark, Rabb collects a missed fast break layup and gets an easy put-back dunk over a defender. Granted he was called for an over the back foul, but its easy to see that the defense did not account for him running the floor as the trailer for the rebound and dunk.
Here are the rankings for Rabb.
- 247Sports: 5 stars (99), 12th top national recruit, 3rd best power forward, top California prospect
- Rivals: 5 stars, 8th best national prospect
- ESPN: 5 stars (95), 6th on ESPN100, top California prospect, 3rd best power forward
- Scout: 5 stars, 5th in Scout100, top California recruit and top power forward
And what you've all wanted to see: His tape. There's so much tape on YouTube to check, here's a sampling of the best (including him squaring up against future teammate Oscar Frayer).
Cal basketball is appointment television again. Can't wait to see what Rabb will do as a Golden Bear.
Welcome Ivan! GO BEARS!