:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/65494172/usa_today_13453529.0.jpg)
The California Golden Bears don’t have a ton of spots left in their 2020 recruiting class. The remaining verbals Cal wants probably varies by position, but there are definitely some urgent needs that they’d like to shore up.
One of them is defensive line. Cal’s front three has been a sore spot for the Bears on an otherwise elite defense—it has not gotten the push they want, and has allowed teams to run semi-effectively. For a Cal team that struggles to put up points, that could be the difference between victory and defeat.
Cal’s particular need extends to nose tackle, where the Bears have not found a solid solution all season—Luc Bequette is better-suited for defensive end duty, Brett Johnson is probably a year early as he gets true freshman reps, and Aaron Maldonado arrived to camp extremely late.
So, Cal can always use more potential nose-tackle prospects! Cal has extended its most recent 2020 offer to Fresno (Ca.) Central East defensive lineman Ricky Correia.
Blessed to have received an offer from the University Of California Berkeley !! pic.twitter.com/wpqw1kOuM5
— Ricky Correia (@ricky_correia12) October 8, 2019
Correia is a three-star defensive tackle according to 247Composite. He’s ranked as the 50th best defensive tackle in this class and 52nd overall prospect in the state of California. At 6-4, 359 pounds, it’s definitely possible that he can evolve into a road-grading nose tackle in future years.
Here are his senior midseason highlights.
The biggest competition for Correia appears to be Arizona State.
”Coach Browning, Coach (Tim) DeRuyter, Coach (Justin) Wilcox, each of them have been recruiting me,” said Correia. ”I was up there for the ASU game and I had been up there a couple times and had been up there for a Junior Day, a camp and their spring practice.”
Prior to that, Arizona State offered Correia and that offer also was a big one for him.
”Coach (Jamar) Cain already had pretty good interest in me from when he was at Fresno State and I had been hearing from Arizona State since I was a sophomore and then when Coach (Shaun) Nua left and then Coach Cain came in, he kept recruiting me. We already had a relationship so that was cool.”