Cal introduces Class of 2021

The California Golden Bears have introduced their early signing day class of 2021, securing the letters of intent for 19 future student-athletes. As the dust settled on the Early Signing Day period, we take a look at those official future Bears:

Mavin Anderson – WR – 6-0 – 195 – Fr. – HS – Mission Viejo, CA (Mission Viejo HS)
Hunter Barth^ – DB – 6-2 – 205 – Fr. – HS – Chandler, AZ (Queen Creek HS)
Akili Calhoun^ – DL – 6-4 – 265 – Fr. – HS – Brentwood, CA (Liberty HS)
Kaleb Elarms-Orr – LB – 6-3 – 225 – Fr. – HS – Hayward, CA (Moreau Catholic HS)
u-Magia Hearns – DB – 5-10 – 165 – Fr. – HS – Pittsburg, CA (De La Salle HS)
Kaleb Higgins^ – DB – 6-2 – 190 – Fr. – HS – Austin, TX (Folsom HS)
Patrick Hisatake^ – LB – 6-5 – 250 – Fr. – HS – Kalihi, HI (Westview HS)
Fatuvalu Iosefa – DB – 6-0 – 185 – Fr. – HS – Waipahu, HI (Mililani HS)
Dylan Jemtegaard – OL – 6-4 – 305 – Fr. – HS – Yelm, WA (Yelm HS)
Ryan Lange^ – OL – 6-7 – 330 – Fr. – HS – Pittsburg, CA (Pittsburg HS)
Keleki Latu – TE – 6-6 – 210 – Fr. – HS – Sacramento, CA (Jesuit HS)
Kai Millner – QB – 6-2 – 195 – Fr. – HS – Gilbert, AZ (Higley HS)
Moses Oladejo – LB – 6-3 – 235 – Fr. – HS – Elk Grove, CA (Cosumnes Oaks HS)
Nate Rutchena^ – LB – 6-3 – 225 – Fr. – HS – Danville, CA (Monte Vista HS)
J.Michael Sturdivant – WR – 6-3 – 185 – Fr. – HS – Flower Mound, TX (Marcus HS)
Bastian Swinney^ – OL – 6-6 – 290 – Fr. – HS – Minneapolis, MN (Edina HS)
Jermaine Terry^ – TE – 6-5 – 255 – Fr. – HS – Richmond, CA (Kennedy HS)
Derek Wilkins – DL – 6-5 – 270 – Fr. – HS – Irvine, CA (Santa Margarita Catholic HS)
Myles Williams – DL – 6-3 – 250 – Fr. – HS – Woodland Hills, CA (Bishop Alemany HS)

Of those 19 players, Cal indicated that eight of them will be early enrollees in January of 2021.

“This is a good group,” head coach Justin Wilcox said. “We have a sizeable number of players that proved during their junior year that they were capable of playing at the Power 5 level. Unfortunately, most of them did not get to play their 2020 season due to COVID-19, but we can’t wait for them to arrive at Cal.”

It’s a wide and diverse group of athletes coming in and that includes seven players outside of the state of California as it was imperative to recruit in any way, shape or form during COVID-19’s stringent recruiting processes.

“Our recruiting philosophy is to focus on local guys and work out from there,” Wilcox said. “That may change year to year depending on the ebbs and flows of geographical hot spots in recruiting, but there was a tremendous amount of talent in the immediate Bay Area and in the greater Northern California. We have a lot to offer to student-athletes, so we try to make it as difficult as possible for them to say no and leave the Bay Area.”

Cal will welcome those eight early enrollees in January while the remaining student-athletes are expected on campus sometime in June of next year.

Welcome to Berkeley!