3-star Orange Lutheran LB becomes third Cal commit in two days
Cal made it three commitments in two days on Monday night, pulling in a pledge from 3-star Orange Lutheran linebacker Aisea Tongilava, who committed to Cal following back-to-back officially visit weekends in Berkeley (Jan. 17th) and Seattle (Jan. 24), plus an in-home visit from the Huskies coaching staff just hours before calling head coach Sonny Dykes to commit Monday.
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The 6'1", 215-pounder becomes the second linebacker pledge in as many days after Casa Grande linebacker John Porchivina committed to Cal Sunday following his official visit.
A long, fast, and athletic defender, Tongilava -- who carries a 3.89 GPA -- posted a 100-plus SPARQ Rating at the Nike Combine at Cerritos College last Spring and recorded 70 tackles, 5 sacks, and an interception in the Fall. Tongilava is Rivals' 96th ranked 2014 recruit in the state of California and also a former Junior All-American rugby player who played alongside both Ed Tandy -- the first Cal football player to concurrently play rugby for the Bears in over a decade -- and current Cal frosh rugger Billy Mags. Tongilava told GoldenBearReport's Marc Tausend last week that he wouldn't rule out following in Tandy's footsteps.
"I'm really just focusing on football right now. But if I ended up at Cal, I'd have to at least think about rugby too," he said. ""Rugby makes better football players. That's what my coach says."
The one-time San Jose State commit chose the Bears over the likes of Navy, Washington, Boise State, Colorado State, and SDSU.