Cal lands commitment from high three-star WR Marquis Montgomery

Hosting the last visit before National Signing Day tends to be a good sign for that program. Cal was the last team to host high three-star JUCO wide receiver Marquis Montgomery over the weekend, and the plan worked to perfection for the Bears.

The 6-foot-5 prospect, who had been ranked by Rivals as the best available junior college prospect, announced his commitment to Cal on Wednesday over a final group that included Oregon, Penn State, LSU and Texas A&M.

Montgomery built plenty of buzz in recent weeks after a solid season at Snow College in Ephraim, Utah. His team focused on the running game quite a bit in 2022, but Montgomery still averaged over 17 yards per catch in his sophomore season.

It gained him national recognition, but the persistence by Cal receivers coach Burl Toler III proved to be a key difference in the program's pursuit of Montgomery.

"I know that he cares about his receivers and he cares about his players," Montgomery said.

Remaining in steady contact with Montgomery was key in Cal's recruitment of Montgomery. When the Bears became involved that attention never wavered, and that was important to the newest commit.

"The immense amount of love they've shown me and how interest they are in having me become a part of the program is something that definitely stood out to me more than other programs," he said.

Maybe more important than anything else in the process, the junior college recruit hoped to find a home where he knew he would have an opportunity to play this fall. Montgomery feels Cal will give him as good of a shot as any other program to make that happen.

"With this new offense that coach Spav [Jake Spavital] is running being a spread offense and most likely having four receivers on the field at one time, coach Toler was saying that I have a really good chance to come in and start right away. That's something he said he expects me to do," Montgomery said.

"So, just being able to have that opportunity to come to Cal Berkeley — itself being a prestigious school not only academically but with football — and being able to start right away in a really good conference, I think it's a great opportunity that I have."

After losing some contributors on offense this offseason, the Bears have retooled the roster on that side of the ball — especially at the skill positions. Montgomery will join Illinois transfer Brian Hightower and three-star high school signee Nyziah Hunter as the newcomers at receiver with Cal's coaches hoping that older duo, especially, can help make up for the loss of standout receiver J.Michael Sturdivant, who opted to transfer to UCLA this offseason.

Montgomery will have two seasons of eligibility remaining with the Bears.

Although he only had 10 catches for 175 yards (and 3 TDs) in the fall at Snow College, while playing in just five games, Cal coach Justin Wilcox said he saw plenty in that sample size.

"You look at the opportunities he did get and what he did with those opportunities," Wilcox said. "I think he's a talented athlete. He's big. I mean, he is a really big receiver and he can high-point the ball. He catches the ball with his hands. And so we looked at the chances he did get and what did he do with those. And then again, you look at the traits, the physical traits, and then the intangibles, the toughness, the work ethic and all those things. And we feel strongly about him."