Final Notes on Early Signing Day for Cal's 2020 Class
Early Signing Day wrapped in Berkeley Wednesday afternoon, and here's some of the final notes from the day.
READ: Five Things and Superlatives, ESD 2020 | ESD Q&A
BIG BREAKDOWNS: Quarterback | Running Back | WR and TE | Offensive Line | Defensive Line | Linebacker | Defensive Back
LISTEN: CREPE: Episode 39, ESD 2020
WATCH: Wilcox Early Signing Day Presser
Mid-Year Enrollees
Cal will be bringing in nine mid-year guys, set to enroll in January. They are:
QB Jaden Casey
WR Mason Mangum
OL Everett Johnson
OL/DL Jaedon Roberts
ILB Muelu Iosefa
DB Trey Paster
DB Dejuan Butler
DB Isaiah Young
P Jamieson Sheahan
This is a relatively large group the Bears have brought in early (Cal had seven scholarship mid-year enrollees a year ago), and it gets a few of them in positions to compete for jobs, especially for the bigger guys like Johnson and Roberts, as well as Sheahan (who comes in as a junior in terms of eligibility).
"It's big not only for their development, because they get a head start here," Justin Wilcox said, "but it's big for our team, you get that winter conditioning, you get spring ball, spring conditioning, summer workouts, and they're that much more prepared for fall camp. You get a more mature roster that way, you're more full than you would be without them. It has become more and more prevalent today with guys leaving high school early, it's kinda person by person, but we have a bunch of them coming early, along with a transfer student from the Southern Hemisphere in Jamieson. It'll be good for our team."
Big Linemen
Cal got a couple 300+ lb defensive linemen in Ricky Correia (6'4", 330 lbs) and Stanley McKenzie (6'2", 310 lbs), and a couple of guys in Ethan Saunders (6'3", 280 lbs) and Jaedon Roberts (6'3", 290 lbs), who could shore up their defensive front with some much needed size.
"(310) might be close (for McKenzie), especially after the barbecue we had with all his relatives," Wilcox noted, "all of us are probably pushing that after that barbecue, but Stanley's a big kid, really thick, he's quick and explosive at that size. For us, to play good defense in this conference, you've got to be able to play the run and he can get after the quarterback, different build than Ricky. Ricky's a bit taller, 330, that's probably close, he's a big big kid. We watched Ricky play, he had a couple injuries as a junior, we watched more as a senior, and you watched him play, he chases the ball. For a guy that big to chase the ball in high school, we thought that was really impressive."
In addition, Everett Johnson comes in at 6'7" and 315 lbs, while Ender Aguilar comes in at 6'5" and 265 lbs on the offensive side.
The Distribution
Cal distributed their 25 man class like so:
QB: 2
RB: 2
WR: 5
TE: 2
OL: 2
DL: 3
LB: 2
DB: 5
ATH: 1
P: 1
By state:
CA: 14
WA: 2
AZ: 2
HI: 2
TX: 2
OR: 1
CT: 1 (Note that Jaedon Roberts' hometown is listed as Sausalito, CA)
Victoria, Australia: 1 (Wilcox joked that he gets to assign recruiting territories, and that he's "gonna take over Australia and New Zealand for the good of the program."
Best Stories
After a year where he told of his experiences in Independence, Kansas, Wilcox discussed three of his best stories on the road recruiting.
"Jeremiah Hunter, he's a really good receiver, but he's also a big-time drummer in the church band. I'm looking forward to the Rookie show, but Burl was there, and saw him in church, and said the guy was killing it. He is the man on drums in the church."
"I went to the Aguilar's, Ender Aguilar, right before I left, we had spent some time together and they play a lot of games together as a family, we said that we needed to get a game in, so we pulled out Uno, and I had the walk-off Uno win right before I went to the airport against the Aguilars, he's looking for a rematch there."
"The amount of food myself, coach Browning, and coach Tui ate with the McKenzies was impressive, probably one of our better outings. It was a tough flight back, because you're flying into Hawaii, got the visit, then flying back the same day or through the night, little bit of an uncomfortable flight because of how much we ate, everything, all the different dishes, rice, pork, and we finished with malasadas, I would encourage everybody to try a malasada, they got custard in them, they were big-time. You get to know the families, which is really cool, and you get to see the kids at their homes in their environments, and like I said before, it's a really good group."
What's Next
- Cal has room for two more guys per Wilcox
- On the Pac-12 Network, Wilcox noted they expect to have some clarity on the offensive coordinator situation within the next 10 days.
- WR Jordan Duncan has been excused from the team to handle what Wilcox called "personal things," and that they'll address that later. Duncan was not with the team for the UCLA game
- Cal will return to practice Friday afternoon, after finals let out