Linebacker Beckham Barney announces commitment on official visit to Cal
It has become clear this spring that Cal wants to continue reshaping and building up its linebacker group, and Saturday the Bears added their latest piece. It is the second big recruiting weekend for Justin Wilcox's program, and the team has already landed a pledge from one of its visitors.
Beckham Barney will be headed to Cal after finishing up his senior season at Mountain View High School in Mesa, Arizona. The 6-foot-3, 205-pound prospect is the third inside linebacker to commit to the Bears in the 2025 cycle joining longtime pledge Carter Jones and recent addition Ke'Breion Winston.
Barney visited the Bears back in April and was part of the official visitor group this weekend as he made the return trip to Berkeley. Cal was the first school to jump into the mix with an offer for Barney back in November. Since then he's added offers from Air Force, Navy and Army plus Ivy League schools Columbia and Dartmouth. Furman also offered him while he took visits to Arizona State, Utah, BYU and Colorado State.
A multi-sport athlete (baseball, football), Barney will add some versatility to the inside linebacker class with his ability to play multiple positions on the inside.
He is now the ninth commitment in the 2025 class for the Bears with five of those recruits expected to play defense when they arrive on campus.
A commitment from Barney signals a return to Arizona for Cal's coaching staff. Once a hotbed for the Bears, the new commit is the first prospect from the state to give Cal his pledge since Nick Morrow in the 2022 class.
Though he does not hold offers from any other Power Four programs, Barney is as productive of a player as you will find at the high school level. In 2023, he ranked eighth among all players in Arizona with 145 tackles.
He also had 13 tackles for loss and four sacks to go with six quarterback hurries and an interception.
In his two-year stint on varsity at Mountain View, Barney has racked up 189 tackles (106 solo) to go with 15 tackles for loss and four interceptions.