Q&A With New Cal Commit Casey Filkins

Cal landed three commits over the weekend, including two from Justin Wilcox's home state of Oregon. Casey Filkins, a standout athlete from Lake Oswego HS, committed to the Bears after taking a visit. He broke down why he made this decision now, and why Cal was the place for him with me Sunday.

TT: How did the process of committing go down for you this weekend?

CF: I took my visit on Friday, met with Wilcox, met with coach Baldwin, met with coach Toler, met with pretty much the whole staff, and I was able to fill in the missing pieces from previous visits as far as getting a feel for the academic side of things and all that they have to offer on that end. Once I got that full picture, it kinda just hit me in my gut, I was like, this is where I want to be, this is where I feel I thrive and I fit and I can contribute on and off the field.

I left Friday, with a pretty clear image in my mind. We went back to the hotel, then Saturday was the Opening. My dad called me in the middle of it all, I think it was a water break where I was checking my phone, he was like ‘do you want to commit, do you want to get this going?’ I was like ‘woah.’ I thought about it, I processed it and in my heart I knew it was the right time. We were talking (Saturday) and I had the chance to talk to my mom on the phone and we all came to the consensus that it was the right place for me at the right time. For me, it was ‘why wait two months for a decision I could make right now?’ So I just wanted to sit down, and thankfully, I knew in my heart it was the right time.

After the Opening we went back to the facilities and sat down with Wilcox, got it signed and sealed.

TT: You talked about filling in the missing pieces, what did you want to see from Cal that got filled in for you?

CF: As far as that goes, I didn’t really remember how campus was, like what would it be like during a regular day, going to class. We met with professor Zybeck, he’s a psychology professor and he’s retired but he’s still around the school, I’m interested in sports psychology, sports science stuff. That wasn’t his forte necessarily, but he was able to talk to me about the unlimited opportunities that Cal has to offer. He made it clear that the teachers don’t only do research, but they teach their students, that’s taken for granted. Getting a feel for that was awesome, I got to see how it’s like, a real day in the life, not a recruiting pitch, I got to experience it myself and it couldn’t have gone any better.

TT: What was the Cal staff’s reaction to this when you got back up there Saturday?

CF: While I was at the camp, my dad was coordinating back and forth with coach Greatwood, saying we wanted to meet back up at the facilities and talk. When we got back up there, they kinda knew what was going down, and they were all fired up, it was really cool. The whole staff was there, though coach Toler couldn’t make it. We talked on the phone a long time afterwards. We were all really excited, and it felt so genuine and real, which is so important me. That’s another thing which has drawn me to them as a staff, they’re not super flashy, they’re not going to sell themselves out to get someone, it’s about getting their kind of guy, they talk about that a lot, getting ‘Cal guys.’ They feel like I’m a perfect fit and I feel the same way.

It was awesome, they were all fired up, and we were sitting down with coach Wilcox in his office, figuring everything out, and I told him I wanted to commit. He was super fired up, and he told me that Andy Alfieri committed 30 minutes ago. My jaw dropped, I was like ‘are you kidding me,’ because I’ve been going back and forth with Andy for a while, we’ve been pretty good friends throughout this process, and we talk about Cal a lot. I had no idea he was going to commit, he committed then I committed, it was pretty crazy. Coach Wilcox was fired up, it was awesome.

TT: Did you talk to Alfieri a bit afterward?

CF: Yeah, I’ve been staying in touch with Andy, we’ve been texting, Snapchatting, all that good stuff. It is really cool, because we’ve talked about this for a while, since we were in those awesome spots where we both got offered by Cal, and felt like it was the right place for both of us. That says a lot about the staff and a lot about who we are.

TT: Did they confirm that they want you as a slot receiver?

CF: They did, they offered me as a slot receiver and I committed as a slot receiver. They made it clear how many receivers they’re taking in this class, and they made it clear that they’re taking one true slot receiver and I was on top of their board. Coach made that really clear, that was a factor in my decision and why I wanted to lock it down so early, it’s because they wanted me and I didn’t want to waste any time, if that’s the place I wanted to go to.

TT: Now that you’re committed, do you have an idea of when you’d want to take an official visit to Cal?

CF: I was talking to them a little bit about that (Saturday). As far as an official visit goes, they want me to take that in the fall, in the season so I can catch a game and hang out with fellow recruits/commits. I felt like that would be a good time, nothing specific, and as far as getting up there again, they don’t have to pull my arm to get me to get out to sunny Berkeley, California. We might even come back sometime in June, maybe in late July when they have a barbecue for all the recruits.