Sweet Sixteen: DB Trey Paster Becomes Cal's 16th Pledge in 2020

Trey Paster has long been a recruit Cal coveted. They brought him in for a junior day in January, and offered him not long after. And now, the circle is complete, with the Buhach Colony ATH choosing the Bears out of his final five, which included Washington, Oregon, UCLA and Utah, via Instagram Live.

Paster called Cal his dream school when he was offered back in February, and that was thanks to a track meet he ran in Berkeley in elementary school.

"Ever since I ran a track meet there when I was nine years old, ran a track meet there, the Tommie Smith track meet (a youth meet named for the 1968 Olympic Gold Medalist, one ongoing to this day)," Paster told Golden Bear Report, "me, my little brother, my father and mother, we went and walked around the campus. I wasn’t even playing football yet, but I just knew I loved that school so much walking around campus. Then I saw the football stadium, I’ve seen the practice field, but the campus was the first one I really fell in love with as a kid. I remember going back home and researching about Cal, I’m a 9-10 year old doing this research about how to get in, stuff like that. It’s just a blessing to get a full ride there."

Paster's commitment is the 16th of the class, and the third defensive back to commit alongside Dejuan Butler and Isaiah Young. Gerald Alexander was the primary recruiter, with Nick Edwards being the area recruiter for Paster.

Paster, at 6'3" and 190 lbs, gives the Bears a big, rangy defender at defensive back. He currently plays corner at Buhach, but will likely start his Cal career at safety. With at least five senior defensive backs leaving, Paster will have a good chance to play early in Berkeley.

Paster, listed as an athlete by Rivals, is a three-star (5.6), and is rated as the 47th best player in the state of California. NorCalPreps.com ranks him as the top defensive back in Northern California.

1. Paster's commitment gives the Bears 6 commits on defense, along with the 10 on offense

2. Distribution of commits by position:

QB: 1

RB: 2

WR: 3

TE: 2

OL: 2

DL: 1

LB: 2

DB: 3

3. Distribution of commits by state

CA: 11

HI: 2

OR: 2

AZ: 1

4. Paster's commitment signals one big thing that Cal has done more of this cycle, landing coveted players against some of the heavy hitters in the conference, namely Washington, Oregon, and UCLA. They did that with Paster.