Wallace, Rodriguez sign LOIs

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BERKELEY -- The California men's basketball program and head coach Mike Montgomery have officially signed guard four-star Tyrone Wallace (6-4, 180 lbs., Bakersfield HS, Bakersfield, Calif.) and power forward Kaileb Rodriguez (6-9, 200 lbs., ThunderRidge HS, Highlands Ranch, Colo.) to National Letters of Intent.

In Wallace, the Bears will welcome one of the top guards in the nation. Rivals.com ranks Wallace as the No. 17 point guard and No. 78 overall player in the nation. He was an All-Area selection as a junior and was named The Californian's 2010-11 Boys Basketball Player of the Year after he helped guide his team to the CIF Central Section semifinals.

As a junior, Wallace put up 22.2 points a game, and pulled down 6.1 boards per contest. He posted more than 30 points in five different games but also put up big numbers, defensively, with 3.2 steals per game and added 1.7 assists per outing. As a sophomore, Wallace opened eyes when he poured in 20.6 ppg to go with 8.3 rpg, 2.8 spg, and 2.2 apg. He played his AAU ball with Double Pump Elite.

"We fell in love with Wallace the first time we saw him," Montgomery said. "He is a combo guard with great length. His ability to create shots for others, to defend, and to rebound are exactly what we need to help us win, next year. We're glad that he'll be coming and are very excited to have him on court for us."

Rodriguez committed to Cal in April 2011 and played AAU ball with Next Level. Rodriguez was selected to the Colorado 5A All-Continental League team, as a junior, and received All-State honors after he put together a season in which he averaged 15 points and nine rebounds per contest.

"Rodriguez is an up and coming forward with great potential," Montgomery said. "He, too, has great length, and we feel that he's only scratched the surface in terms of what kind of basketball player he could become. We think that he will only get stronger with experience and are looking forward to having his skills."

The Bears open the 2011-12 regular season as hosts to UC Irvine on Friday, Nov. 11, at Haas Pavilion. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m. PT. Admission is free to all Cal students with valid identification, and free food will be provided by the San Francisco Soup Company to the first 1,000 students in the door.