The last time that we checked into the Bears recruiting success for 2009, the team looked to be less than successful for the year. At the time, the Bears were ranked 8th in the Pac-10 on Scout.com's list and 5th according to Rivals.com. For a team that has been the second-best team in the Pac-10 over the past five years, those rankings were a little disconcerting. The rankings are especially disconcerting when their biggest rival, Stanford, is ranked 2nd on both lists. It's still a long period before the recruiting-trail dust settles, but things are beginning to look up for the Bears, if not in the rankings, at least in the recruiting over the past 20 days or so.
The Bears have been able to get commitments from four more recruits since November 18th, and judging by the positions of these players, defense is one side of the ball that will be covered in this class. Here's a brief rundown of the five recruits that have given verbals recently. Oddly, one recruit that I had previously reported as giving Cal a verbal is no longer being reported as committed to Cal. Wideout Terrell Williams seems to have left the door open to going elsewhere and it's now being reported that, "he was rumored to have committed to Cal." More to come on that.
Alex Logan S:
Hometown: Denver, CO
J. K. Mullen High School
Ht: 6'2" Wt: 190
From all reports, it looks like Cal may have been a real winner getting Logan. He had interest from 15 schools and a brother, Alvin, up at Washington. Here's what scouts say about Logan:
Attacks the line of scrimmage; has a linebacker type attitude in short yardage situations. Intelligent defender versus the pass. Good route recognition and has quick break on the pass. Times the interception or break-up to perfection. Very instinctive and locks up with the man in his zone taking away the easy completion. Logan can play both free and strong safety but I really like his aggressiveness at strong.
- ESPN / Scouts INC.
This is what Logan says about Logan:
I stay deep in the coverage and don't allow anyone to score. I can also tackle good and I'm just a hard-hitting and smart player, but I want to improve my one-on-one coverage and my overall covering speed. I run track too and I'm trying to lift four times a week.
- Alex Logan
Steve Williams CB:
Hometown: Dallas, TX
Skyline High School
Ht: 5'10" Wt: 160
Williams de-committed from Oklahoma and committed to Cal. He's considered a top cover corner by scouts, but his size is a concern at the FBS level. Here's some of what ESPN's scouts say about him:
Despite his shorter, slighter frame, he still plays big on the field selling out his body in both run and pass support. Good man-to-man coverage skills. Great stop-start skill and foot-quickness shadowing receivers off the line and out of their breaks; very difficult to create separation on and flashes great recovery speed.
- ESPN / Scouts INC.
Rivals had similar things to say about him:
Despite his slender frame, Williams is eager and effective as a tackler in run support. He showed great instincts and explosiveness out of his cuts, making one impressive pass deflection in the end zone. He followed that up by showing great speed and ball skills tracking an overthrown ball that shouldn't have been catchable.
Rivals Recruiting Staff
Steven Fanua ILB:
Hometown: Milpitas, CA
Milpitas High School
Ht: 6'1" Wt: 200
Reading the report on this guy makes you think of Pittsburgh Steeler's safety Troy Polamalu:
Not ideal size for the middle but this kid gets a fast read on the football and flashes good burst in the short area. Finds the ball in a hurry and gets there in a bad mood. a very tough, physical 'backer. Needs to play more under control but you like the intensity he pursues with. Takes strong, direct angles to the ball. Fills hard and fast downhill...Overall, Fanua is still a heat seeking missile on the football field and possesses a lot of mental and physical intangibles you can't coach. Should flourish with added size and technique refinement.
- ESPN / Scouts INC.
There's good reason to speak highly about the incoming freshman. His stats do most of his talking:
Steven Fanua had an eye-popping 173 tackles as a junior with 12 sacks. Had seven games of at least 13 tackles, including 20 against Mountain View. Had five sacks against Woodside.
- Scout.com
What's great about this committ, is he seems to really look forward to putting on the blue and gold:
Ryan Davis DE:
Hometown: Lakewood, CA
Cerritos College (CA)
Ht: 6'4" Wt: 260
I'm not sure how this works out, but according to The Bear Insider, he comes to Cal with three years of eligibility to play two, so he's probably a redshirt candidate. Here's how they explain it:
Davis will have three years to play two coming into Cal. He played at Mayfair (Lakewood, CA) his sophomore season before moving to Artesia and earning all-league honors there his junior year. With his interest in football waning and Artesia's prospects dim in his senior year, Davis chose to drop football. He remained out of the game while working for two years before enrolling at Cerritos and picking up football again with a renewed enthusiasm.
- The Bear Insider
Other schools were taking a long hard look at Davis, especially after having the type of year he had. He had 11 sacks, 16 tackles for loss, 39 tackles, 3 forced fumbles, 3 fumble recoveries, and 1 pass defensed. Those are, ironically, stats similar to a departing Cal senior - Zack Follett.
I'm basically going to be a hybrid d-end/linebacker coming in. Zack Follett did a great job this year in a similar role, leading the team in sacks and tfl's (tackles for loss). Coach Thompson, Coach Gregory and Coach Tedford said they know how well I rush the quarterback. It will be a bit of a transition when I'm lined up at linebacker but I'm not worried about that at all. I'm real excited about it.
- Davis on what's in store for him at Cal
He comes to Cal with high marks from Cerritos College personnel:
As a player, one of the big things coaches talk about is energy and enthusiasm, beyond athletic talent. When Tennessee came in to look at Ryan, they said he plays like he really loves to play football, which is always encouraging to me. He's got great strength and is a very good pass-rusher. He was the only unanimous All-Conference pick on our team and we had seven All-Conference players.
- Cerritos recruiting coordinator, Tom Caines
Jerome Meadows OLB:
Hometown: Spartanburg, SC
San Jose City College (CA)
Ht: 6'3" Wt: 240
Meadows is like Davis in that he's also a pass rushing specialist that can play a hybrid defensive end / linebacker role. While he came to Cal to play football, that wasn't the only reason. He's expected to make an impact in all phases of being a student-athlete.
Jerome's a guy who's going to have an impact both on the field and off the field. He has a 3.80 GPA and is president of the BSU (Black Student Union) and a father of a young son. He's a man amongst boys. He loves to play the game and has a passion for the game. He's just a good kid to be around.
- SJCC Head Coach Carlton Conner
Here's how he looked at his commitment to Cal:
I'm a Bear. I talked to Coach Thompson to let him know and he was excited. He said that I made a good decision and that I'll fit in real well with their defense. Then, when football's over, I'll have that Cal degree and that's huge, noted Meadows.
- Meadows
Meadows was the rush defensive end / outside linebacker at San Jose Community College this year compiling 105 tackles, 15.5 sacks, 3 interceptions (1 for touchdown), and 4 forced fumbles.
| POS | PLAYER | SCOUT RATING | SCOUT POS RANK | RIVALS RATING | RIVALS POS RANK | ESPN RATING | ESPN POS RANK |
| S | Alex Logan | 3 |
33 | 3 |
29 | 80 | 17 |
| CB | Steve Williams | 4 |
18 | 4 |
22 | 82 | 8 |
| ILB | Steven Fanua | 3 |
19 | 3 |
37 | 77 | 25 |
| DE/OLB (JC) | Ryan Davis | 1 |
NR | 3 |
NR | N/A | NR |
| DE/OLB (JC) | Jerome Meadows | 2 |
JC | N/A | NR | N/A | NR |
Here are the Pac-10 rankings as rated by Scout.com and Rivals.com:
| Rk. | School | Commits | Conf. | Points | Top 100 |
 |
|
|
Off. | Def. | Sp.T. | H.S. | J.C. | Avg. | Prv. Rk.* |
| 3. | USC | 16 | Pac-10 | 3608 | 8 | 5 | 9 | 2 | 7 | 9 | 0 | 15 | 1 | 4.19 | 3. |
| 15. | Stanford | 16 | Pac-10 | 2690 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 5 | 11 | 5 | 0 | 16 | 0 | 3.56 | 15. |
| 28. | UCLA | 17 | Pac-10 | 2032 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 10 | 10 | 7 | 0 | 13 | 4 | 3.06 | 27. |
| 47. | Washington State | 13 | Pac-10 | 1361 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 5 | 8 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 2.92 | 54. |
| 50. | Arizona State | 14 | Pac-10 | 1307 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 8 | 6 | 0 | 13 | 1 | 2.79 | 49. |
| 54. | Arizona | 16 | Pac-10 | 1259 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 0 | 14 | 2 | 2.56 | 53. |
| 57. | Oregon | 11 | Pac-10 | 1129 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 3 | 6 | 2 | 9 | 2 | 2.91 | t57. |
| 58. | California | 10 | Pac-10 | 1127 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 3 | 2.90 | t57. |
| 59. | Oregon State | 18 | Pac-10 | 1125 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 9 | 9 | 0 | 17 | 1 | 2.28 | 59. |
| 77. | Washington | 7 | Pac-10 | 500 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 2.57 | 77. |
* Rankings as of 12/17/2008 6:00 AM ET; Previous Rankings as of 12/16/2008 6:00 AM ET
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| School | TOTAL |  Commits |
Commits |
Commits |
Avg Stars |  Points |
||||||||||||
| 1 | USC | 16 | 4 | 11 | 1 | 4.19 | 2,336 | |||||||||||
| 2 | Stanford | 16 | 0 | 7 | 9 | 3.44 | 1,266 | |||||||||||
| 3 | UCLA | 16 | 0 | 6 | 9 | 3.31 | 1,096 | |||||||||||
| 4 | Arizona State | 14 | 0 | 3 | 9 | 3.07 | 609 | |||||||||||
| 5 | California | 10 | 0 | 4 | 5 | 3.10 | 543 | |||||||||||
| 6 | Arizona | 19 | 0 | 2 | 11 | 2.58 | 468 | |||||||||||
| 7 | Oregon | 13 | 0 | 1 | 11 | 3.00 | 460 | |||||||||||
| 8 | Oregon State | 18 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 2.56 | 215 | |||||||||||
| 9 | Washington State | 12 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 2.58 | 71 | |||||||||||
| 10 | Washington | 7 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2.57 | 41 | |||||||||||
So far, the Bears have made huge strides in replacing the linebacking trio of Follett, Worrell Williams, and Anthony Felder. They already have four hybrid linebackers, three defensive backs, a quarterback, running back, and an offensive guard. With less than two months left before signing day, more recruits should begin committing after the holidays.
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