Pac-12 recruiting: Cal’s big weekend, Utah’s in-state haul, Arizona’s cause for concern and a major JuCo decision
The top junior college prospect in the country, cornerback Sione Laulea of the College of San Mateo, is expected to announce his decision this weekend.
The Hotline is delighted to provide Pac-12 fans with a regular dive into the recruiting process through the eyes and ears of Brandon Huffman, the Seattle-based national recruiting editor for 247Sports. He submitted the following report on Oct. 5 …
Cal looks to make Bay Area impression
Despite the ACC move taking their conference affiliation out of the Western footprint, the Bears are still trying to impress West Coast prospects.
And they will have a chance to make a very deep impression Saturday when 15th-ranked Oregon State comes to town.
That’s largely because Cal, which has been spurned by a number of Bay Area recruits in recent years, will have several local players inside Memorial Stadium.
Ironically, Oregon State used former Bears tight end Jermaine Terry, who’s now with the Beavers, in a game week graphic.
Terry was part of Cal’s recruiting class the last time the program found true success locally, but both he and Moses Oladejo left Berkeley after the 2022 season and ended up elsewhere in the conference. (Oladejo is now at UCLA.)
The Bears are hoping to recapture the momentum that was such a fixture of their recruiting efforts during Jeff Tedford’s tenure in the 2000s.
They will have five key recruits, all from the Bay Area, on campus on Saturday.
One is a member of the 2024 class; the other four are 2025 prospects.
The current senior is San Francisco tackle Kalolo Ta’aga, one of the most intriguing, uncommitted recruits in the West. (He decommitted from San Jose State last week.)
Ta’aga is in his first year playing football. He had numerous scholarship offers in the spring based strictly on workouts in camps and spring practice, but his background is basketball.
As his film made the rounds, schools got involved. Cal was one of them and is now desperately trying to land Ta’aga.
One of his teammates at Archbishop Riordan in the 2025 class, offensive lineman Peter Langi, will also be in Berkeley on Saturday.
Oakland receiver Ellijah Washington has been one of Cal’s top targets for 2025. After visiting last week for the Arizona State game, he’ll be back Saturday before heading up to Oregon State next week.
Pittsburg (Cal.) High School edge rusher Jewelous Walls, who’s part of a loaded high school team, will attend the game, as well. His former teammate at Pittsburg, safety Robert Santiago, who’s now at Concord (Calif.) De La Salle, will be there, too.
Rumblings In the Desert
A week ago, Arizona provided Washington with its toughest game of the season before the Huskies escaped with a 31-24 win. But the Wildcats might be suffering a second loss to UW.
Edge rusher Keona Wilhite, a Tucson native, backed off his verbal commitment to the Wildcats days after Washington watched him play. Now, the 247Sports Crystal Ball is pointing to the Huskies.
That isn’t the Wildcats’ biggest concern, however. There are rumblings that the prize of Jedd Fisch’s recruiting class, five-star edge rusher Elijah Rushing — a Tucson native — may be looking elsewhere. Oregon was the runner up at the time of his commitment to Arizona.
No. 1 JuCo Prospect Set to Announce
College of San Mateo (Calif.) cornerback Sione Laulea is the No. 1 junior college prospect in the 2024 class and will announce his decision on Sunday at 6:45 p.m. on the 247Sports’ YouTube Channel.
Laulea’s top schools are Miami, Oregon and USC, and all three have made him a major priority. Oregon is getting a lot of buzz, but interestingly enough, Laulea has yet to take an official visit to Eugene.
The Ducks have hit the College of San Mateo hard, although USC had a former Bulldog selected in the NFL Draft in the spring in cornerback Mekhi Blackmon. Could that tip the advantage to Lincoln Riley? We’ll see.
Laulea will be an instant impact player wherever he goes.
Utes land in-state standout
American Fork (Utah) safety Davis Andrews gave the Utes their fourth commitment out of the top-six players in the state in 2024 when he picked Kyle Whittingham’s program this week.
More impressively, the Utes held off Notre Dame’s late surge with Andrews, who had an offer from UCLA, as well.
The Utes have commitments from the No. 1, No. 3, No. 5 and No. 6 players in Utah and are the leaders for No. 4, safety Faletau Satuala.
(The in-state commitments include four-star quarterback Isaac Wilson, the younger brother of New York Jets quarterback Zach Wilson.)
This was the kind of in-state recruiting Utah fans dreamed of when the school first moved to the Pac-12.
Cougars, Bears land Midlands pledges
Both Washington State and Cal went to the Midlands for their most recent commitments.
Edge rusher Malachi Wrice, from McAlester, Ok., committed to Washington State on Wednesday.
And earlier in the day, Topeka (Kan.) athlete BJ Canady, who took his official to Berkeley the weekend the Cal hosted Auburn, announced a verbal commitment to Cal.
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