With their recruiting off to an impressive start this season, one position where the University of California seemed to have been gaining little traction was at tight end. Consider the problem solved, as the Bears have found their man in Jesuit (Portland, OR) tight end Jacob Wark.
"I committed to Cal this week," said Wark.
"I talked to Coach Tedford before the season and they were evaluating my senior year.
"Towards the end of my season, I sent them down some game film and they liked it. Their tight ends coach, Pete Alamar ceme up to watch our semifinal game against Grant and he was impressed, so the next Monday, Coach Tedford called and offered me a scholarship. He said he thinks I'd be a perfect fit with their pro-style offense. It's a lot like we run at Jesuit -a lot of pro sets where we run the ball a lot to set up the pass."
Wark considers himself a dual-threat tight end who loves to mix it up blocking but possesses strong receiver skills as well. The 3 star 6-4/240 tight end came into his own as a strong prospect in 2009, hauling in 34 passes for 434 yards and 3 touchdowns on the season.
After focusing on defense and primarily run blocking behind Jesuit's powerful running game in '08 led by running back Anthony Blake, who rushed for nearly 2,000 yards on the season and now plays for Holy Cross, the Crusaders moved to a more balanced offense this year.
"Before my senior season started, one of the things I worked on coming into the year was my speed and quickness," said Wark. "I'm more versatile as a tight end and a better player overall with the work I've put in."
"He's a tremendous athlete," said Jesuit Head Coach Ken Potter. "He plays basketball and baseball and many are saying he's a tremendous baseball player, too.
"Largely because of basesball, Jacob didn't do the camp and combine thing last summer. There are a lot of people that are exposing themselves through that kind of stuff and he didn't do that. I told him he didn't have to. I told him, 'If you play hard and do things right, things will work our for you.' And they did.
"There are a lot of athletes out there with great SPARQ numbers, who look good at the combines. Then you get them out on the field and a lot of them don't make the plays. They run really well and jump really high, but do they make plays in the game? That's kind of more important to me.
"This year, we threw to our tight end much more than we usually do, so Jacob saw a lot more passes. He's a tremendous blocker but he also plays h-back for us, too, and he's got very good hands. We put him in motion sometimes and we've also used him as a receiver.
"Right now he's 6-4/240-245 and I can easily see him put on 20 pounds without much trouble and still keep that speed and agility up.
"He's one of the hardest workers I've had at Jesuit. I think he's a real gem and and he'll be a tremendous tight end in college. He's a great kid."
Wark led his 12-2 Jesuit squad to the state championship this season before falling to Sheldon in a barnburner, 50-43.
The Bears had an in-home visit with Wark two weeks ago and the Cal staff made a great impression on the big tight end.
"They have a real family atmosphere there and that means a lot to me since it will be my family for the next 4-5 years." said Wark. "I just felt real comfortable with them and that helped me a lot with my decision.
"Cal's a great academic school as well. I've researched them a lot and I can't wait to get down there. They're one of the top schools in the nation."
To view Wark's profile, click here
