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Cal Football

Bears Start Off Their '23 Class Strong With Commitment from 4 Star Safety RJ Jones

February 4, 2022
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The Bears started off their 2023 recruiting class strong with the commitment of consensus 4 star St. John Bosco safety RJ Jones‍ days after his visit to campus last weekend. Jones was one of three 2023 recruits on campus for the weekend, joining 4 star safety Hunter Clegg‍ and 3 star safety Marcus Ratcliffe.

“When I went up there, it felt like home as soon as I stepped on campus,” said Jones. “Coach Tre (Watson), Coach Brown, Coach Wilcox- they welcomed me with open arms. I just knew that when I got there, I knew it was home and I wanted to be there.

“My mom could tell how comforable i was there walking on campus and she’s big on academics. When you can combine competitive football with the top academic public school in the country, it doesn’t get any better than that. Now that I’m committed to Cal, I’m so happy. I can be proud of myself, for sure.”

Jones announced his commitment today via Twitter, saying:

“I’m committed. I'm committed to being the best version of me, on and off the field. Football has taught me discline. How to tackle life’s obstacles. How to be gracious in my victories and resilient in my losses. It's taught me how to push myself, always to believe in me. It has also taught me how to adapt to change. And I believe in always making my next move my best move, so i’m confident in the choices I make for myself. 

“Some people think of your commitment as the end but really it’s just the beginning to a whole new chapter.”

Jones noted that with the young talent program has, Cal’s poised for big things in the future and he's all in with helping build a winner by adding new high-level talent.

“Elijah Hicks should be one of the top safeties drafted this year and I know Cal has a bunch of good young DBs waiting their turn.

“Part of the reason I committed early was to help to start them recruit. We’ve got some great young talent down here and now that I committed, I can help the program even bigger. I've got some guys at St. John Bosco I'm with right now and I’m already talking to them. I’m fired up to bring them with me. I’m fired up about it all.”

Another connection for Jones to Cal is new St. John Bosco receivers coach and former star Cal receiver Geoff McArthur, whose ties to Jones go back far before his move to Bosco.

“He's been a really close friend of mine,” said Jones. “He actually coached with my dad at Saint Monica (Catholic High School). He's lke another part of my family.

“He's fired up. I can’t wait for him to get down here and start coaching at Bosco.”

“I coached RJ when he was in eighth and ninth grade a little bit,” with McArthur. “So when I saw that commitment to Cal today, I was really thrilled and happy for him. I think it’s a great move for him and we just got us a really great player. He’s a great, great kid.”

The 6-1/180 safety had 40 tackles, one interception, four pass breakups and two fumble recoveries in his junior season for the Braves. The big-hitting DB holds 17 offers currently, including USC, Oregon, Washington, Michigan, Michigan State and more. Jones is rated the #19 safety nationally in the 247 composite ratings the #209th rated player overall in the country.

More stories:

2022 Recruiting Class Recap

Grading the 2022 Football Recruiting Class

Discussion from...

Bears Start Off Their '23 Class Strong With Commitment from 4 Star Safety RJ Jones

12,151 Views | 45 Replies | Last: 2 yr ago by burritos
concernedparent
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Wow, huge get. Really can't argue with Wilcox sending 3 safeties to the NFL (and almost certainly a 4th in Hicks).
calBlitz
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Nice! Jones has an impressive list of offers.
LACalFan
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What an amazing start to the class. Welcome, RJ!!!
89Bear
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This is fantastic!!!
His video is outstanding.
85Bear
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Wow, nice tape! Welcome to the #1 public university in the world, RJ!
Pittstop
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Does Geoff McArthur coach at Bosco?
tydog
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Great news!
CalBearinLA
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Fantastic! Welcome RJ!
tim94501
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LFG!!
MoragaBear
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Staff
Pittstop said:

Does Geoff McArthur coach at Bosco?
He does now

91Cal
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What a fantastic way to go into the weekend!

Welcome to the family, RJ & family!

Go Bears!
MoragaBear
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Staff
Story updated with lots of great quotes from Jones and Geoff McArthur, especially about both recruiting for Cal.
going4roses
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Welcome to the family !!!
Go Bears
Tell someone you love them and try to have a good day
Gkhoury2325
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Welcome to the Cal family. Super juiced that you will be patrolling the secondary and have no doubt you can help lead our defense. Let's Go!
burritos
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This guys really lays down the wood.
NYCGOBEARS
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STUD. Go Bears!
BearRaidNation
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Big time addition to the family! Go bears
Big C
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What a great start for the 2023 class! Welcome to the Cal family RJ and . . . Go Bears!!!
OneKeg
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Big time recruit. Welcome, RJ!

And shout out to G.Mac. One of my favorite Cal players of all time.
Pittstop
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What a way to strengthen the SJB Cal connection! Pipeline-in-the-making...possibly?
MoragaBear
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Staff
Pittstop said:

What a way to strengthen the SJB Cal connection! Pipeline-in-the-making...possibly?
Burrell this year, Jones next year and GMac on staff? I wouldn't bet against it!
GranadaHillsBear
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Hell yeah. You just know Geoff is going to talk CAL up
MoragaBear
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Staff
GranadaHillsBear said:

Hell yeah. You just know Geoff is going to talk CAL up
He said he's not pulling any punches when it comes to that
calbear80
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Great News! RJ, glad that you are a Golden Bear!

Go Bears!
Goobear
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RJ welcome to Cal Football! Wishing you nothing but the best of success on and off the field. Go Bears!
philbert
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GO BEARS! Welcome to the Bears Fam, RJ!
FireFighterBest
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Incredible start!!!
calumnus
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Fantastic! Great that Geoff MacArthur is in coaching, one of my all time favorite Bears!
PtownBear1
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Might be the coolest commitment video I've seen
calbearinamaze
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PtownBear1 said:

Might be the coolest commitment video I've seen
In terms of intelligence and enthusiasm, he reminds me a lot of another Bosco grad....
one of my all-time favorite Bears Traveon Beck

GO BEARS!!!!------
If you believe in forever
Then life is just a one-night stand
If there's a rock and roll heaven
Well you know they've got a hell of a band
PtownBear1
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bearup said:

PtownBear1 said:

Might be the coolest commitment video I've seen
In terms of intelligence and enthusiasm, he reminds me a lot of another Bosco grad....
one of my all-time favorite Bears Traveon Beck

GO BEARS!!!!------


Yeah, from what I recall, Beck's commitment video was great because it was pure in the moment excitement.

The weirdest commitment video I recall, which at the time I didn't really consider strange since I was just stoked that he picked Cal, was Drob's.

GivemTheAxe
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Welcome to the #1 university in the Nation - public or Private.
Great list of offers and great attitude of recruiting othe players.
MoragaBear
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Staff
PtownBear1 said:

bearup said:

PtownBear1 said:

Might be the coolest commitment video I've seen
In terms of intelligence and enthusiasm, he reminds me a lot of another Bosco grad....
one of my all-time favorite Bears Traveon Beck

GO BEARS!!!!------

Yeah, from what I recall, Beck's commitment video was great because it was pure in the moment excitement.

The weirdest commitment video I recall, which at the time I didn't really consider strange since I was just stoked that he picked Cal, was Drob's.
The absolute best was Georgia fan Uncle Lou's reaction and DRob's upside down Cal framed print he uncovered at the announcement.

Bubba_Bear84
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MoragaBear said:

Pittstop said:

What a way to strengthen the SJB Cal connection! Pipeline-in-the-making...possibly?
Burrell this year, Jones next year and GMac on staff? I wouldn't bet against it!

Don't forget about Iele at the tail end of the 21 cycle too.
Blueblood
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I think its amazing to see all the BI excitement about a high schooler that probably won't see any significant PT
until the 2024 or 2025 season! I'm glad we fans can get excited about something related to Cal football!

Boy oh boy, just can't wait to see him score!
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