Mangum Makes it 24 For Cal

Talented Westlake (Austin, Texas) High School wide receiver Mason Mangum flipped to Cal after decommitting in recent weeks from Arkansas, announcing his commitment to Cal this morning.

The 5-11/175 receiver received an in-home visit from Cal receivers coach Burl Toler last night, sealing the deal for the Bears.

“The combination of good football, great school -Cal was everything I was looking for in a program,” said Mangum. “I love the school, the area, everything about Cal.

“The impressiveness of the degree is important and intriguing, too. I had a couple meetings with some of the academic people and career planning people that were super-informative. They were able to give me some great insight into just how far I can go with a Cal degree.”

The 3-sport star also excels in track and in basketball and is able to tomahawk dunk with his 40-inch vertical leaping ability. Mangum compiled PR’s of 24 feet in long long jump, 14.1 in the 110 hurdles and 37.2 in the 300 low hurdles, finishing second in the long jump and fourth in both hurdle events in the Texas state finals. He also ran a 4.45 forty at the Dallas Opening regional.

“Mason’s a tremendous athlete,” said Westlake head coach Todd Dodge. “He’s a 3-sport athlete in an era where it’s not common. We encourage all of our athletes to play more sports. 

“He’s a 3-time All-District player in football, 2^nd team All-State and All-Area as a junior and he’s the all-time leading receiver in our school history. He’s a really exposive basketball player, too. And in track, I can’t tell you how hard it is to get to the state track meet, much less in to do it in three events and place in all of them.”

Athleticism certainly runs in the Mangum family.

“He comes from a great family,” said Dodge. “His brother Max was an outstanding safety for us on our 2015 finalist team and he plays at Harvard. His father Mark and his mother April, I knew both of them when I was doing my student teaching at Westlake. They were a junior and sophomore then. They were probably the two best athletes in the school when they were there. His dad played football at Wisconsin and his mom was an outstanding track and volleyball or basketball athlete.

“The thing about Mason, is now that he’ll go to college and settle in with one sport, the weight room will really come into play for him.

“He’s the captain on our team. He doesn’t talk a ton but when he does speak, it resonates with his teammates. When he says something, it carries a lot of weight in the locker room. He’s an outstanding leader.”

As for Mangum’s talent on the field:

“He’s an animal out on the perimeter,” said Dodge. “He had 17 touchdowns last year. He’s had less this year but we’re just a lot deeper at receiver than we were last year. We spread the ball around. But his ability to really stick his foot in the ground and separate is the sign of a really good wide receiver. He does a great job getting off press coverage on his release moves but he's also really deceptive to DBs. He’s so smooth. He had a 99-yard touchdown catch on the first play of the second round playoff game. We threw a post route to him. It was amazing how he ran right past a really fast cornerback who could flat-out fly and he ran right by him.”

His coach sees a great fit for Mangum with the Bears.

“We’re thrilled that he’s going to Cal. We really are,” said Dodge.

“After he decommitted from Arkansas, I asked him where he might want to play. He had offers from SMU and Duke and other places and I know several Ivy League schools thought they might get a steal with him but he mentioned Cal as one of the programs he’d really like to play for.”

Mangum took an official visit last weekend, though it was not his first time on campus in Berkeley after having visited as a freshman with his track program.

“I really loved my trip to Cal,” said Mangum. “It was really cool to see the school, meet everybody, learn about the academic side, which is obviously really impressive. So it was a great visit overall.

“I loved the Bay Area. I thought it was really cool. I love the weather and being around the city. It’s a great environment.”

Wide receiver coach Burl Toler took the lead on Mangum’s recruitment after his decommitment from Arkansas and the two hit it off quickly.

“Coach Toler’s awesome,” said Mangum. “He seems like a great guy to play for. From what I’ve heard, the players love him.”

Westlake is in the state semifinals in the largest division in the state -6A- coming up this weekend. 

Mangum plans to sign next week for Cal and enroll in January as a spring early admit for the Bears.

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