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Cal Football

Bears Get Their QB in Millner

April 9, 2020
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6-2/185 Higley (Gilbert, AZ) High School QB Kai Millner‍ had the chance to visit Cal last month and the visit and the developing relationship were enough to convince the talented QB to shut things down and commit to the Bears today. 

Millner is a dangerous, dual threat QB who ran for 562 yards as a junior while completing 64% of his passes for 31 touchdowns and six interceptions on the season.

“Looking at all the things I’ve looked for in a program and in a college, they just really fit everything, from the coaches, to the players. And the academics were a big thing, as well,” said Millner in an interview with Sports360 Arizona today. “I just felt like it fit. It’s a great place and I’ll take that on the rest of my journey.”

Millner visited on the last day campus visits were available last month in a bit of fortuitous timing.

“It was great,” said Millner of his visit last month. “Being up there, being able to sit down and talk with Coach Musgrave, Coach Wilcox, Coach Ragle and all of them and being able to see practice was great. I loved it. Everyone was super duper welcoming and the visit was super-productive so I had a lot of fun for sure.

“My relationship with the coaches there is really good. I got to sit down and talk with a bunch of them and it was all great conversations, talking about the program, where they are now, where they’re going. 

“Talking to Coach Musgrave, they talked about what they’ll be doing offensively. I loved his style of offense. I love how they run everything pro-like. You’ll learn a lot being in that system. They do a lot of things that’s going to be trouble for defenses, for sure.”

Millner’s commitment brings the Bears’ total to five so far, with Millner joining 4 star WR Mavin Anderson‍, 4 star TE Jermaine Terry‍, high 3 star OT Bastian Swinney‍ and 4 star DE Akili Calhoun‍ in their talented 2021 class.

The 2021 commits have been active on the recruiting front and Millner was one of their early targets.

“I feel like he’ll fit right in with the rest of our class coming in,” said Anderson. “His commitment at the QB position is huge for us and i look forward to playing with him in the near future!”

“I’m grateful,” said Terry. “The dude’s a baller.” 

“Can’t wait to get rollin’,” added Calhoun.

Other stories:

Elarms-Orr Talks Recruiting

Bears High on McCarron's Radar

Discussion from...

Bears Get Their QB in Millner

21,337 Views | 44 Replies | Last: 3 yr ago by BearfanEric
jay4e
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Lets go! Gotta trust Musgrave's evals and if he likes Millner as much as reported, this is shaping up to be a truly great class.

In the words of Mike Breen: baaaaaaaaaang!
Big C
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Great news! Welcome to Cal, Kai! Go Bears!!!
burritos
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His play style reminds me of Patrick M.
Nasal Mucus Goldenbear
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KoreAmBear
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jay4e said:

Lets go! Gotta trust Musgrave's evals and if he likes Millner as much as reported, this is shaping up to be a truly great class.

In the words of Mike Breen: baaaaaaaaaang!


Welcome Kai!
Chapman_is_Gone
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Welcome to Cal, Kai!

MB, if you want me to respect you as a journalist, and consider paying for the services of this website, you need to quit playing games. What is the point of this write-up? Is it just a feel-good fluff piece that leaves your readership asking questions? Or, is the point to provide your readership a thorough qualitative and quantitative assessment of the recruit Cal just signed?

What stands out to me after reading this piece is your flat out refusal to cite any recruiting rankings for this player. This STANDS OUT LIKE A SORE THUMB, and any reader will then simply assume the recruit isn't ranked very high, and even worse, then the reader has to spend his time checking the recruiting websites himself/herself. There's no way to say this without sounding like a dick: you're making the reader do your job for you. Not cool -- especially when you're operating a pay website. The fact that you list the star rankings of others in the class (!), and choose not to mention the star rating of the recruit in question, makes the whole thing even sillier.

I like you, MB, but this is LAME.

Here are Kai's recruiting stats:

Rivals: 3 stars, not in their Top 250, 10th in state, 26th nationally at his position of "pro style quarterback." It appears that pro style QBs that are ranked 16th or higher are 4 stars, and there's only 1 5-star pro style QB.

24/7 Sports: 3 stars, not in their Top 247, 8th in state, 24th nationally at his position.

ESPN: Not in their Top 300.


CalFan777
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MB posted his highlights. I think that is more important than early recruiting rankings, correct? And it isn't hard to Google for recruiting rankings.
Chapman_is_Gone
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CalFan777 said:

MB posted his highlights. I think that is more important than early recruiting rankings, correct? And it isn't hard to Google for recruiting rankings.
To be honest, I completely disagree with you. I want to know what the recruiting experts are saying about a player. Any player can look good on video against poor competition, and on top of that, I am not a football talent scout like those employed by the recruiting services. I like to rely on expert opinions. Their opinions are certainly more educated than mine. And these aren't "early recruiting rankings..." IMO, any really really good player is well known to the scouts unless he is a very late bloomer.

And 5,000 Cyberbears readers (or however many it is) shouldn't each have to Google recruiting rankings when one writer could do a thorough job and save all that effort.
BearGreg
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Staff
Chapman,

We welcome any and all feedback that's constructive. I appreciate you sharing your thoughts. We generally do include the recruiting rankings on new commitments though you'll see us lean into that more and more as the recruiting process goes on as they are not particularly accurate or relevant until later in the year.

That said, this was far from fluff. The article included quotes from the young man, some of his fellow Cal commits as well as his HS stats and highlights. And the primary reason we publish a piece like this is because it's news. A large # of of the 100k+ Cal fans who will visit BI this month won't find out about Millner's commitment save for on the site and via our newsletter.

This is not the breakdown or analysis of how he fits in the class, the scouting report on him and the more in-depth evaluation of him as a player. You'll find that in other articles designed for that purpose and on the premium message boards. As I'm sure you're aware this article was not behind the paywall, it's free for everyone.

BTW, I wouldn't list ESPN rankings. They no longer make independent evaluations and they wait until December to add in the majority of the recruiting content they license in. That license gives them a giant east coast bias as well.

Go Bears!
NVBear78
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Get off my Lawn!!!


This is a thread to celebrate a new member of the Cal Family. His film speaks for itself and he looks like an outstanding new member!

We all understand he is rated a 3 star but we can see he is playing above that pay grade. Looks like the second coming of JT Daniels to me!
Chapman_is_Gone
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I feel strongly about the points I made...recruiting rankings, even at this early stage, certainly convey some quality information. And, aren't you citing the recruiting rankings of other players in the same class? Sorry, but that is logically inconsistent.

But, I do appreciate the reply.

100,000+ is an impressive number.
NYCGOBEARS
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Strangely, is like it when Chapman gets cranky.
okaydo
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Let's go! The 2022 season can't come soon enough.
calumnus
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Welcome Kai!
LACalFan
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Hahaha. I peeked in here after seeing the other commitment thread go to complete ****e. We'll never get this right.

WELCOME, KAI !!!!!!
Chapman_is_Gone
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LACalFan said:

Hahaha. I peeked in here after seeing the other commitment thread go to complete ****e. We'll never get this right.

WELCOME, KAI !!!!!!
It's my fault. I keep ****ting on the commitment threads. And I don't even have any toilet paper anymore.
91Cal
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Welcome to the Cal Family, Kai! Go Bears!!!
Goobear
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Welcome Kai. Very excited for you to be a Bear! Go Bears!
BigDaddyBear
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The tape on Kai don't Lie. Fun to watch, thanks MB
heartofthebear
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Cool
Seems like a great guy and I'm looking forward to seeing him on the field.
Actually I'm looking forward to seeing anyone on the field, but congrats Kai and welcome to Berkeley.
calumnus
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Seems like a great kid. Interesting that he played at the same school and followed Spencer Brasch. They seem similar in a lot of ways. He might be more of a passer and Brasch more of a runner? Brasch had better junior year stats, but then worse as a senior. Hopefully Millner puts up big numbers this Fall.

The big, big difference is not going to be our QBs, we have had reasonable talent at QB, it is going to be how Musgrave develops and uses them. Looking forward to seeing what our offense looks like hopefully this Fall.
Big C
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Chapman_is_Gone said:

LACalFan said:

Hahaha. I peeked in here after seeing the other commitment thread go to complete ****e. We'll never get this right.

WELCOME, KAI !!!!!!
It's my fault. I keep ****ting on the commitment threads. And I don't even have any toilet paper anymore.

If you have any paper towels, I will trade you two rolls of TP for one roll of towels! I'm looking for towels that perform at the 4-star level, even if they are only rated 3-stars. The TP is comparable to that, which is my expert opinion. Sounds like you aren't interested in seeing videos of it in action, thank God.
Chapman_is_Gone
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When the Stanfurd toilet bowl identifies the anus in question as Mr. C's, believe me, I turn off my spy camera really quick!

I went to Target tonight, and they are still out of all TP and paper towels. I was just looking to wash the windows of my house...crazy. So, I'm afraid I can't make a deal.

LMK5
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calumnus said:

Seems like a great kid. Interesting that he played at the same school and followed Spencer Brasch. They seem similar in a lot of ways. He might be more of a passer and Brasch more of a runner? Brasch had better junior year stats, but then worse as a senior. Hopefully Millner puts up big numbers this Fall.

The big, big difference is not going to be our QBs, we have had reasonable talent at QB, it is going to be how Musgrave develops and uses them. Looking forward to seeing what our offense looks like hopefully this Fall.
I'm just hoping they have Christopher Brown running exclusively north-south this season.
FrankBear21
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Really good throwing on the run and a nice touch on deep balls.

Welcome Kai!
oski003
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Chapman_is_Gone said:

When the Stanfurd toilet bowl identifies the anus in question as Mr. C's, believe me, I turn off my spy camera really quick!

I went to Target tonight, and they are still out of all TP and paper towels. I was just looking to wash the windows of my house...crazy. So, I'm afraid I can't make a deal.




use cloth!
chazzed
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Excellent! May you have a great, successful time at Cal, young man
BearfanEric
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Can't you just be happy and positive on a recruit commitment thread? Both threads you brought up negative stuff. As fans, we should be supporting the new commits, not bringing up downer and negative stuff.

Welcome to Cal Kai! He looks like a great get.
59bear
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Chapman_is_Gone said:

CalFan777 said:

MB posted his highlights. I think that is more important than early recruiting rankings, correct? And it isn't hard to Google for recruiting rankings.
To be honest, I completely disagree with you. I want to know what the recruiting experts are saying about a player. Any player can look good on video against poor competition, and on top of that, I am not a football talent scout like those employed by the recruiting services. I like to rely on expert opinions. Their opinions are certainly more educated than mine. And these aren't "early recruiting rankings..." IMO, any really really good player is well known to the scouts unless he is a very late bloomer.

And 5,000 Cyberbears readers (or however many it is) shouldn't each have to Google recruiting rankings when one writer could do a thorough job and save all that effort.
Got to agree as to preferring ratings (even early ones) over an edited highlight vid. Of greater relevance to me is what our coaches think. Wilcox and company have done a pretty good job so far. If they like him, I like him.
CalBearPete
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Great new member of the 2021 class. Welcome Kai! I see great things for you and your teammates at Cal. Excited to see you torment defenses for several years at memorial. Go Bears!
Chapman_is_Gone
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BearfanEric said:

Can't you just be happy and positive on a recruit commitment thread? Both threads you brought up negative stuff. As fans, we should be supporting the new commits, not bringing up downer and negative stuff.

Welcome to Cal Kai! He looks like a great get.
I see you're a "rookie" on this board. Hang out awhile, and you'll realize that the point you're making has been brought up and answered by fans like me -- fans who value quantitative rankings -- literally 50 or more times over the past 10 years. I'm not answering it again. I actually don't see anything negative about my post -- it simply requests that the author do a more thorough job in his writing.

If anything, this board needs more critical fans, not fewer, given the lack of success of the athletic department over the past 50 years. This board would be incredibly boring if all we did was heap praise on the school, the athletic department, the coaches, and the players.
jay4e
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Chapman_is_Gone said:

BearfanEric said:

Can't you just be happy and positive on a recruit commitment thread? Both threads you brought up negative stuff. As fans, we should be supporting the new commits, not bringing up downer and negative stuff.

Welcome to Cal Kai! He looks like a great get.
I see you're a "rookie" on this board. Hang out awhile, and you'll realize that the point you're making has been brought up and answered by fans like me -- fans who value quantitative rankings -- literally 50 or more times over the past 10 years. I'm not answering it again. I actually don't see anything negative about my post -- it simply requests that the author do a more thorough job in his writing.

If anything, this board needs more critical fans, not fewer, given the lack of success of the athletic department over the past 50 years. This board would be incredibly boring if all we did was heap praise on the school, the athletic department, the coaches, and the players.


Yes, but we can all google "Kai Millner 247" and fetch his rankings in five seconds.

But rankings are only a partial indicator of talent, because ranking services cannot even remotely accurately gauge the skills of thousands of players across the country, let alone to the accuracy that dedicated college coaching and recruiting staff can evaluate their targets. (ESPN can't even accurately gauge the skills of anyone, but I digress.)

Rankings are especially inaccurate for QBs, as they're influenced by ability, but also heavily influenced by how many camps a kid attends, how they throw in shorts in 7v7s, etc. In pads with pressure from FBS level defenses? That's a whole different matter, and highly touted recruits collapse all the time in those conditions. One merely has to go through the list of top QB recruits of previous years to see how much of a cluster**** QB evaluation is.

What is more indicative is who is targeted by coaches proven to develop quality QBs to fit in their system. They don't care about star ratings. Ask Saban what he thinks about his starting QB in Mac Jones only being a "3 star player." Musgrave has a long history of producing quality QB play, and it's very telling that Millner was his #1 target regardless of any sort of stars.

Also, his film is nice. Nice throwing mechanics, quick release, live feet, accurate passer, multiple reads, athletic runner, keeps eyes downfield when pressured out of the pocket and throws accurately from a mobile platform. In my admittedly amateur opinion, that doesn't look like mid-low 3* play.

Also, friendly note that our very own Mr. Incredible, Evan Weaver, was a low 3* recruit.
BearfanEric
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Yes, but why not make a separate thread to complain or gripe instead of posting negative stuff on a commitment thread that the recruits themselves can and often do read? I think the commitment thread should be to welcome the recruit to the team and be honest about the commitment and its impact, not to complain about how the commitment story was writen or cost of the BI subscription or whatever else.
BearfanEric
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Exactly. Kai Milner looks like a solid get. From the sound of it, he could be a 4 recruit by the end of the cycle. Stars are not always the gospel when it comes to evaluating talent, although higher rated recruits often have more talent.

Like Evan Weaver. One of the better players on defense in the nation last season and wasn't a 4 or 5 out of high school. Lets trust the process and the coach's evaluation of a recruit. They do, afterall, have more expertise.
burritos
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If Musgrave wants him, who here is more qualified to say otherwise? Sitting on your arse in an armchair or even donating 5 digits imho does not count.
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