Cal Football

Filkins Finds His Fit at Cal

By Jim McGill

May 11, 2019

8,771

Multi-talented 5-11/190 Lake Oswego (Lake Oswego, OR) High School athlete Casey Filkins was one of a pair of top Oregon athletes to commit to Cal today, announcing his choice of the Bears via Twitter this evening.

“It really came down to fit for me,” noted Filkins of his commitment. “Throughout this whole process, I’ve said that my decision would be made on how I felt at the school and what my gut was saying.

“There was no question for me that the right place is Cal. I’ve created a great bond with the staff and I feel like Im in a great spot to come and contribute on and off the field. I feel great when I’m on campus and around the team.”

The son of University of Oregon grads, Filkins grew up a Duck fan but the #5 overall recruit in Oregon separated emotions for a decision he felt best fit his overall ambitions with Cal’s strong performance on the field coupled with their stellar academic reputation and degree.

An exellent student, Filkins has a weighted 4.03 gpa and a 30 score on his ACT and his offers from several top Ivy League institutions like Yale, Princeton, Columbia and Dartmouth along with Cal reflect his academic prowess and what he’s looking for in a program

As for his recent Cal offer, Filkins is excited that his longterm relationship with Eugene native Cal OL coach Steve Greatwood helped pay off with a Cal offer.

“My relationship with Cal’s been great,” said Filkins last week. “Coach Greatwood’s been the area recruiter so he’s the first Cal coach I got in contact with. From the first time we met, I’ve always had a big interest in Cal from the academic piece and the opportunity to play high level football. So I just kind of kept badgering him and staying in touch with him. He always just told me to stay patient and he knew good things were going to happen for me and my family. We’ve been in touch for the last year and a half or so. Through that, I’ve met Coach Baldwin, Coach Toler, Coach Wilcox and started to build a great connection with all those guys.”

A true dual threat athlete, the first team all-state Filkins had 171 carries for 1160 yards and 28 td’s on the ground and 47 catches for 866 yards and another 9 td’s through the air in his junior campaign.