Christakos Makes it Official With his Commitment to His Dream School, Cal

The Bears scored a big pickup in their first big official visit recruiting weekend of the season with the commitment of 6-4/215 Chaparral Scottsdale, AZ) High School receiver Tommy Christakos today on his official visit to Cal.

“It was amazing. The visit to Cal went great,” said Christakos. “I’d been to Cal a couple times before.

“The experience with the players, the coaches, the meals, the activities -I just got a really good feel how everything works. I can really see myself being there there the next four years, potentially setting myself up for life afterwards.”

One of the factors for Christakos choosing Cal is the strong relationship he’s built with future position coach Burl Toler and special teams coach Charlie Ragle, who covers Christakos’ Arizona recruiting region.

“A lot of people say, ‘Don’t make your decision off of your relationship with coaches because they could go and you need to still be happy without them.’ But my relationships with Coach Charlie and Coach Toler are probably the best coaching relationships I’ve ever had with any coach throughout htis process. 

“Coach Ragle used to coach at my high school, where he won back-to-back-to-back championships. He’s talked to me since freshman year about coming to Cal. That’s always kind of been the dream. And Coach Toler, I’ve just built this great relationship with him ever since he offered me and even before then, and I’d love to be able to be coached by someone like him. He played there, too, which is awesome.”

Beyond the staff, Christakos has also built relationships with Cal recruits, as well.

“All the commits hit me up after I committed,” said Christakos. “I’m already starting that relationship-building with all of them. I just can’t wait to play with them.”

As a junior, Christakos hauled in 54 passes for 1,221 yards and 12 td’s for an impressive 22.6 yards per catch average in 11 games for Chaparral.

On the academic and charactor side, Chaparral head coach Brent Barnes is glowing in his review..

“Tommy’s one of the best I’ve ever been around in every category,” said Barnes. “It’s probably why he’s a great fit for Cal.

“He’s a high academic kid, first and foremost, with a 4.0. Academics are a big part of who he is and it was always going to be a part of his decision.

“He’s one of the hardest-working kids I’ve ever been around. He’s a really, really tough competitor. In the offseason, he’s really led the charge as a leader with us coming into our second year as staff and Tommy’s been one of the ringleaders with helping us accomplish what we want to do as a staff.”

And on the athletic side, Barnes noted: “He’s got incredible ball skills. He’s able to adjust and turn his body in midair and do things that not many receivers can do He’s a gifted athlete. He could probably be really good in a lot of different sports. It shows on the field with not only his ability to stand out as a receiver but also as a kicker and a punter. He’s got one of the biggest legs around.

“His ball skills and his toughness competing for balls in the air are pretty remarkable. He put about 20 pounds on in the offseason, which will do a lot for his game at our level and the next level but he hasn’t lost any of his quickness.

“He really runs great routes. A lot of people look at his frame and think he’ll mainly just catch jump balls but he’s way more than that. His ability to run routes the way he does with the speed he does it at is one of the reasons he’s so good at what he does as a receiver.”

Christakos had offers from in-state Pac-12 teams ASU and Arizona along with Utah and Colorado as well as national programs like Michigan State, Nebraska and Arkansas and top academic programs like Harvard, Princeton and Yale for the 4.0 student athlete.

The versatile Christakos also kicked and punted for Chaparral, as well, going 46-for-46 on touchbacks, while averaging an also-impressive 42.4 yards per punt.

As for the future for him and the program?

“I think Coach Wilcox has done something special at Cal,” said Christakos. “I’ve done a lot of research on all the recruits and all the commits and they all seem like guys I’d like to play with and be around.

“I know their secondary’s ranked number four in the nation. Linebackers, they’re ranked number seven. The idea is to try and get the offense and the wideouts back on the board and among the top in the nation. That’s the goal. But I love what they’re doing. I think we can win the Pac-12.”

Christakos joins a talented WR corps of top Oregon WR Casey Filkins and fast-rising Fresno receiver Jeremiah Hunter in Cal’s 2020 recruiting class and is the sixth commit overall for the Bears.