Cal Football

Bears Add Big Commitment in Central East DT Ricky Correia

By Jim McGill

October 18, 2019

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Trying to get bigger up the middle in the 2020 recruiting class, the Bears picked up a big commitment from 6-4/320 Central East/Fresno DT Ricky Correia this morning.

Correia announced his commitment via Twitter today, Correia said:

“I want to thank God for blessing me with all of the opportunties I have today, my family for all the support and the hard work they put in throughout the process and of course, my coaches who have continued to push me and give me guidance on becoming the student athlete I am today. I would not have been able to be where I am without these people by my side, and with that being said, I would like to announce that I am COMMITTED to the University of California Berkeley! Thank you to those who have been supporting me & continue to support me through my journey! #GOBEARS #CALGANG20

In the Cal program just three hours to the North of Fresno, Correia found the opportunity he’d been looking for during the recruiting process.

“I was just looking for a program who fits me as a person, somewhere I could just be comfortable and play the game the way I’ve always been playing it,” said Correia of Cal.

The 3 star DT visited Cal for the ASU game three weeks ago and came away impressed with his future home.

“My visit went great,” said Correia. “It was great to see all the fans out there and the atmosphere and how they were rooting on the team. It was a great experience and a great feeling.

“I talked to Jeremaiah Hunter, my teammate, while I was up there and (fellow commits) Trey Paster and Everett Johnson. We played Everett’s team the other week and we talked about the game. He looked really good ouy there. He was tossing our guys around a little bit.”

Correia played through broken wrists part of last season before opting to have surgery to repair the damage. Following postseason rehab, he’s back in business on the field.

“The surgery went well,” said Correia. “I’m pretty close to being back 100%.”

Many Cal fans had hoped to see an offer to Correia extended and recently, their patience paid off.

“I talked to Coach Browning,” said Correia about the offer. “I”ve been talking to him for quite a while. He just wanted to see how I progressed with the injuries and all that. He ended up offering me on the phone. It was a great feeling.”

Playing shorthanded much of the season with first and second team NT Siu Fuemaiono and Aaron Maldonado missing all and most of the season, adding another natural plugger up the middle to prior commit St. Louis-Honolulu DT commit Stanley McKenzie was a top priority for the Bears in their 2020 recruiting efforts and the stout DT from Fresno fit the bill.

“My strongest asset is how I’m able to stop the run,” said Correia. “Even with being double-teamed and sometimes even triple-teamed, I’m able to close up the middle and make sure to make teams one-dimensional and make them have to pass.”

“Cal is getting a sleeper in Rick,” said Central East coach Kyle Biggs. “Rick has been having a great year. He’s finally 100% healthy and he’s making plays all over the field. He’s demanding double and triple teams because you just can’t block him with one guy.

“He’s a beast! And he’s a great kid -a really humble and quiet kid who works his ass off. His best football is all ahead of him.”

So far this season, Correia’s put up big numbers for a DT, with 39 tackles, two and a half sacks, seven tackles for loss, one forced fumble, one fumble recovered -and in a William “The Fridge” Perryesque stat- two carries and one touchdown at jumbo running back.

Correia becomes the 22^nd member of Cal’s 2020 class after the commitment of high 3 star Caslabasas QB Jaden Casey earlier this week.