Calhoun Stays Home to Rep the Bay in Cal's Talented 2021 Class

Welcome to Cal, Go Bears!!!

Great news! You'll love it here, Akili!

Hot damn! Musical chairs are evaporating quickly and early. I wonder if all outstanding offers are still good or is staff starting to clawback some of them?

HIs video reminds of Tod Barr's video where he is absolutely just blowing up the opposition at the line.

The article lists him as a four star and yet both Rivals and 24/7 list him as a three star. Another star-inflated recruit? Regardless, glad to have the local guys stay home.....

Yesssssssssss!!!!!! Congrats, Mr. Calhoun!!!!!!!

71Bear said:

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The article lists him as a four star and yet both Rivals and 24/7 list him as a three star. Another star-inflated recruit? Regardless, glad to have the local guys stay home.....

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He is rated a four star on 247 sports (their own ratings, not composite). They have him as the 195th best player in the country. Rivals has him as low three star, which is laughable. ESPN has him as a generic three star and has not actually rated him yet. We offered him well before he was rated by anyone.

This just shows you that ratings aren't perfect. He is a blue chip prospect.

It is interesting that a scouting service for college programs recently highlighted his profile:

Luginbill and some other recruiting gurus are associated with it.

Welcome Akili Calhoun! Go Bears!

CalBearinLA said:

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what I cant discern about your bitterness is if someone at cal football or BI has wronged you. We get you are mad at someone but If ur disillusionment is with cal football, these comments about inflation come off as immature, misplaced, and inane.

Calhoun also lists himself as a 4*. You going to direct a snarky comment to him as well?

As I would tell my child who holds a grudge, move on.

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Damn. I had myself listed as a five star coming out of HS and yet I didn't receive one offer.....

Self-ratings - now that is something new and different - what a joke. Let's just skip right to the NFL. If we take his word for it, I'm sure that he is ready to play at that level.

71Bear said:

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The article lists him as a four star and yet both Rivals and 24/7 list him as a three star. Another star-inflated recruit? Regardless, glad to have the local guys stay home.....

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From Justin Willcox's previous comments about Cal's evaluation process, am pretty sure "stars" had nothing to do with the decision to recruit this young man.

Welcome to Cal and Go Bears!!!

It is great news to see local talent staying home.

I don't care about the star ratings, per se. I look at the list of other interested schools. To me that tells the real story. By that measure this kid is legit.

Great to see Cal off to a good start in this recruiting cycle, in particular with some of the Bay Area's best recruits. I fully expect Wilcox to continue the year-over-year improvement we've seen in recruiting each cycle. What the final list looks like after signing day remains to be seen, and the realist in me acknowledges that these are still high school kids, signing day is nine months from now, and like Calhoun has stated, many will continue to take official and unofficial visits to other schools. So I'm happy so far and fully expect JW & Co. to continue to build recruiting momentum, but I'll be keeping my celebratory powder dry until the names are affixed to the dotted line, at least wrt any particular recruit. In any event, let's keep it rolling.

71Bear said:

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The article lists him as a four star and yet both Rivals and 24/7 list him as a three star. Another star-inflated recruit? Regardless, glad to have the local guys stay home.....

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This isn't really the place for this discussion (I don't find the attacks any more helpful, BTW. Everyone needs to knock it off.) But since it's already being discussed, and not well, might as well jump in.

Don't put any faith in stars. Look instead at which schools Cal beat out for the recruit. Landing a 5* nobody wanted doesn't mean much (ask Ayoob how much that's worth). Landing a 3* every school wanted says Cal has a solid recruiting program going, especially if it's done repeatedly. That's what Cal did last year and it's what they're doing now.

Cal is beating out the big schools for the recruits they want. And they're not getting their pockets picked at the end of the recruiting cycle, like in the JT years.

So you're right to have misgivings about star rankings. But throwing out the rankings, Cal is playing with the big boys in recruiting. And winning its share. THAT - is a big deal. Stars don't matter. Competing does. Cal is competing.

Go Bears!

Uthaithani said:

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71Bear said:

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The article lists him as a four star and yet both Rivals and 24/7 list him as a three star. Another star-inflated recruit? Regardless, glad to have the local guys stay home.....

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This isn't really the place for this discussion (I don't find the attacks any more helpful, BTW. Everyone needs to knock it off.) But since it's already being discussed, and not well, might as well jump in.

Don't put any faith in stars. Look instead at which schools Cal beat out for the recruit. Landing a 5* nobody wanted doesn't mean much (ask Ayoob how much that's worth). Landing a 3* every school wanted says Cal has a solid recruiting program going, especially if it's done repeatedly. That's what Cal did last year and it's what they're doing now.

Cal is beating out the big schools for the recruits they want. And they're not getting their pockets picked at the end of the recruiting cycle, like in the JT years.

So you're right to have misgivings about star rankings. But throwing out the rankings, Cal is playing with the big boys in recruiting. And winning its share. THAT - is a big deal. Stars don't matter. Competing does. Cal is competing.

Go Bears!

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Ayoob had offers from Michigan State and Kentucky, but committed to Cal early in August 2004 (before Rodgers' and Cal's big year and before Ayoob's record breaking MVP year at CCSF (3,679 yards and 35 TDs, 177.5 QB rating). Tedford and Ayoob stuck with their commitment so there was little reason for other schools to offer. Like Goff, Ayoob grew up in Marin and Cal was his dream school. Tedford had Cal on the verge of the BCS, so others backed off/didn't ultimately offer even though schools like LSU were interested and contacted him to see if he would open up his recruitment. He said no, so they didn't offer.

He didn't work out for us, mostly because Tedford intended to redshirt him and was reworking his throwing mechanics when he was forced into action due to Longshore's injury. As anyone who has had their golf swing reworked can testify, often it gets worse before it gets better. No one's fault really. That does not mean that Ayoob was not correctly rated coming out of CCSF.

Thanks for the background. I wasn't aware there was that much history, and thought that Ayoob simply came to Cal after his big year as a part of that year's recruiting cycle. Your explanation makes sense out of the mystery of how Ayoob could be so maddeningly inconsistent. I don't recall any QB at Cal who could be so wildly erratic within the course of a single half of football. I remember the Cal-UW game in Seattle. He could throw a bunch of consecutive passes were almost comically inaccurate. With no warning whatsoever, he could seemingly flip a switch and began throwing lasers. I remember the Washington game he started in Seattle followed this script, and while Cal went on to win comfortably, a pattern was established. As for Longshore, he was looking like a 1st or 2nd round NFL draft pick, but never really came back from his ankle injury and his father's death. Seemed like a good kid with some real talent, and I've always felt bad he was never able to reclaim the momentum he was establishing as a young player.

calumnus said:

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Uthaithani said:

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71Bear said:

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The article lists him as a four star and yet both Rivals and 24/7 list him as a three star. Another star-inflated recruit? Regardless, glad to have the local guys stay home.....

---

This isn't really the place for this discussion (I don't find the attacks any more helpful, BTW. Everyone needs to knock it off.) But since it's already being discussed, and not well, might as well jump in.

Don't put any faith in stars. Look instead at which schools Cal beat out for the recruit. Landing a 5* nobody wanted doesn't mean much (ask Ayoob how much that's worth). Landing a 3* every school wanted says Cal has a solid recruiting program going, especially if it's done repeatedly. That's what Cal did last year and it's what they're doing now.

Cal is beating out the big schools for the recruits they want. And they're not getting their pockets picked at the end of the recruiting cycle, like in the JT years.

So you're right to have misgivings about star rankings. But throwing out the rankings, Cal is playing with the big boys in recruiting. And winning its share. THAT - is a big deal. Stars don't matter. Competing does. Cal is competing.

Go Bears!

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Ayoob had offers from Michigan State and Kentucky, but committed to Cal early in August 2004 (before Rodgers' and Cal's big year and before Ayoob's record breaking MVP year at CCSF (3,679 yards and 35 TDs, 177.5 QB rating). Tedford and Ayoob stuck with their commitment so there was little reason for other schools to offer. Like Goff, Ayoob grew up in Marin and Cal was his dream school. Tedford had Cal on the verge of the BCS, so others backed off/didn't ultimately offer even though schools like LSU were interested and contacted him to see if he would open up his recruitment. He said no, so they didn't offer.

He didn't work out for us, mostly because Tedford intended to redshirt him and was reworking his throwing mechanics when he was forced into action due to Longshore's injury. As anyone who has had their golf swing reworked can testify, often it gets worse before it gets better. No one's fault really. That does not mean that Ayoob was not correctly rated coming out of CCSF.

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The point is "landing" Ayoob wasn't a sign of Cal recruiting prowess, regardless of how many stars he had. In the same way that landing a "debate between 4* and 3*" who has multiple offers from top schools IS a sign of recruiting prowess, irregardless of his ultimate star ranking. In one case the school didn't really compete, in the other case the school did and prevailed.

Wow, this is a HUGE get, from a state championship team. Was pretty sure he was going elsewhere but then I remembered how good Cal is becoming.

Uthaithani said:

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calumnus said:

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Uthaithani said:

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71Bear said:

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The article lists him as a four star and yet both Rivals and 24/7 list him as a three star. Another star-inflated recruit? Regardless, glad to have the local guys stay home.....

---

This isn't really the place for this discussion (I don't find the attacks any more helpful, BTW. Everyone needs to knock it off.) But since it's already being discussed, and not well, might as well jump in.

Don't put any faith in stars. Look instead at which schools Cal beat out for the recruit. Landing a 5* nobody wanted doesn't mean much (ask Ayoob how much that's worth). Landing a 3* every school wanted says Cal has a solid recruiting program going, especially if it's done repeatedly. That's what Cal did last year and it's what they're doing now.

Cal is beating out the big schools for the recruits they want. And they're not getting their pockets picked at the end of the recruiting cycle, like in the JT years.

So you're right to have misgivings about star rankings. But throwing out the rankings, Cal is playing with the big boys in recruiting. And winning its share. THAT - is a big deal. Stars don't matter. Competing does. Cal is competing.

Go Bears!

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Ayoob had offers from Michigan State and Kentucky, but committed to Cal early in August 2004 (before Rodgers' and Cal's big year and before Ayoob's record breaking MVP year at CCSF (3,679 yards and 35 TDs, 177.5 QB rating). Tedford and Ayoob stuck with their commitment so there was little reason for other schools to offer. Like Goff, Ayoob grew up in Marin and Cal was his dream school. Tedford had Cal on the verge of the BCS, so others backed off/didn't ultimately offer even though schools like LSU were interested and contacted him to see if he would open up his recruitment. He said no, so they didn't offer.

He didn't work out for us, mostly because Tedford intended to redshirt him and was reworking his throwing mechanics when he was forced into action due to Longshore's injury. As anyone who has had their golf swing reworked can testify, often it gets worse before it gets better. No one's fault really. That does not mean that Ayoob was not correctly rated coming out of CCSF.

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The point is "landing" Ayoob wasn't a sign of Cal recruiting prowess, regardless of how many stars he had. In the same way that landing a "debate between 4* and 3*" who has multiple offers from top schools IS a sign of recruiting prowess, irregardless of his ultimate star ranking. In one case the school didn't really compete, in the other case the school did and prevailed.

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Cal's recruiting prowess in 2004-2005 was enough to fend off interest from LSU and maintain his commitment. There are other years/schools where the commit might "reopen their recruitment" when LSU calls. We don't know if Ayoob was 100% Cal no matter what in any situation. Rodgers declaring for the draft well before LOI day probably helped too.

Marty said:

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Thanks for the background. I wasn't aware there was that much history, and thought that Ayoob simply came to Cal after his big year as a part of that year's recruiting cycle. Your explanation makes sense out of the mystery of how Ayoob could be so maddeningly inconsistent. I don't recall any QB at Cal who could be so wildly erratic within the course of a single half of football. I remember the Cal-UW game in Seattle. He could throw a bunch of consecutive passes were almost comically inaccurate. With no warning whatsoever, he could seemingly flip a switch and began throwing lasers. I remember the Washington game he started in Seattle followed this script, and while Cal went on to win comfortably, a pattern was established. As for Longshore, he was looking like a 1st or 2nd round NFL draft pick, but never really came back from his ankle injury and his father's death. Seemed like a good kid with some real talent, and I've always felt bad he was never able to reclaim the momentum he was establishing as a young player.

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From 2004 to 2006 we had a string of very promising Elite 11, 4 or 5 star QB recruits: Longshore, Reed, Ayoob, and Riley, that kind of ate each other up and had some bad breaks resulting in none of them ever achieving their potential.