Cal Football

Esty Talks Recruiting and Visits

By Jim McGill

July 11, 2022

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6-5/275 Placer (Auburn, CA) High School OT Zander Esty‍ earned an offer from Cal in July following a successful Sacramento combine and paid an official visit to Berkeley not long later.

“It was awesome,” said Esty of the visit. “Everyone was super kind and I could tell I was really a priorty for them. Everyone was showing it to me.

“Mike Saffell was my host and he was great. I couldn’t have been paired with a better host. He really got down and into a lot of detail as a recent former player there.”

The 3 star OT’s comfort level with the team and staff was strong on his visit to Cal, which made a strong impression on him during and after.

“It was great,” said Esty. “I thought I hit it off really well with them. Both of our vibes were the same. Big E -Everett Johnson- me and him really hit it off. Jalen was great, too. I talked to them a lot about the academics. They gave me a good idea what it’s like because going into Cal, obviously it’s a strong degree and the academics are going to be hard. But they really got down into what I needed to hear. No one there had a big ego. It feels like they’re all on the same level, which is cool.

“Everyone I talked to there was great and their Life After Ball program is awesome, too.”

The 1^st team all-league and 2^nd team all-metro honoree was also named to the preseason Top 20 in the Sacramento area. His focus currently seems to be on Cal and Oregon State for the moment.

“From what I’ve seen, I’m pretty impressed by what I saw at Cal and Oregon State,” said Esty. “I was up at Oregon State a couple days before Cal on Monday through Wednesday then went to practice the next morning and was dead tired then hopped in my car and went to a kids practice then onto my grandparents then off to Cal. Busy week.”

As for what he’s looking for in a program, Esty singled out development and academics as two primary focuses.

“Obviously what puts me in the best position to get me to the league is important to me,” said Esty. “But education is important because if playing at the next level doesn’t work out, I want to come out with a strong education.”