Oakland Tribune: Cal's bowl win a recruiting plus

By Dave Newhouse, STAFF WRITER 

The day before the Las Vegas Bowl, Cal coach Jeff Tedford was multitasking — his mind was on the present, but his eye was on the future. "Every time you play in a bowl game you want to send your seniors off on a positive note," he said. "And it has an impact on recruiting. Beating Virginia Tech was a huge boost in recruiting." That was two years ago at the Insight Bowl. Well, Cal's 35-28 victory over BYU on Thursday made some seniors very happy and just might be a boost to that recruiting push. Tedford acknowledged having had more early verbal commitments this season than any time since he rejuvenated Cal football in 2002. And Thursday's exciting victory might persuade others to join the fold. The national letter-of-intent signing period for high school football players begins Feb. 1. Cal has signed three junior college players — offensive linemen Mark Gray (6-1, 280) from El Camino and Mike Gibson (6-5, 305) from Solano, and defensive end Rulon Davis (6-6, 275) from Mt. San Antonio. Thirteen preps have told Tedford they're coming to Cal, including three out-of-staters: quarterback Kevin Riley (6-2, 185) from Beaverton, Ore., offensive lineman Chris Guarnero (6-21/2, 266) from Denver, and cornerback Brandon Jones (5-10, 160) from Seattle. Defensive tackle Mike Costanzo (6-21/2, 296) from Monte Vista High in Danville has agreed verbally to wearing the blue and gold. Others who've committed verbally: defensive ends Keith Browner (6-6, 240) from Los Angeles and Levirt Griffin (6-4, 235) from Modesto, defensive tackle Isaac Leatiota (6-4, 290) from Wilcox High in Santa Clara, and linebacker Mike Mohamed (6-3, 195) from Brawley; offensive lineman Justin Prueitt (6-5, 275) from Clovis, wide receivers Jeremy Ross (6-0, 190) from Elk Grove and Daniel Lofton (6-11/2, 190) from San Diego, and running back R.J. Garrett (6-0, 230) from Los Angeles. Lofton is the son of James Lofton, former Stanford wide receiver and Pro Football Hall of Fame member.

Other prep stars considering Cal: defensive tackle Derrick Hill (6-31/2, 280) from Oakland's McClymonds, cornerback Darian Hagan (5-11, 175) from Los Angeles, and running backs C.J. Gable (6-1, 190) from Sylmar, Stafon Johnson (6-0, 200) from Los Angeles and James Montgomery (5-10, 195) from Rancho Cordova. After Cal's win over BYU, Tedford multitasked again. "With the victories that we've had," he said of Cal's 2-1 bowl record the past three seasons, "it always gives you momentum not only in the recruiting season but also in the strength and conditioning program. It always gets you motivated for next season." But Feb. 1 comes first.