Video: 2015-16 Cal Basketball High School HighlightsFootage of Ivan Rabb, Jaylen Brown, Tyrone Wallace, Jabari Bird and Jordan Mathews in high school.Move over John Calipari, college basketball's new clutch recruiting closer is …
Cuonzo Martin at Cal?
Didn't see this coming.
The Golden Bears went 18-15 last season and finished eighth in a mediocre Pac-12 after Martin jumped from an uncomfortable situation at Tennessee. But the 43-year old East St. Louis native has reshaped the outlook on his new program this spring by landing a pair of Top 10 prospects.
"Fourteen months ago when Cuonzo Martin was struggling at Tennessee, no one could have envisioned this scenario," 247Sports Director of Basketball Scouting Jerry Meyer said.
Local product and California Player of the Year
Ivan Rabb of
Bishop O'Dowd (Oakland) started the buzz April 15 by committing to Cal in a highly-anticipated news conference. The 6-foot-9 power forward is regarded as the
No. 7 overall prospect in the 2015 class by 247Sports and picked the Golden Bears over Arizona.
Beating Sean Miller for an elite Bay Area forward (Brandon Ashley, Aaron Gordon) is no easy task these days.
Then Friday night came the bombshell that No. 3 prospect
Jaylen Brown of
Wheeler (Marietta, Ga.) would be joining Cuonzo's cast at Cal.
As a junior, Brown played with twins Bilal and Malik Abdur-Rahim, who are the younger brothers of former Golden Bear and NBA veteran Shareef Abdur-Rahim.
Cal also has pledges from Top 200 guards
Davon Dillard of
Our Savior New American (Centereach, N.Y.) and
Tyson Jolly of
Putnam City West (Oklahoma City, Okla.). Both are college-ready players capable of earning minutes.
"Martin did a great job of landing Rabb and keeping him at home," Meyer said. "The shocker, though, was landing Jaylen Brown. It was understood Cal was in the mix but few thought they would actually pull it off."
247Sports pegs Cal's 2015 recruiting class as the fifth best in the country.
The four newcomers will be competing with a talented group of returners. The Golden Bears bring back five of their top six scorers from last season — including Tyrone Wallace (17.1 points, 4.0 assists per game), who strongly considered entering the draft, Jabari Bird and Jordan Mathews.
"Barring injury, it means that Cal will likely field the most gifted starting five in the conference, as well as one of the very best nationally," said Southern California-based hall of fame writer Frank Burlison.
Gary Parrish of CBSSports.com re-shuffled his
Ridiculously Early Preseason Top 25 (and one) on Monday morning, pushing Cal to No. 14.
Meyer also sees the Golden Bears as instantly relevant nationally.
"I would expect Cal to challenge for the Pac-12 title next year and make a deep run in the NCAA Tournament," he said.
