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This week's Nike EYBL stop is in Phoenix and Golden Bear Report is there keeping tabs on the Bears. Assistant coach Matt Scherbenske watched recent Auburn decommit Labaron Philon. Today, the Bears had Mark Madsen and Adam Mazarai join Scherbenske to watch Vegas Elite, which features a ton of young talent plus 2024 guard Trent Perry and recent 2024 offer Aidan Sherrell.

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@Matt Moreno @Ryan Young Would love to get your take on who coach Madsen could be interested in or targeting out of the portal. Saw on TOS that we've contacted Ashworth from Utah State and Sallis from Gonzaga...who else?

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James Madison senior defensive lineman Isaac Ukwu has been offered by Cal today just hours after entering the transfer portal. The Maryland native has had to deal with some injury issues throughout his career but has been productive over the last two seasons with a combined 83 tackles, 27 tackles for loss and 16.5 sacks.

He is already becoming a hot name for programs across the country with Colorado, Auburn, South Florida and Kansas all offering him in the last few hours.

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Cal adds its second 2024 commitment today as Austin (Texas) Westlake offensive lineman Tyler Knape makes the call for the Bears after his recent visit out to Berkeley. Knape holds offers from Arizona State, Air Force and a number of Ivy League schools. His coaches at Westlake have a connection to Mike Bloesch that played a role in bringing the two sides together.


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Ken Moses is headed to Cal as an assistant coach rejoining Mark Madsen after spending last season together at Utah Valley. Prior to that, he was at Montana State and Southern Illinois.

"Ken was a pivotal piece of our success at Utah Valley last season and brings a winning pedigree to Berkeley," Madsen said in a statement provided by the program. "Ken is a brilliant tactician, and I've seen firsthand the type of individual and leader that he is. I have no doubt he'll enrich our student-athletes' experiences while helping lead our program into the future. I'm excited to have him with me at Cal."

Moses, who is a native of Honolulu, Hawaii, played at Colorado State University Pueblo where he also began his coaching career.

"I'm grateful to continue my coaching career alongside Coach Madsen," Moses said. "It's an honor to work with a coach who does things the right way. Coach Madsen is a great leader, teacher and mentor. I'm excited for the brand of basketball that we're going to bring to Berkeley"

Madsen's first staff with the Bears includes associate head coach Adam Mazarei (Vanderbilt) plus assistants Amorrow Morgan (Loyola Chicago) and Matt Scherbenske (Texas Tech).

It's time we set up a landing spot for official visit announcements:

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Here is the story on David Abajian. I'd say he's one of Cal's strongest 2024 leads at this point.

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The Bears have made the cut for two important recruits this weekend. Today, four-star receiver Kwazi Gilmer announced his top six that includes Cal in addition to Oklahoma, UCLA, Michigan State, Washington and Stanford. Gilmer recently visited Berkeley. Some of the notable programs not to make the cut include Notre Dame, Utah, Colorado and Syracuse.

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Yesterday, defensive back Dayton Aupiu released his top that includes the Bears in addition to Penn State, Utah, Arizona and San Diego State. Schools such as Purdue, Colorado, Washington, Boston College, Indiana, Duke and Washington State did not make the cut for the 6-foot-3 safety from Oxnard.

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Cal beat favored St Mary's today in Moraga 29-28 in a hard fought game between two of the top teams nationally. Without any doubt, Cal rugby has been the most successful athletic program ever with a record that is simply awesome. Now, it is onto the national semi-final game.

Small list this weekend after the big one last week for the spring game ...

Patrick McMorris, the SDSU transfer DB, is taking his official visit.

And there's one unofficial visit:

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Abajian is a serious OL target for them.

I'd expect some more transfer additions before the end of the month, but I don't have any leads just yet.

@Matt Moreno @Ryan Young there have been several requests for a rundown of potential targets still in play (transfers + JUCO). Will there be any info regarding this topic?

Are Onyiah and Leilani the only remaining Cal players on these posters hanging on the outside of Haas?

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BERKELEY – Amorrow Morgan, an up-and-coming star in the coaching ranks who helped lead Loyola Chicago to an NCAA Tournament appearance in 2021-22, has joined the California men’s basketball program as an assistant coach, head coach Mark Madsen announced Thursday.

A well-respected leader with 10 years of collegiate coaching experience, Morgan arrives in Bear Territory following two seasons spent at Loyola Chicago (2021-23), where he helped the Ramblers win 35 total games and capture the 2021-22 Missouri Valley Conference title in addition to its NCAA Tournament berth. Morgan’s previous stints include South Alabama and Nicholls State, among others.

“Amorrow has a deep knowledge of the game and has elevated every program he’s been a part of,” Madsen said. “He has strong relationships across the country and his passion for leading young men in both life and basketball is going to boost our program’s culture immediately. I’m elated to welcome Amorrow and his wife, Michelle, to the Cal family.”

Morgan was instrumental in the development of 2022 MVC Defensive Player of the Year and All-MVC first-team selection Lucas Williamson, as well as five other all-conference honorees in his two seasons with the Ramblers. In three seasons (2018-21) on staff at South Alabama – the latter two in which he held the title of associate head coach – Morgan aided the Jaguars in winning 54 games, including a 20-win season in 2019-20.

Prior to his time at South Alabama, Morgan was an assistant coach at Nicholls State, where he helped the Colonels to a share of the 2017-18 Southland Conference title and their most wins (21) since 1995. He played a key role in Roddy Peters earning the Southland Conference’s Newcomer of the Year award. Morgan’s coaching career started at the University of Illinois-Springfield in 2013-14 before he moved on to Our Lady of the Lake University in San Antonio, Texas, where he helped guide the Saints to a 25-6 record, the Red River Conference regular-season crown and a trip to the NAIA round of 16. Before heading to Nicholls State, Morgan enjoyed a two-year term as an assistant at Henderson State.

“I’m extremely fired up and thankful to join Coach Madsen and the Cal family,” Morgan said. “Coach Madsen has won wherever he’s been; he’s a proven winner as a player and no different as a head coach. His energy is contagious and he knows how to bring the best out of everyone in his program. I’m excited to work with and learn from him daily. Cal basketball has a rich and growing tradition, and I’m ready to help our student-athletes and this program achieve at the highest level both on and off the court. Go Bears!”

Morgan is a 2012 graduate of Idaho State, where he earned a degree in sport management and was a two-time All-Big Sky guard. He was one of just 19 players in Idaho State history to earn multiple all-conference honors and was a three-year team captain before moving onto a three-year professional playing career in Europe, which included a season as the top scorer for the SC Itzehoe Eagles in Germany. He also has a master’s degree in public administration from Illinois-Springfield.

Morgan is a native of Memphis, Tennessee, and is married to the former Michelle Bailey.

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Ballarmine quarterback Nate Escalada committed to Cal today as a PWO. He had a number of smaller programs interested including options in the Ivy League but he'll stay close to home at come aboard with the Bears. A dual-sport athlete (baseball) who also plays safety.

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so now players will just form their own “club” to solicit donations it looks like


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Justin Wilcox’s father and former 49er legend. Condolences to the Wilcox family.

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Cal is the latest offer for one of the hottest transfer players in the country, offensive guard Emmanuel Pregnon. The Bears are offer No. 21 for the 6-foot-6 Wyoming transfer since he entered the portal Saturday. Since doing so, schools such as Miami, Texas A&M, Tennessee, Penn State, Ole Miss and LSU have jumped in with offers. So far seven Pac-12 schools have offered the Denver native including Colorado, UCLA and Oregon. There are some NIL heavyweights on the list so it will not be easy to land him, but it’s an easy offer for the Bears to make.

Deepest condolences to Justin wilcox and his family.

Yikes this is horrid. Hope he recovers as best he can .


https://www.espn.com/college-footba...th-football-coach-buddy-teevens-leg-amputated

thought about adding P12 title and NCAA titles as options, but I think anybody most fans would consider a season that results with NCAA tourney bid a success... or am I setting the bar too low?

I'm fired up. I'm way more excited about Mad Dog than Pasternak or Abdur-Rahim... part of this is my Lakers fandom I'm sure, but dude made a career by being an effort guy and he's a dude who seems confident in who he is and has a plan. Go Bears!

Cal spring ball is now over after Saturday's showcase and I wrote about a few things we now know about the Bears after 15 practices with the current roster. There will be changes for sure, but based on what I saw over the last month there will be plenty of intriguing things to watch once training camp arrives.

Here's my updated photo gallery from yesterday and clips from the showcase as I put a bow on our first batch of spring ball coverage.


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Cal opened up its final week of spring practice Monday and it will be the first week with four practices meaning the players will be a bit more tested than they have been. Justin Wilcox stressed that he wants to see more "snap" and intensity the rest of the week as the Bears now move into crunch time with the spring schedule. There are truly only two more "work days" for the team left this spring since Friday's practice will be much more of a walk-through day than anything else.

There were some bright moments during Monday's practice and some signs of growth as the team heads into the final days of spring ball.

• The running back unit remains a bit thin with Byron Cardwell still sidelined with a right leg injury. However, the return of Jaydn Ott has come with plenty of big plays. The star Cal running back missed some time for undisclosed reasons but since he has been back he's looked better than ever. Monday was his best day overall and it started early. On the first play of the first team period he broke off a 26-yard run to the right and was virtually untouched as he showcased his explosiveness in the open field. In the second team period he followed up a nice 10-yard run from quarterback Sam Jackson V with a 66-yard touchdown run that again showcased his ability to get downhill and slice through the defense without much issue.

• The ground game continues to remain the strength of the offense up to this point, and what few running backs the team currently has available were able to have success once again today. The offense scored on the first two drives of the first team period, and the second touchdown came on an 8-yard rush for Ashton Stredick who continues to look like a player who could end up contributing in certain situations for the Bears this year to spell Ott and Cardwell.

• Cal's offense has started to build some momentum over the last couple practices, and there have been some sharper looking plays on that side of the ball. Jackson took fewer chances in Monday's practice but was still able to have success throwing the ball. In all the team scored three touchdowns during the opening team period and Jackson's group was part of two of them. He hit a wide-open Jeremiah Hunter for the second touchdown for the first unit on an 11-yard throw in the corner of the end zone on the left side of the field. He has looked most comfortable working to that side of the field so far this spring, and it was a nice play for the Bears quarterback.

Fernando Mendoza was part of two scoring drives Monday, and he played a big part in the last one of the day late in practice. He first found Trond Grizzell for 22 yards over the middle of the field with Grizzell showing some good concentration as Isaiah Young made a nice play on the ball. Mendoza, who has shown a knack for making some improvised plays this spring, was forced to scramble a bit and ultimately found J.T. Byrne with nifty shovel pass that the big transfer tight end took for an 7-yard score. Mendoza also found Kenden Robinson Jr. for a 7-yard touchdown in the 7-on-7 period early in practice.

• The defense continued to make some key stops and some of its best work came on later downs, which is a good sign. There weren't as many "wow" type of plays as they had earlier in the spring, but the first unit performed well throughout the practice outside of a couple of those big explosive runs from Ott. Nohl Williams continues to look like a star in the secondary, and he was impressive throughout the entire practice from the 1-on-1 portion through the team periods. He came up with a nice pass breakup working against Monroe Young to open the second team period, and he came through with a couple of wins during the early 1-on-1 period that you can watch below.

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• A lot of the usual suspects were impressive on defense as Myles Jernigan, David Reese and Kaleb Elarms-Orr all had solid days. Jernigan was able to consistently get pressure on Jackson throughout the day and forced a couple of throws out of bounds because of his ability to get in the backfield. He teamed up with Reese in one of those instances. Sergio Allen and Moso'oipala Tuitele had the two sacks on the day with Tuitele getting to Mendoza in the second team period forcing a turnover on downs while Allen did the same against Jackson early in the final team period on a fourth-down play. Ricky Correia had a big tackle for loss against Ott late in the practice while Muelu Iosefa and Nate Rutchena teamed up for a stop of Ott on fourth down as well late in practice.

• The first team offensive line was really impressive through the early part of practice with Brayden Rohme and Brian Driscoll both having successful days during the one-one-one and blitz pick-up portions of practice. Driscoll earned a big win over Jackson Sirmon in the BPU period while Rohme did a good job slowing down the speed of defensive backs Nohl Williams and Miles Williams.

• He likely isn't going to get a chance to do a whole lot this Saturday, but transfer receiver Brian Hightower is working himself into more parts of practice here in the final week. He was finally able to get on the field for the 1-one-1 and 7-on-7 periods of practice. He caught his first touchdown of the spring Monday on a 10-yard play with a pass from Mendoza during the 7-on-7 period. Getting his speed up should be a priority for the Illinois transfer this offseason as he continues to get healthy.

Unfortunately, my two interview requests (Burl Toler III and Jeremiah Hunter) were selected to be used at the media banner since it was a light media day, so that means no bonus interviews today for you all. However, let me know if there's anyone else you want to hear from before the week is out and I can do my best to make those happen.

You can watch the full media sessions with Toler and Hunter below:

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