New Cal basketball coach Cuonzo Martin landed the biggest recruit of his short career with the Golden Bears tonight as Ivan Rabb committed to the blue and gold.
The announcement was made at the restaurant of Rabb's mother Tami, Old Yeller in Oakland, with the news live-streamed by scout.com.
"I just want to announce that I am going to the University of Cal-Berkeley," Rabb said to wild cheering from the assembled.
The announcement prompted chants of of "Cali-for-nia."
Rabb appeared relaxed, dressed in a dark hoodie, white shirt and jeans and shaking hands with well-wishers before the announcement. Also in attendance was Rabb's prep teammate Paris Austin, looking sharp in his O'Dowd letterman's jacket, and several other Dragon teammates.
Regarding why he picked Cal, Rabb said "The reason was I felt most at home there, like they're family from Day 1."
Rabb confirmed he has a good relationship with Martin, his future coach.
"It was nice to get to know him and I got to know him off the court as well," Rabb said. "He didn't just talk about basketball, he also talked about family and life. From the very beginning he's been honest with me. He's never lied to me and I don't think he ever will."
Rabb is a a five-star, 6-foot-10, 220-pound forward who last month led Bishop O'Dowd to a CIF-State Open title one-point win against perennial power Mater Dei-Santa Ana. Rabb made the second of two free throws in the last second of overtime after nearly air-balling the first free throw.
The McDonald's All-American narrowed his choices to Cal and Arizona, with Kentucky, Kansas and UCLA also in the mix. He has been coveted by Martin since the Golden Bears' coach got his job and Rabb established a good relationship with the Cal coaching staff. Meantime, Arizona made a deep NCAA playoff run this season and has landed Bay Area talent before with Mitty's Aaron Gordon opting for the Wildcats two years ago after concluding his prep career (he's now in the NBA).
Rabb said he went "back and forth" between Cal and Arizona but said he felt good about his decision and his parents are both "excited" for him.
Regarding how long he might stay at Cal with the temptation to jump to the NBA so alluring, he said "It's easy to say I could stay one year and it's easy to say I could stay four."
Not getting Rabb would have been a blow for Cal and Martin. Bear backers hoped Cal might land Rabb and McDonald's All-American Caleb Swanigan as part of a package deal until Swanigan picked Michigan State. Still, it didn't deter Rabb.
Rabb is ranked No. 5 nationally and is Cal's highest ranked recruit since No. 4: Shareef Abdur-Rahim in 1995. Cal star Jason Kidd was No. 1 ranked in 1992 coming out of St. Joseph's-Alameda after leading the Pilots to consecutive state titles in 1990 and '91 despite the school having an enrollment of fewer than 500.
Cal also recently got a commitment from deadly shooting guard Tyson Jolly and another strong prospect, Davon Dillard.
