Advertisement
football Edit

Cal offers standout linebacker

Michael Barton visited Cal on Friday, got his newest offer and enjoyed spending lots of one-on-one time with linebackers coach Kenwick Thompson.
The Concord (Calif.) De La Salle linebacker did not immediately commit but he said the Golden Bears have to be considered one of his favorites.
Advertisement
"I definitely got a lot of good one-on-one time with coach Thompson and I really like him as a coach," Barton said.
"One thing that I really took from the one-on-one time is what they try to do is more than football. It's a complete life experience so they prepare you to be a young man whether it's in the NFL or in your career, you learn to grow as a person especially with the linebackers there. That's what I mainly liked with coach Thompson."
Arizona State, LSU, Oregon State, UCLA, Washington and Washington State have also offered Barton, who said he'd like to take a few trips back to Cal to watch the coaching staff in action. Lots of programs are still under consideration and this is another big offer for the 6-foot-1, 200-pound recruit.
"It's huge," Barton said of the Golden Bears. "They're definitely going to be one of the tops. It's the hometown team and they're making a lot of changes for the better so it's really exciting to get an offer from them."
A commitment is still on hold. Barton wants to consider all of his options, maybe take a couple trips to other schools and then make his decision. The idea is to make his pledge by the start of his senior season if everything goes right.
"As far as committing, I'll feel when it's right," Barton said. "I still have a little ways to go.
"I still want to go to a few practices to see how they are in a coaching environment and that will be one thing. I'm still going to wait it out. It would be ideal to commit before the season but we'll see how things work out."
Advertisement