Carswell raves about his time at Cal

Milpitas (Calif.) wide out Brandon Carswell took his first official visit to Cal this past weekend. The athlete will next visit USC this coming weekend and the Trojans will have their work cut out to match his experience in Berkeley.

Carswell, 6-1, 175 pounds has been on Cal's campus multiple times before but said the visit this weekend blew him away.

"I was there from Friday to Sunday and loved every minute of the trip," Carswell said. "The chemistry between the players and coaches was incredible and that's a big deal to me. I loved just hanging out with the guys on the team as well as the other recruits on the trip. There were like 18 of us in all and everyone really got along well.

"Saturday we got to watch the team practice and that was cool to see how they prepare for games. I also talked with the academic advisers and some of the professors there and I loved that. I talked to one teacher who is from the Ethnic Studies department and I learned a lot from talking with him. Cal has a great academic reputation and that's important to me.

"My hosts were Shea McIntyre and Derrick Hill and they were both great. Like I said, the team chemistry there was incredible. I've never really been around anything like that before. I've been to Cal for games and Junior Day but having a chance to tour the academic side of the campus and talk with the players was the best part for me.

"I also loved getting to know the coaches better. On Sunday I had breakfast with Coach Ferigno, the WR coach and then had a nice meeting with Coach Tedford. My parents really liked Coach Tedford a lot as well. He talked to me about the opportunities I would have at Cal, both athletically and academically. He also said if I was ready to commit, he would be happy to take it but also encouraged me to take my visit this weekend to USC, which is what I'm planning to do.

"This visit to SC could be my last one. If I'm not blown away at SC the way I was at Cal, I'll just go ahead and commit to Cal. If I like SC as much as the Cal visit, then I'll probably take the next couple of week to really think about my decision. There is also a chance I could take one more visit and that would be to Oregon. That would be if I really don't know where to go between SC and Cal.

"I'm just looking for a place where I'll have great chemistry with the players and coaches as well as a school that I'll be comfortable at away from football. I also have a really good relationship with the SC coaches so I'm excited to see how I'll get along with the players on the team."

As for home visits, Carswell said he's done with those.

"Yeah, my mom got tired of all the coaches coming over," Carswell joked. "I already had SC, Cal, Oregon twice, Washington State and UNLV over but that will be it. A few wanted to come back this week but I'm done. I'll take this visit this weekend and then could be ready to decide in a few weeks."