Robert Peele: If I had to sign today...

Fresno (Calif.) Edison defensive back Robert Peele told us a few weeks back that he had given a soft commitment to USC. The Trojans had always been his top school but he still wanted to take a visit to Cal to be sure of his commitment. After his visit to Berkeley this past weekend, Peele said he has a new leader.

“Let’s just say this, if I had to sign a letter of intent today, I would be signing with Cal,” Peele said. “The trip was an amazing experience for me and really opened up my eyes a lot. Cal just made a great impression and I’m still kind of buzzing from it.

“The thing that really stood out to me was the player/coach relationship that goes on at Cal. I’ve never seen anything like that before and that’s huge for me. It’s what I’m looking for and Cal had that. Plus Cal’s DB coach J.D Williams is a great guy who I’ve known for a long time. I’m probably closest to him of all the different coaches that are recruiting me out there.

“Bernard Hicks, who I played with last year, was my host and he really loves it there. I think having him as my host was a huge advantage because everywhere else you go, the players are probably just trying to sell you but with Bernard, he’s a friend so I can trust him and was giving it to me straight.

“He was saying if you want to play, you have to get it done in the classroom, the coaches are strict about that. They want you to be a student first and represent the school in a positive way. Just listening to Bernard talk, it was cool because I could tell he has relly grown up a lot over there.

“The game itself was great and Cal could easily be un-defeated right now. They have the top ranked defense in the Pac 10 I believe and lose some players so there’s a good chance I could play next year. I talked to Coach Tedford about the rumors of him leaving but he told me they were just that, rumors. He said he’s happy there and as long as the school takes care of what they said they would do, upgrade the stadium and the facilities, he’s not going anywhere.

“I’m going to take my visit to USC (Dec. 10) and that will really give me a chance to compare the two schools. I just need to evaluate some things about the two, both are great schools so I know I can’t go wrong with either and hopefully I’ll be able to make a solid decision after my visit to SC.”