Schwartz talks about his decision

Earlier we reported that Cal picked up a commitment from Mitchell Schwartz, a 6-5, 300 pound offensive lineman from Palisades (Calif.) Pacific Palisades. We caught up with the talented tackle who told us why he chose the Bears.

Schwartz narrowed his choices to Cal, Oregon, Virginia and Stanford and said he actually made his decision to commit to Cal the day before Christmas.

"There were a lot of reasons why I chose Cal," Schwartz said. "I think of all the schools out there, Cal has the best combination of athletics and academics. They're the No. 1 rated public university in the country and I really developed a good relationship with the players and coaches there.

"I was really comfortable on my visit and that's when I really started to lean in that direction. The more I thought about it, the more I felt Cal was the best place for me and there was no reason to put it off any longer.

"I was going to visit Stanford the first weekend of December but after Coach Harris was fired there, I decided to go in a different direction. I was also going to trip to Oregon in January but I've taken so many unofficial visits there that I felt like I knew enough about the school to make a well informed decision.

"It was tough saying no to the coaches at Oregon because I've known them for such a long time and developed a good bond with them as well but when all was said and done, I just decided to follow my heart and went ahead and committed to Cal and I'm very excited about it."