Summers-Gavin talks about decision

Cal is putting together one of the nation's best offensive line classes and added a huge piece to that puzzle with the commitment of San Francisco (Calif.) St. Ignatius' Matt Summers-Gavin. Summers- Gavin, who's currently in San Antonio as part of the Army All-American game actually made his commitment on Christmas day but waited until today to make the announcement.

Summers-Gavin, 6-4, 275 pounds could be the prize among the Bears five man recruiting class. He had narrowed his choices to Notre Dame and Cal but seemed to be leaning to Berkeley since November or so.

"I'm a Bear," Summers-Gavin said. "I actually decided on Cal two days before Christmas and then called up Coach Tedford Christmas morning and told him I was committing. I had been talking about it for weeks with my parents and we all decided Cal was the best fit for me. Academically, you can't beat Cal and athletically, I love the direction of the football program.

"Just watching how dominant they were in the Bowl game, you can tell what a great future they have. Coach Tedford has really turned the program around from a few years ago and my whole family all felt Cal was the best place for me. My parents loved Coach Tedford and I really like Coach Michalczik, the OL coach there.

"We have a great line coming in and I'm excited about getting to know those other guys. The only one I've talked with so far is Todd Huber but I haven't told him I committed yet. I've been talking a lot with Shane Vereen and Jahvid Best. Those are great guys and everyone I've met associated with Cal's program has been great, that was another big selling point for me.

"I feel like I didn't just make a decision for the next four years but the rest of my life. The connections you make at Cal can really help you out for the rest of your life. If something happens to me and I can't play football any more, I'll have a degree from Cal and that's a pretty special thing. Just on my visit, I met some great people that will be great contacts for me away from football.

"I was thinking about waiting until the game to announce but they never asked me and I got tired tired of people asking me where I was going. The last two weeks, everywhere I went, people asked me what I was going to do so on the plane ride here, I told my mom that was I going to let people know what I was doing and I have to tell you, it feels very good to say I'm going to Cal. I take a lot of pride in saying that."

Summers-Gavin will not be able to suit up for the West squad due to a ankle injury but he said it shouldn't affect him for college.

"I'll be ready to go next fall," Summers-Gavin said. "I would love to come in and play as a true freshman but I think more than likely, I'll redshirt. They say it's always good for linemen to spend a year redshirting to get acclimated to both the football team as well as the academics. I'm coming in to work hard though, if they want me to play, I would love to do that. It won't be worth blowing a redshirt year for just a few plays here and there but if I have a chance to play a lot of even start, that would be great. They want me to start out at left tackle and I'm looking forward to getting out there and we'll see how it goes."