Three favorites for Lopa
Puka Lopa visited Cal this past weekend and the Golden Bears have to be considered one of his favorites but the Sacramento (Calif.) Grant defensive end said he's holding off on making an announcement until National Signing Day.
The thinking is that since Lopa and Grant teammate Viliami Moala, a Cal pledge, are close friends that they're going to go to the same college but Lopa said that's not necessarily the case. Cal is high on his list but he's also strongly considering Oregon State and UCLA.
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"I just got back from Cal and I have an offer from them now," Lopa said. "The thing that's good about it is they offered but I'm still thinking it over. I don't really know right now.
"I'm not going to a school for anybody else. I'm going to go for me. At the same time, knowing (Moala) is there and if I go there it is something extra."
Lopa, a 6-foot-3, 255-pound prospect, has also visited Oregon State and UCLA and both Pac-12 programs have things that are attractive to him.
The Grant standout especially likes the team and the campus atmosphere at Oregon State and there is a chance Grant teammate Darryl Paulo could end up in Corvallis. Lopa's mother likes UCLA a lot and he enjoyed his visit to Westwood so the three-star prospect has some thinking to do over the next couple days.
"Their team is really family-oriented," Lopa said of Oregon State. "I really like that. Everybody is close. It's a college town so everyone loves you out there.
"UCLA has a great education system. My mom is from San Diego so she likes UCLA, too. I really like the head coaches from all the schools. They know what they're doing and I really like talking to them."
Rivals.com rates Lopa as the No. 34 strong-side defensive end nationally and the No. 46 prospect in the California state rankings.