QB Max Gilliam headlines Cal’s recruiting class
QB Max Gilliam headlines Cal’s recruiting class
Max Gilliam is a pass-oriented quarterback who graduated early from a California high school so he could enroll at Cal in the middle of the school year and be eligible for spring practice.
Sound familiar?
By no means are we drawing comparisons to Jared Goff, but we are pointing out that Gilliam was the lone quarterback in Cal’s 2016 recruiting class to enroll early, as Goff did three years earlier.
Goff eventually won the starting job, set a slew of Cal records and is heading to the NFL draft.
Cal head coach Sonny Dykes is expected to announce as many as 28recruits on Wednesday’s signing day when letters of intent start pouring in.
Gilliam was the first to verbally commit and is among nine to have enrolled in the university.
“It’s different,” Gilliam said in a phone interview Tuesday while walking through the Berkeley campus to his dorm.
Before this week, 24 prospects had given a verbal commitment to Cal, according to various recruiting websites.
Rivals.com ranks the Cal class, heavy in receivers and defensive backs, 25th nationally and fourth in the Pac-12.
Gilliam, a four-star recruit who’s 6-foot-2 and 195 pounds (according to his latest weigh-in), completed 217 of 294 passes for 3,413 yards, 40 touchdowns and just five interceptions at Thousand Oaks High School, numbers similar to Goff’s in his senior year at Marin Catholic High.
Ranked sixth nationally by Rivals.com as a dual-threat QB, Gilliam also rushed for 666 yards and 10 TDs.
“Other schools can say you can come in and get a chance to go to the NFL, but this is a school where (Goff) has a chance to be the first quarterback taken,” Gilliam said.
During his Cal visit, Gilliam watched a practice, met with Goff for 15 minutes and got advice on enrolling in college early and playing quarterback in the Pac-12.
Like the spring of 2013, when Goff arrived and quickly impressed Dykes (then heading into his first season with the Bears), the competition at quarterback appears open.
Sophomore Chase Forrest is considered the leading candidate after backing up Goff last season.
Luke Rubenzer, Goff’s backup in 2014 before moving to safety last season, is in the QB mix, as is freshman Ross Bowers, coming off a redshirt year.
[...] adding linebackers has been a priority.
The current class includes only one, Cameron Goode of Houston, and Dykes has said he was seeking more help at the position.
“They’re going to try,” said Ryan Gorcey, publisher of Cal’s Scout.com affiliate, but I think it may come down to them adding a linebacker after signing day. ...
Not all will be said and done on signing day.
“The school and education are a big part for me,” he said.
Chronicle staff writer
Connor Letourneau contributed to this report.
John Shea is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer.
E-mail: jshea@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @JohnSheaHey
Cal recruits
Ht
Wt
Town (school)
Bellflower (St. John Bosco High School)
Fergus Falls, MN (MN State Community & Tech College)
Corona (Centennial High School)
RB
San Diego (Mission Bay High School)
OL
Larkspur (Redwood High School)
Dallas (Bishop Dunne High School)
Hattiesburg, MS (Oak Grove High School)
Chattanooga, TN (The McCallie School For Boys)
Chandler, AZ (Mesa Community College)
WR
Long Beach (St. Anthony High School)
QB
Thousand Oaks (Thousand Oaks High School)
LB
Houston (Klein Collins High School)
OL
Corona (Centennial High School)
WR
Honolulu (Saint Louis School)
WR
Sammamish, WA (Eastside Catholic High School)
Austin, TX (Lake Travis High School)
OL
Baldwin Park (Baldwin Park High School)
RB
Lancaster (Paraclete High School)
North Bethesda, MD (Georgetown Prep)
WR
Huntington Beach (Golden West College)
OL
Riverside, CA (Riverside Community College)
Spokane, WA (Gonzaga Preparatory School)
Gentle Williams
OL
Florence, MS (Florence High School)
Chris Yaghi
DT
Santa Ana (Foothill High School)
* Already enrolled