Ezeff will stay home

Consider it an early Christmas present, Cal fans. That's what Marcus Ezeff wanted to do when he made a verbal commitment to play for the Golden Bears on Tuesday over Oregon.

The 6-0, 195-pound athlete from Santa Rosa (Calif.) Montgomery committed to Cal after in-home visits with coaches from both Cal and Oregon. "I knew that those two were my top two schools and if you looked at the situation, if I went to Oregon I would have to redshirt," Ezeff told Scout.com Tuesday. "At Cal I could play right away as a true freshman free safety. Whenever you can get a chance to step in and play as a freshman, I'll take that every time.

"It also came down to the idea that there's only one time in my lifetime that I can get a Cal degree and if football doesn't work out I'll always have that degree to go on with."

Cal, Oregon, Utah, Wyoming and Fresno State were the schools that had offered Ezeff at the time of his commitment. He had 36 catches for 860 yards and 15 touchdowns his senior season, earning first-team all-league honors, as well as North Bay and all-Empire MVP honors. He also had 2 picks and 30 tackles on defense.

Marcus Ezeff Scout Profile