Long Beach WR/DE Logan Gamble talks commitment to Cal Golden Bears
Written by Ryan Wright
Recruiting for the Cal Golden Bears is heating up in June after Dallas cornerback Josh Drayden committed on Sunday and Long Beach two-way star Logan Gamble verbally committed on Monday.
Cal’s most recent verbal commitment, Logan Gamble, committed while visiting the Berkeley campus becoming the Golden Bears first wide receiver in the 2016 recruiting class. The 6’6”, 200 pound, athlete committed to Cal just as his recruiting was warming up. The Long Beach area talent has nine offers on the table with Arizona, Virginia, Washington State, Nevada, San Jose State, Wyoming, San Diego State, and Fresno State all extending offers.
We caught up with Logan after his verbal commitment to get an inside Recruiting News Guru exclusive on how Cal picked up their ninth recruit.
Logan, first, congratulations on your commitment to Cal.
“Thank you.”
From when we first spoke until yesterday everything has accelerated quickly for you. What influenced you to commit to Cal when you did?
“Just the coaches, the coaching staff there, what they are offering me, the position they are offering me, the Pac-12, I don’t know how much better it can get than Cal at the insider receiver position. Basically, I wanted to take my spot. I don’t think there will be another school that is better.”
How did the commitment take place?
“I wanted throughout my whole visit. I made them wait for it. They knew I was planning on committing. I could tell the coaches were getting impatient. They kept showing me the school. The visit was a six hour visit and I committed to the head coach and my position coach in the last 10 minutes during a meeting. I went throughout the whole day saw all of the school and eventually I committed there.”
What position are they officially recruiting you to play?
“An inside slot receiver, stand-up.”
That last 10 minutes of your meeting, what was the reaction of the coaches after you finally committed?
“It was a party throughout the whole building. There was probably 20 coaches outside waiting for me to come out. When I came out there waiting they were all ecstatic and all happy. The starting quarterback Jared Goff came out, shook my hand, and said welcome to the family.”
Knowing that you planned on committing that day, how did you feel leading up to the actual moment you committed and how did you feel when you gave that verbal pledge?
“It was a little scary, cause is this too early am I making the right decision? I kept second guessing myself but then I always came right back to my gut feeling, this feels right. Being out in Oakland and being in that little area on the campus and being with the players I was around, this feels right. I don’t know any other place I felt more comfortable at. I basically toured all the spots, the stadium, the campus, met all the coaches, and I have never done that on a visit. I’ve never been so free to access any coach I wanted to and shown everything with nothing hidden. I feel like I got the full experience at Cal. I got enough of the experience where I could make the decision.”
Is there a sense of relief, that to some extent, your recruiting process is over?
“Yes and no. I am happy that I am a Golden Bear, I’m happy with Cal, and I’m happy about the kids I’m committed with but the hard thing about recruiting is all the relationships you’ve built with coaches and schools. Now having to tell them “no.” That’s probably the only part that I will miss, some of the coaches I have been talking to and the relationships I have built with them. That’ll be the only thing I miss.”
Last time we spoke you had several camps scheduled, do you still plan on attending any one-day college camps?
“The Washington State camp is today, not going to it. I’m closing my recruiting and just stay healthy.”
Do you plan on recruiting other players to join you?
“Absolutely. There is a list of about five players who do have offers or don’t have offers that we are trying to get to commit. By next month we’ll have 14 commits. We have nine right now.”
Who are the five guys you are going to reach out to and pitch them on Cal?
“Alec Simpson (LB – Pacific Palisades) who does not have an offer. He’s committed to Nevada but we are trying to get him. D.J. Morgan (SS – St. John Bosco), he’s committed to ASU (Arizona State) and we are trying to pull him. Camryn Bynum, he’s from Centennial (Corona, California). I think he’s between Stanford and Cal. Paco Perez (OL – Baldwin Park HS), Cal made his Top 10 but I think he maybe leaning towards Cal. Obi Eboh (Carroll High School), he’s from Texas. He’s going to The Opening. He’s a cornerback/strong safety. We think we’re pretty close to all five of those guys and we can get them. He’s friends with Joshua Drayden who committed on Sunday, the day before me.”
How are you going to pitch the other players to join you at Cal?
“We have a group message with the Cal commits and Cal commitment hopefuls. We’re always on there talking and 90 percent of the conversation is, “Will you guys commit to us? Can we get you? There’s nothing wrong with Cal, Cal is better than ASU, and better than Nevada. Get yourself to Cal.” That’s pretty much what our topic of conversation is. They seem pretty excited about Cal and they’re kind of stuck in a place right now but it’s time for them to make a new decision.”
Cal 2016 Verbal Commitment List
QB Max Gilliam, 6’3”, 190 lbs, Oaks Christian, Thousand Oaks, California
QB Armani Rogers, 6’6”, 200 lbs, Hamilton High School, Los Angeles, California
RB Derrick Clark, 5’11”, 195 lbs, Mission Bay HS, San Diego, California
RB Zion Echols, 5’9”, 175 lbs, Charter Oak HS, Covina, California
WR/TE Logan Gamble, 6’6”, 200 lbs, St. Anthony’s HS, Long Beach, California
OT Daniel Juarez, 6’5”, 270 lbs, Centennial High School, Corona, California
OT Jake Curhan, 6’7”, 305 lbs, Redwood High School, Larkspur, California
CB Traveon Beck, 5’10”, 170 lbs, St. John Bosco HS, Bellflower, California
CB Joshua Drayden, 5’9.5”, 168 lbs, Bishop Dunne HS, Dallas, Texas
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