Cal basketball happy with recruiting class thus far

Anytime you can sign a top 25 recruit in any sport, it's a good day. The Cal Golden Bears men's basketball team did just that on Thursday when they signed 6'6 wing man Jabari Bird. Bird is a consensus top 25 recruit and the best player head coach Mike Montgomery has landed in his tenure with Cal.

Lucky for the Golden Bears, they had an inside man helping sway Bird's decision: his father. Carl Bird played two seasons for Cal in the mid-'70s and was the team's MVP in 1975-1976 after averaging over 15 points per game. The younger Bird averaged 18.7 points per game for Salesian High School last season. Montgomery says Bird's abilities will only grow in his time at Cal, via the Mercury News:

"He has a knack for scoring, scores in traffic, scores in a lot of different ways. He's very unselfish. He doesn't have to have the ball. At the end of the game is when he makes plays."

The rest of Cal's recruiting haul is impressive as well. Jordan Matthews, a 6'3 shooting guard from Santa Monica, is rated the 24th best shooting guard in the country and 85th best overall player by Rivals. They also signed Sam Singer from Miami, Fla. Singer is rated the nation's 45th best point guard after averaging 34.1 points per game for Ransom Everglades High School.