Savannah Christian ATH Demetris Robertson Commits to Cal
In what may be known as a day of throwing away crystal balls, Cal scored the crown jewel of the 2016 recruiting class in Demetris Robertson. Robertson is the top ranked athlete in the class, ranking number eight nationally. Robertson is the highest ranked recruit to commit to the Bears since Keenan Allen in 2010.
Robertson has been on Cal's and everyone's radar for the past year or so, taking a visit to Berkeley during the Washington State game last October and getting an in home visit with Sonny Dykes and Jacob Peeler in January. Peeler has been Robertson's main recruiter throughout this process.
Robertson is being projected as a wide receiver and kick returner in Cal's offense. He will most likely be plugged in to a similar role as Class of 2016 recruit and early entrant Melquise Stovall.
Robertson is a consensus 5-star (6.1) recruit. He will be the final addition to the 2016 Class, joining receivers Matt Laris, Zion Echols, Jordan Duncan, Melquise Stovall, Drew Kobayashi, Logan Gamble, and Jordan Veasy.
Here are some updated quotes from Sonny Dykes' media teleconference via Calbears.com
Opening comments"Obviously, this is a big deal for our program. It’s been an unusual recruitment. I was really pleased with the way he handled it. It went on and on and on for no other reason than for him to make sure he chose the right school. There wasn’t anything about trying to get additional attention or any of that type of thing. He kept a very low profile thru the process, his family did the same thing. It’s just about him finding a place where he felt at home, and making sure they investigated everything. He looked at every possible angle and every possible benefit for choosing his school. He had an interest in coming out West from the very beginning. You’ve got to give Jacob Peeler a lot of credit. Jacob really has a good relationship with him, and then he just hung in there. We just went through the process. I don’t think we ever pressured the young man. We just gave him an opportunity to make a decision that he felt was going to be the best one for him and his future. We’re really proud of the way he handled everything and excited to have an opportunity to work with an outstanding football player and outstanding young man who has a very clear vision of where he wants to go in the world. We’re really excited about it."
On the type of role he sees Robertson playing at Cal"He’s a good athlete. He didn’t really care too much about what position he was recruited as. He can play on either side of the ball. He’s certainly a special playmaker on offense. He can do some pretty impressive things once he gets his hands on the football. But he also has the potential to be a lockdown corner. We’ll get him here and see how he picks up everything. We’ll figure out, the place where, number one, he wants to play, and number two, where he can best help our football team."
On being able to land a five-star recruit"It’s good. It creates a good buzz for our program. Again, the best thing about this young man is his character. He’s a very good football player, but he’s a better person. That to be is much more important than how many stars somebody arbitrarily gives somebody. He fits our culture. He’s our kind of guy. As impressive as he is on the field, he’s even more impressive off the field."
On Robertson’s official visit to Cal last October"I just remember talking to him when he left. You could tell the kid had a great time. He really felt at home. That was kind of what this whole thing was about for him, was finding some place that was going to provide everything he wanted a school to provide. I think, ultimately, it was just about him feeling comfortable. He got out here, got around our players, and I think he felt a real connection to our players. I think he loved the culture in our program. He had a great relationship with Jacob [Peeler]. I think he felt comfortable with all of us – with the staff, with me, with everybody. I think he appreciates the way we recruited him. We never pressured him. We never put any kind of time frame on him and we just kind of hung in there with him because we felt all along that we had a great chance. The way that visit went, I think the kid walked away and felt at home, and he could see himself coming out West."
"I just remember talking to him on Sunday, when I met with him on Sunday morning I remember him coming in and I thought there was a chance he might commit right then. I remember him saying that he really felt at home and he felt the family atmosphere that’s in this program and he really clicked with the players. The academics are a big part of it. The kid wants to be challenged academically. I think he felt like he was going to have a chance to grow academically and be pushed. I think that’s what he wanted."
On how things proceeded after his official visit"I think the biggest thing was we never pressured him. I told him, and I always believe this, recruitment is about the young men, it’s not about us. It’s about these kids finding the right school for them. Whatever that time frame is, it’s ok with us because it’s a big decision for those kids. If it takes until signing day, that’s fine, if it takes until after signing day, that’s fine, too. We just kept telling him that we want him no matter what, and I think he felt like it was home. We just stayed in touch. We went out there after he signed his financial aid agreement with us. That gave us an opportunity to stay in touch with him and continue to contact him when he signed the financial aid agreement. That was a big part of it, was to get that done, so we could keep in contact with him. We just kind of kept hustling, and It just kind of fell into place."
On how landing Robinson helps the profile of the Cal football program"I don’t put too much into what everybody else says. We’ve recruited a lot of good players. We have an ideas of what we’re looking for. Don’t get me wrong, it’s nice to have a good buzz. It’s nice for all that to take place, but a football program is about a lot more than creating a buzz. It’s about doing things the right way. It’s about bringing in the right kind of kids. It’s about developing them and building a team. It’s nice to have a little bit of buzz, but we’ve recruited a lot of good players, we’ve recruited a lot of guys that fit our system. Certainly, this is the most high-profile guy we’ve gotten and he’s going to be a heck of a player in our offense. It does give us some credibility in some people’s minds, but in our mind we’ve always had credibility because we’re doing things the right way. If you do things the right way, you work hard, you develop players, and you put them in a position to be successful then it’s going to take care of itself whether you get a bunch of buzz or not."
On how landing Robertson will help in recruiting"It just makes the guys go, why not, why not come to Cal? There’s so much opportunity here. There’s so many positives going on with the university and with our football program. Just look at the last couple of days with Jared [Goff] being the first pick in the draft and getting three more young men getting drafted, and get all the free agent signees that we got. Having Steve Kerr speak to our team on Friday, and we had a great team building event on Saturday and to get this on Sunday. We’re expecting more good news in the not too distant future. We’re in a good spot, and we just want to keep it going. It’s been hard to get to this spot. When I first got the job, there weren’t a whole lot of positives, and then now when you factor in the APR and the first success we had on the field, you start looking at the program and you say ‘hey, look, I’d like to be a part of this.’”
On how Robertson will be used at Cal"If he’s going to be a receiver, he’s more than likely going to be an outside guy. I think there’s certainly an opportunity for him to, number one, help us in our kick and punt return game, and, number two, help us offensively. I think depending on what he can handle, I don’t see any reason not to try to get him to help us defensively, as well. We’ll see what he can do and what he’s capable of doing in terms of his stamina, what kind of shape he’s in and how quickly he can pick things up. He’s certainly one of those guys; we don’t want to make him a jack of all trades and a master of none. You have to be careful with that. We have to let him get comfortable and flourish in one area, but he is such a good athlete that he’s certainly capable of doing a lot."
On whether he expects Robertson to have an immediate impact in the fall"Yeah, I would expect so."
On how Robertson fits in with the team’s current receivers"We’ve got a lot of good freshmen. That’s the good thing about our unit right. We’ve got some kids who redshirted last year like Brandon Singleton and Carlos Strickland that I think are going to be elite receivers. We’ve got a group of young guys with Greyson Bankhead, Melquise Stovall and now Demetris. Our receiver corps has some guys who can make plays and we’re just real excited about it."
On signing Robertson to an earlier financial aid agreement"I want to say it was the third week in February. We weren’t the only school that he signed a financial aid agreement with."
On upcoming good news"It’s the trajectory of the program more than anything else. We’re making good strides. We’ve had to weather some storms in the past, and I think we’ve weathered them. We’re going to have to weather more in the future. That’s just the way a football program works. I think there are a lot of people across the country that are taking notice of what’s happening. I would expect more good news in terms of our 2017 class and some additional things, as well."
On recruiting trips to see Robertson"I can’t tell you exactly how many times but several. Coach [Jake] Spavital and coach [Jacob] Peeler has been out there several times, but I can’t give you an exact number. I just remember we got together. There was a playoff game on television. It was on a Sunday afternoon. Jacob, myself and his brother, we just sat down and talked. That is what it was. We didn’t have a recruiting pitch. We just talked. His brother was a very important part of the process. He wanted to feel comfortable with us. We just talked about what our vision was and then answered questions. More than anything else we were people that had a mutual respect and admiration for each other hanging out and getting to know each other. It wasn’t a big recruiting pitch and I think that was the way to handle it."
On what he was thinking today when Robertson made his announcement"You never know. Georgia made a big run at him toward the end, but the thing about the young man is that when he told us that he was coming, which we haven’t known for that long, but when he told us that he’d made his mind up and he was coming, his character is such that I don’t think that any of us really had any doubts. He’s just a solid kid. He’s a kid that went through the process the right way. He came to a decision and felt like he was going to stay with it. You’re always a little bit concerned and a little bit worried just because of the nature of recruiting, but I think all of us were comforted by his character because he’s just that kind of guy."