Aug. 6, 1997
Cal Opens 1997 Football Camp as 26 Newcomers Arrive in Berkeley
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Tom Holmoe
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BERKELEY, Calif. - New head coach Tom Holmoe will welcome 21 incoming freshmen and 5 new junior college transfers on Friday, August 8, as the Bears open their 1997 football camp in Berkeley.
The new group of players, which includes 12 scholarship freshmen and 9 walk-on freshmen, will take physicals on Saturday morning and work out for the first time on Saturday afternoon at 4:00 p.m. on Witter Field. The group also has practices scheduled for Monday at 9:00 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. and on Tuesday at 9:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. A group of 77 veterans are slated to appear next Tuesday for physicals. The entire team will depart from Berkeley late on Wednesday afternoon to travel to Turlock, CA for the team's 10-day training camp at Cal State Stanislaus.
The arrival of the newcomers should prove of special interest as a number of the new players could have an immediate impact. The most noteworthy is probably freshman defensive end Andre Carter (6-4, 235), who earned prep All-America honors last year at Oak Grove HS in Oakland and is considered Cal's most highly touted recruit since Russell White eight years ago. Carter has the type of speed and athletic ability that may allow him to contribute early in his freshman season.
Other freshmen who could contend for immediate playing time are tight end Corey Smith (6-4, 245) from Galt HS, quarterback Samuel Clemons (6-2, 205) from Oak Ridge HS in El Dorado Hills and running back Marcus Fields from Stagg HS in Stockton.
Cal will not have the services of running back Jamar Sheppard from San Francisco's Sacred Heart HS. Sheppard will delay enrolling at Cal until the spring as he works to meet academic qualification standards.
Holmoe and his coaching staff are anxious to take a close look at a number of junior college transfers who could push for starting assignments this fall. Albert Dorsey (6-2, 235) from Long Beach CC may push for starting duties at inside linebacker as he is a punishing hitter and has the speed to develop into one of the top defensive players in the Pac-10.
Fullback Joshua White (5-11, 235) from Snow JC in Utah could be a powerful force in the Cal offensive backfield as he not only is regarded as a superior blocker, but has the ability to run with the football.
A.J. Kunkle (6-2, 230) is a versatile performer who will push for starting duties at tight end, after working as a running back at Santa Rosa JC last season.
The Bears have a pair of talented new JC cornerbacks in Drae Harris (5-11, 180) from Mesa CC in Phoenix, AZ and Harold Pearson (5-11, 170) from American River JC in Sacramento.
When you consider that three other JC transfers who arrived in time for spring football practices -- Justin Vedder, James Gipson and Keith Miller -- enter the fall listed as the starter on the depth chart, this may prove to be the most impressive group of JC recruits in school history.
