Cal Basketball: Bears Get First Commitment for Class of 2020

Monty Bowser of Oakland's Bishop O'Dowd High School says he is coming to Cal

Cal coach Mark Fox received his first commitment for the class of 2020 and it is a local player.

Monty Bowser, a small forward at Oakland’s Bishop O’Dowd High School, announced on Twitter Wednesday that he will attend Cal next year.

100% COMMITTED 🐻❗️#GoGoldenBears #CAL2024 pic.twitter.com/vWSR2kFQdF

— Monty Bowser (@MontyBowser) October 9, 2019

The 247 Sports website ranks Bowser as the nation’s 238th-best prospect overall in the class of 2020. He is rated the 42nd-best small forward and the 28th-best prospect in California.

The 6-foot-5 Bowser chose Cal after also getting scholarship offers from San Diego State, San Diego, UC-Irvine, Cal Poly, Hofstra, Howard, UC-Santa Barbara, Mercer, UC Davis, Northern Kentucky and several others. 

Here are some Bowser highlights:

Or highlights here:

Current Cal player Paris Austin and former Bears stadout Ivan Rabb are among the the players who came to Cal from Bishop O'Dowd.

Cal was scheduled to have three scholarships availble for the class of 2020, and the commitment by Bowser leaves two. Paris Austin, Kareem South and David Serge are all in the final season of college eligibility, so their slots will be available.

Bowser is considered a good athlete and decent outside shooter. It's unclear how outside shooting will fit into the college game with the three-point line moved out to 22 feet, 1 ¾ inches this season after being 20 feet, 9 inches in past seasons. That adds more than a foot of distance for the three-ball and only time will tell whether that has any influence on the game.

The Bears were picked to finish last in the Pac-12 this season in the coaches preseason conference poll.