Cal Football: WR Mavin Anderson Becomes Bears' First Commitment of 2021 Class

Mission Viejo athlete also had offers from Auburn, Oregon

Cal received its first football commitment for the class of 2021 when Mavin Anderson of Mission Viejo, Calif., gave a verbal commitment to the Bears, and he announced it via social media. 

after a long talk with my family and a successful junior day at Cal , i’m extremely excited to announce my verbal commitment to the University of California, Berkeley !! thank you to everyone that has helped put me in this position. #CalGang21 💙💛 pic.twitter.com/90C95xKNpX

— mavin anderson 🫶🏽 (@AndersonMavin) February 2, 2020

Categorized as an "athlete," Anderson will probably play wide receiver at the college level. Anderson is described as an explosive wide receiver, which is just what Cal has been looking for.

He is rated a four-star recruit who is ranked as the 255th-best prospect overall in the class of 2021 and 45th-best wide receiver prospect by 247Sports.com. 

Rivals.com does not rank Anderson among its top 250 prospects for the 2021 class, but does rank him 27th among wide receivers. Rivals describes him as a three-star recruit.

Oregon, Auburn, Minnesota and Nebraska were among the other schools that offered Anderson a scholarship.

officially official . 💙💛💙💛 https://t.co/xYYQw61ONv

— mavin anderson 🫶🏽 (@AndersonMavin) February 2, 2020

The 6-foot-1, 175-pound Anderson explained to 247Sports why he chose Cal:

“A big reason for my decision was my relationship with [wide receiver] coach [Burl] Toler,” Anderson said. “We really connected and hit it off. We talk all the time and most of the time, it’s not even about football, it’s about life and how I’m doing.

“Obviously a degree from Cal is huge too and academics are a big part of my decision here. I’m still not sure what I want to major in but a degree from Cal opens up so many doors. With football, you never know what can happen so you need backup options and something to fall back on and a Cal degree is huge for me.”

Here is an interview with Anderson from last March:

Anderson also met with head coach Justin Wilox and new offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave this week, according to the 247Sports report.

“They came by Mission Viejo this week and that’s was actually the first time I saw coach Wilcox,” Anderson told 247Sports. “I could tell he’s a great guy, the kind of coach you want to play for. Coach Musgrave seems like a good guy and I’m still learning about the offense. Coach Toler has been telling me how I fit in there and it all sounds good.

"They want to use me primarily as a receiver and retuning kicks as well. They want a speed guy, someone who can take the top off a defense. The cool with coach Toler is he doesn’t just tell me what I want to hear, he’s comfortable telling me things I need to work on and get better at it. I need to work on my releases and blocking, things like that."

Here are some highlights of Anderson:

Click here to see video highlights of Anderson.

Click here to see more video of Anderson.

Anderson also told 247Sports that he will continue to take recruiting visits.

“My commitment is solid but I know it’s early and I think I’ll still take a few official visits. I really haven’t been to that many other schools so I kind of want to see what else is out there and make sure about my decision but I do feel really good about Cal and this is where I’ll be going.”

Anderson said he is on track to graduate early, sp he might enroll before the spring semester, giving him an extra spring practice.

As a junior, Anderson had 34 receptions for 533 yards and seven touchdowns. He is considered an explosive playmaker when he is healthy but he has battled some injury problems.