Cal Sports Report

Reno Offensive Lineman Sioape Vatikani Commits to Cal for 2022

He is the eighth player in the class to commit to the Golden Bears and the fourth from outside the state

Jake Curtis

Reno Offensive Lineman Sioape Vatikani Commits to Cal for 2022
Reno Offensive Lineman Sioape Vatikani Commits to Cal for 2022 /

Cal received its first offensive line commitment for the class of 2022 when Sioape Vatikani of Bishop Manogue High School in Reno, Nevada, announced this week that he has committed to the Golden Bears.

The 6-foot-4, 295-pound Vatikani chose Cal over reported offers from USC, Tennessee, UCLA, BYU, Nebraska and Arizona State, among others.

He is rated a three-star recruit by rivals, which does not give him a national ranking or a position ranking.  He is expected to be a guard at the college level.

The 247Sports website ranks Vatikani as the nation's No. 500 overall prospect in the class, and ranks him as the 18th-best interior line prospect.

Vatikani made his official visit to Cal on the weekend of June 11-13, and that turned out to be the only official visit he made.  He reportedly canceled a visit scheduled for UCLA.

Vatikani is the eighth player to commit to Cal for 2022 and is the sixth  to commit in the month of June.

Cal offensive line coach Angus McClure was the Bears' primary recruiter for Vatikani, and McClure's son plays with Vatikani at Bishop Manogue.

Vatikani has a reputation as an athletic and powerful force in both pass blocking and run blocking.

Vatikani joins running back Kaleb Johnson of Hamilton, Ohio, Curlee Thomas IV of Fort Worth, Texas, and outside linebacker Nunie Tuitele of Aurora, Colorado, as players from outside California who have committed to the Cal in the 2022 class.

The four other players who have committed to Cal are quarterback Justyn Martin, defensive lineman Damonic Williams, and defensive ends Jaxson Moi and Nate Burrell.

Here is a 2019 interview with Vatikani:

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Jake Curtis
JAKE CURTIS

Jake Curtis worked in the San Francisco Chronicle sports department for 27 years, covering virtually every sport, including numerous Final Fours, several college football national championship games, an NBA Finals, world championship boxing matches and a World Cup. He was a Cal beat writer for many of those years, and won awards for his feature stories.

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