Cal lands signature recruit

They had to sweat it out a little longer than anticipated, but Cuonzo Martin and his staff at California landed the guy that they coveted most on Monday night when five-star big man Ivan Rabb announced that he would be staying home.

For the last month or so, the 6-foot-10 power forward from Oakland (Calif.) Bishop O'Dowd, who ranks No. 8 in the class of 2015, has been considered a lean to the Golden Bears. However, one projected announcement date after another -- including the night he and his teammates won a state title on the floor of his future college -- came and went without a decision.

Monday night, though, Rabb officially ended things when he announced his commitment during a press conference at his mother's restaurant.

"I talked to my family and prayed about it and I think I made the best decision for myself," said Rabb during the press conference. "I felt most comfortable with coach Martin, most happy here."

Landing a top 10 prospect is important at any program. But, Rabb is the one guy that Martin and his staff had to have. One year after arriving from Tennessee, Martin had already landed a local four-star prospect from the class of 2016 in Oscar Frayer, but to send a statement that he and his staff were going to be reckoned with on the recruiting trail, Martin needed to beat out a West Coast power like Arizona for an elite, homegrown, prospect like Rabb.

That's exactly what he did.

While establishing a recruiting footprint is important, getting a great player is even more important and Rabb brings a lot to the table. A quick and agile athlete with length, Rabb is a pogo stick around the rim, rebounds at a high level and can be a good positional shot blocker. An ambidextrous scorer, he loves to score with his left hand from eight feet in and in while switching to his right for free throws and and short to medium range jumpers.

Like most college-bound big men, Rabb will need to get stronger and he needs to upgrade his footwork, but he should make an immediate and notable impact.

With Rabb in the fold, Martin and his staff have put together what is looking like a nice first true recruiting class. In addition to Rabb they have landed Rivals150 wing Davon Dillard and on Saturday they landed a commitment from Oklahoma shooting guard Tyson Jolly who will enter the rankings as a four-star prospect when the 2015 Rivals150 is finalized in the next few weeks.

Though they missed out on Caleb Swanigan on Friday, Cal still has one more elite prospect in their sites in the current No. 2 player in the country Jaylen Brown. When asked about him at his press conference Rabb made it clear he was going to work on him, and soon.

"I'm going to step outside and talk to (Brown) right now to be honest," he said.