Taylor Harrison always knew in his mind on where he wanted to play his college hoops. The 6-foot-9, 225-pound power forward from San Clemente (Calif.) High School just needed a visit to the Pac-10 school he had favored for the longest time. The visit helped make up his mind as the three-star prospect verbally committed to his future collegiate home over the weekend.

Harrison visited Cal over the weekend on an official visit and the trip up Interstate 5 was the answer for the big man. He verbally committed to Ben Braun and the Golden Bears.

"I knew I was going to commit to them I just didn't know if would be early or now so I decided to just go ahead and get it over with," Harrison said. "I feel totally comfortable there with them. I knew it was the place that I wanted to go to so why wait."

Harrison has vastly improved since last summer, showing off a nice scoring touch inside, improved rebounding and an ability to bang with the best of them around the paint. Even Harrison said he notices the differences in his game this year compared to last.

"It's been a long stride (since last year)," Harrison said. "It's not as much as it could be but I feel like I'm making important steps to becoming a much better player. I'm trying to step it up and come to Cal as one of the top players in the country."

Harrison joins sharp-shooting Patrick Christopher in the class of 2006. Both in-state players are looking forward to helping bring in more top-flight prospects.

"Both Patrick and I are pretty sociable and I know whoever Cal is trying to bring in, we are both outgoing enough to help convince them to join us," Harrison said. "Whoever they bring in, I know they will be good. I really hope we have a good class coming in. They are making big steps for tomorrow at Cal. I'm excited about it."

Harrison will be back on the AAU circuit at the end of May at the Tournament of Champions in North Carolina.