High School Football

Ol' College Try

Top prospects across the country are making official visits. Here's a diary of one player's whirlwind weekend

SENIOR WIDE receiver Marvin Jones of Etiwanda ( Calif.) High, who is rated No. 14 in the nation at his position by rivals.com, narrowed his college choices to Cal and Oregon. The 6'2", 185-pound speedster was all-state as a junior and this season has 46 receptions for 593 yards and four touchdowns for the Eagles (3--3). Jones made his official visit to Oregon on Sept. 29—"I liked it even more than I thought I would," he says—and went to Cal last Saturday. Here's how his trip to Berkeley went.

? Saturday, 5 a.m.
Jones and his father, Marvin Sr., depart their house in Fontana to catch a flight out of Ontario International Airport.

? 9:30 a.m.
They are met at Oakland International Airport by Cal recruiting assistants Andrew McGraw and Kevin Parker and driven in a Suburban to the Claremont Hotel in Berkeley. After checking into his room, Jones is taken to the Doubletree Hotel near the Oakland marina, where the Cal players stay the night before home games.

? 10:15 a.m.
Jones meets wide receivers coach Dan Ferrigno, and they walk along the marina. "We were looking across at the Bay Bridge and the Golden Gate Bridge, and Coach Ferrigno was just telling me about himself and where he'd coached before," Jones recalls.

? 11 a.m.
After a brief chat with junior wideout DeSean Jackson, Jones joins the Bears for their pregame meal in one of the hotel ballrooms. "Man, it was a lot of good food," Jones says. "Chicken and pasta and potatoes."

? 12 noon At a team meeting, coach Jeff Tedford introduces Jones, the only visiting recruit, and shows a video. "It was meant to get everyone hyped," Jones says. "It was all the big plays and big hits from the season."

? 1 p.m.
Parker drives Jones to Memorial Stadium. On a balcony above the entrance, they watch fans greet the players as they walk from the bus into the stadium, a tradition at Cal known as the March to Victory.

? 1:45 p.m.
Jones visits the equipment room, where a manager has laid out on a table all the gear that a Bears player receives—and each piece of this equipment is branded with a 3, Jones's number. The manager describes to Jones the new jersey design that Cal will wear next year. "A mix of old school and new school," Jones says. "Real nice."