Cal-State standouts

VISALIA, Calif. – The 2012 edition of the Cal-State All-Star Game features a star-studded roster of the best prospects in the state of California. On Wednesday, in the game’s first full day of practice, much of that roster was still in route to the Central Valley but a few prospects weren’t ready to wait for their time to shine.

Deonte Reynolds had the biggest hit of the day on Wednesday.

Here are five players that stood out on day one at the all-star event.

Top performers

Daquawn Brown, DB, Los Angeles Dorsey (Washington State commit) – Brown could play cornerback or safety at the next level but he showed tremendous range at safety on Wednesday and picked off a handful of passes, leading the south defense.

Justin Holmes, DB, Fresno Edison (Fresno State commit) – Holmes is 6-3 with a cornerback’s backpedal and hips and tremendous ball skills. What more do you need to know? With Fresno State home to All-American Phillip Thomas. Could the Bulldogs have stolen another future superstar?

Alex Redmond, OT, Los Alamitos (UCLA commit) – A former Oregon commit, UCLA won a huge battle in getting Redmond to flip to the Bruins. A kid with great size, Redmond is deceptively athletic and looks like a multi-year starter at any Pac-12 program.

Deonte Reynolds, DT, Pinole (uncommitted) – A lean to Washington, Reynolds showed awesome power on the inside defensively on Wednesday and has that “grown-man” type of strength that is tough for blockers to deal with.

John Ross, WR, Long Beach Jordan – Ross was clearly the most explosive player with the ball in his hands on either team on Wednesday. His ability to change directions and accelerate was outstanding.

Recruiting tidbits

- Four-star John Ross has taken official visits to Oregon, Oregon State, Washington and UCLA but he’s still not ready to make a decision. He has one more trip remaining and that will go to either Arkansas, Arizona State, Washington State or Nebraska. Ross notes that his role in an offensive system is the most important factor.

- Tennessee commit Chauntez Jackson is still committed to the Volunteers but watch out for Houston. The Cougars are picking up some steam and will get an official visit in January along with Tennessee. The tight end will make his final decision between Tennessee, Houston and Oregon State.

- At the US Army All-American Bowl, four-star defensive lineman Joe Mathis will make his college decision. Five hats will be on the table: Alabama, USC, UCLA, Texas A&M and Washington. On Wednesday between practices, Mathis was wearing only one hat: Washington.

- Cal has been on a tear in recruiting since Sonny Dykes took over as head coach but one prospect that has yet to hear from the new regime is Bear commit Takkarist McKinley. McKinley still considers himself committed to Cal but admitted that he doesn’t know much about his new head coach. McKinley has plans to talk with Dykes in the coming weeks but he also has plans to take official visits to Washington, Washington State and Nevada.

- After a season in which Paulo Lepua piled up 25 sacks, he’s now turned his attention to recruiting and Arizona State and Washington look to have garnered most of that attention. The Sun Devils and Cougars are both going to get January official visits while Hawaii is also a possibility as well as Oregon. Lepua wants to play in a system that will keep him on the edge at the next level.