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."