NEW YORK — Ivan Rabb, the 6-foot-10 2015 big man from Oakland (CA) Bishop O’Dowd and the Oakland Soldiers, told ESPN’s Jeff Goodman that Cal now ranks in the top three of his remaining five schools.
That group includes Kentucky, Kansas, Arizona and UCLA along with Cal. Rabb plans to sign in the spring.
Rabb told Goodman that he has the best relationship with Cal head coach Cuonzo Martin among the five schools, and that he plans to visit Cal again at some point with fellow big man Caleb Swanigan of Indiana.
“I think it’s a great place to play,” Martin, speaking generally about Cal, said after his team lost in the final of the 2K Classic to No. 10 Texas, 71-55, at Madison Square Garden. “If I was a ballplayer, outside of Purdue I’d love to play at Cal-Berkeley.”
Rabb’s mother, Tami, told SNY.tv that she is watching all five schools on her son’s list and that she watched on TV as Cal played in New York, where they beat No. 23 Syracuse Thursday before falling to Texas.
“Cal is among my favorites but what is really essential to Ivan is for him to look at these guys’ games in the beginning of the season and how they look at the end,” she told SNY.tv. “See how each individual coach develops their men because at the end of the day, his ultimate goal is to be drafted into the NBA within the next two, possibly, three years.”
Tami also said she will continue to watch all five teams on her son’s list.
“I would say that I am particularly interested in each and every game all five of those teams play,” she said. “I am making it my other job to watch these teams, the various coaching styles and consistency in what they say and do with their bigs during the recruiting process and what they actually do on the court.”
