Cal Basketball Recruiting: Marcus Lee To Kentucky Means Bears Need A Big Man

The California Golden Bears lost out on their local prospect Marcus Lee after he committed to Kentucky. The allure of the Wildcats could not escape the Bay Area prospect, as he was effusive in his praise of the Wildcats and how they made them feel like part of the family. Certainly being part of the number one recruiting class

The Bears will now have a few other big man options to look for in this class.

Torren Jones is now the biggest target going forward for Cal. Jones is a 6-8, 215 pound forward from La Porte who has been considered a solid option for the Bears. Jones currently has a top 5 that includes Cal, Washington State, DePaul, Missouri and Marquette.

Among the five schools recruiting him, Jones identified Cal, DePaul and Washington State as the programs coming after him the hardest. Each of those three schools are receiving help with Jones from players that have already committed as well.

"[Shooting guard] Jordan [Matthews] is trying to get me out to Cal, [point guard] Billy Garrett is trying to get me to go to DePaul and then [point guard] Ike Iroegbu (Washington State) [is recruiting me] too," he said. "Those two (Jordan and Billy) are the main ones."

Big man Gavin Schilling from Findlay Prep is also being pursued, although he doesn't have a Cal offer.

The wild-card is Aaron Gordon, the other big Bay Area big man prospect aside from Lee. Gordon did visit a few weeks ago on an unofficial. Will Cal go hard after him with Lee gone? The big plus is that Cal's prize recruit Jabari Bird is close with Gordon; the big minus is that Gordon is being coveted by powerhouses like Arizona, Washington, Kansas and Kentucky.