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Cal Sports Report

Cal Offers Football Scholarship to Eighth Grader

Aydan Steen has not played any high school football but already has offers from high-profile colleges, such as Miami and Cal
Jake Curtis|
Cal football
Cal football | Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

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California Golden Bears

This week Cal offered a football scholarship to an eighth-grader, Aydan Steen, who is not scheduled to enter college until 2030.

But before you suggest that Tosh Lupoi and the Bears are starting this recruitment too early, you should know that four other Power Four conference schools have offered Steen.

Miami, the preseason favorite to win the ACC title in 2026, offered Steen a scholarship way back in December, and that was followed by offers from USC, UCLA and SMU before Cal jumped in. Cal head coach Tosh Lupoi has shown he knows how to recruit, and Cal received a commitment from quarterback Dane Weber on Thursday for the class of 2027.

Steen has yet to play a snap of high school football, and will be a freshman this fall at Santa Margarita Catholic High School in Rancho Santa Margarita, California, in Orange County.

The 6-foot-1, 207-pound Steen is an outstanding athlete who could play a number of positions -- wide receiver, tight end, linebacker or defensive back.

Steen made a big impression at the Under the Radar 3030 Straight Ballers Camp. He was named the overall MVP at the camp, which was held earlier this month.

Greg Biggins, a national recruiting analyst for Rivals/On3, noted Steen's prowess in a Twitter post earlier this month after watching Steen:

"Overall MVP and best player I saw today was Aidan Steen, two-way player but will start out at LB at Santa Margarita in the fall, Eagles have a loaded '30 class coming in."

This big hit by Steen showed his strength and speed.

Eric Sondheimer, who covers high school sports for the Los Angeles Times, had this to say about Steen:

Overall MVP. Dominating performance as a WR and DB today. Plays with a combination of skill and instinct. With size, length and athleticism he was a headache for route runners. Kid has a huge catch radius with rare combination of speed and agility. Kid has a chance to receive substantial playing time at Santa Margarita High School this fall.

Steen played for the Orange County Buckeyes in youth football.

Coaches will have a difficult time deciding whether he should play defense . . . .

.. . . . Or offense:

These early offers don't mean much at this point, other than Steen will remember which schools were interested in him from the start. It's also difficult to determine how Steen will progress as a high school player. At the moment his size and athleticism give him the advantage. But he has the look of something special, and the Golden Bears have their eyes on him.

By the way, Cal has also offered a scholarship to Deontray Miller, who is in the class of 2029, just one year older than Steen. Miller is a cornerback from Mater Academy East Las Vegas, and he has offers from Texas A&M, Michigan and North Carolina as well as Cal.

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Jake Curtis
JAKE CURTIS

Jake Curtis worked in the San Francisco Chronicle sports department for 27 years, covering virtually every sport, including numerous Final Fours, several college football national championship games, an NBA Finals, world championship boxing matches and a World Cup. He was a Cal beat writer for many of those years, and won awards for his feature stories.

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