Cal Football Gets Commitment for 2021 -- DE Ieremia Moore

Cal usually has its entire recruiting class for the following season set by the early signing date in December, but the Bears got another commitment for the class of 2021 on Sunday -- defensive end Ieremia Moore of St. John Bosco High School in Bellflower, Calif.

What is also odd is that Moore has never played a down of football.

I am 100% committed to the University of California, Berkeley!! 💙🐻💛#GoBears #calgang21 @boscofootball @adamgorney @CTui72 @GregBiggins @COACH_T_BULLOCK @browning_coach @CalRecruiting pic.twitter.com/gCmSZOPGG2
— Ieremia 🇳🇿🇼🇸 (@iele_237) February 1, 2021

Moore's choice came down to three schools – Cal, UCLA and Duke. The Bears had offered Moore a scholarship just four days ago, on Wednesday.

Moore comes from New Zealand, but he came to California to follow his dream, as reported in a recent Husky Maven story:

A New Zealander pursuing American football, Ieremia Moore figures he can fit in just about anywhere.

He first traveled 7,000 miles to play the game in California and now he's shopping for a college program that suits him.

Moore came to California in September 2019, but because he moved without his parents, he was ineligible to play during the 2019 season because of CIF rules. He couldn't play in 2020 because the pandemic postponed high school football in the state of California. So he has yet to play in an organized football game.

And as noted in the Husky Maven story, there is a reason Moore did not commit earlier.

Moore left a close-knit family behind to pursue his football dream but says his multi-ethnic heritage makes him feels at home in America's melting pot.

"My mother is Samoan with a little part Chinese," he said. "But I don't know much about my biological father except that he's a New Zealand Caucasian and part Maori."

As a football player, Moore played the sport at the club level in New Zealand and arrived in California to play football, but the pandemic has prevented him from playing games for St. John Bosco.

Yet he's taken part in different camps and made an impressive showing, receiving defensive lineman most valuable player honors at the SoCal National Preps Showcase.

Moore comes out of the high school powerhouse program at St. John Bosco. The 247Sports website rates the 6-foot-3, 262-pound Moore as a three-star recruit, and the nation’s 77th-best strong-side defensive end prospect in the class.

Rivals.com ranks him as the 94th-best prospect in the state of California.

The spring letter-of-intent signing period begins Wednesday.

Video of Moore:

Moore told 247Sports on Wednesday after getting his offer that Cal was high on his list.

"I'm really excited about the offer," Moore said, according to 247Sports. "I like Cal a lot, they have a good balance of academics and football. I've never been out there before but I had a really good zoom call with coach Browning [Cal defensive line coach Andrew Browning], several other coaches and my parents so this offer really means a lot to me."

Cal had depth problems along the defensive line in 2020, so it makes sense that the Bears would like to add some depth there. Brett Johnson and JH Tevis are a good bet to be the starters at the end positions in the Bears' three-man front next season.

Follow Jake Curtis of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jakecurtis53

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