May 13, 2010
Kale signs NLI
We like how the name Cody Kale flows off the tongue. It just sounds like the epitome of a football or basketball star. If you said the latter, you’re right and a certain college coach in the San Joaquin Valley agrees.
Kale is a steal for the Roadrunners
Cal State University Bakersfield (CSUB) Coach Keith Brown enjoyed immense success while assisting for eight season with the Roadrunners’ D-II program. He was then chosen in 2005-2006 to lead Bakersfield’s transition to D-1 status, always a rocky road to navigate. In the coming 2010-2011 season, CSUB will finally be NCAA D-1 championship eligible. Nothing is concrete but history indicates the Roadrunners will eventually join the Big West Conference.
So Brown needs to broaden his talent pool.
With that in mind, Kale has become a Roadrunner.
Why Brown and Bakersfield? "I went on an official visit last weekend," Kale explained. "I talked a lot with the coaches, played with and hung out with the guys and toured the campus with them. I saw it as a good fit for me. There is a chance for playing time early if I keep working hard."
Kale is being looked at as a combo backcourter by the Roadrunner staff.
He is undecided on a major as yet but he would like to eventually work in a sports-related profession so "it will probably be something in business or marketing." He possesses a 3.4 grade point average.
Kale will be joining forward James Albright/Fremont (Oakland) High, who came aboard a couple of years back, as northern California prepsters on the Bakersfield roster.
Returning to the Roadrunner backcourt are a myriad of options but much more accurate shooting is needed from the mix:
- 6-foot-3 Donavan Bragg will be entering his senior go-around -- he scored 9.5 points per game and led the squad in assists while shooting 38% on the season, 35% from long distance
- Stephon Carter, also 6-foot-3, is a sophomore-to-be coming off averaging 13 points per game but he shot just 39%, 23% from long range
- 2010-2011 junior Bryan Emanuel, at 6-foot-2, shot 33% overall, 22% on trey attempts
- 6-foot-3 sophomore-to-be Marcus Hall made 36% of his long distance tries, 37% overall.
As a 6-foot-3 backcourter, Kale is coming off an outstanding season in which he averaged a magnificent 23.3 points, 6.3 rebounds and 4.4 assists per game at Rocklin High.
Besides more than doubling his scoring average, he also stepped up front and center as the fulcrum of the squad. "I knew coming into this season that I would have to do a lot more as a leader, as a scorer and the go-to guy so I worked on my game a lot during the summer."
The Thunder finished 22-10, concluding the season with a three-point loss to eventual state championship game participant St. Francis (Mountain View).
The No. 12 prospect in the NCP 2010 Top 40 wanted to acknowledge his gratefulness to the major figures who assisted him in getting to this point: "I want to thank my parents, [the recently-retired Rocklin head coach] Steve Taylor, [Nor Cal Pharoah coaches] Jason Barton and Matt Fahey and also Sean Chambers."