Despite the season being over, the buzz around Cal basketball is bigger than it was at any point during the season all because of one young man named Ivan Rabb, a 5-star McDonald's All-American power forward from Bishop O'Dowd High School in Oakland, CA. At 6'11'' and 220 lbs, Rabb has the ability to dominate on both ends of the floor with his length, explosiveness, and offensive moves. He is able to score in a variety of ways, both inside and out. He can beat you down on the block or take you out on the perimeter and sink a fade away jumper in your face.
He appears to be the whole package, which is why Cal is drooling all over him and why NBADraft.net has him going #3 overall in the 2016 NBA Draft (Click here for that mock draft). So, how huge would be it be for Cal to land Ivan Rabb? It would be more than huge. It would be monstrous! The Cal basketball program hasn't had a player of this caliber since Jason Kidd in the early 1990s, who like Rabb was a local product debating between Cal and a traditional basketball powerhouse (Rabb is also considering Arizona and Kidd was considering Kansas).
If Cal lands Ivan Rabb, they will be on the national stage with the likes of Kentucky, Kansas, Arizona, North Carolina, and Duke. The table will be set for Cal to land other big name recruits like Caleb Swanigan and Jaylen Brown. Even if those guys don't come to join him, Rabb's presence alone would be huge for the program because he would make Cal a destination for other big-name players to seriously consider.
The impact landing Rabb would have on the program would be bigger than just his impact for one season. It would impact how Cuonzo Martin is able to recruit for years to come. Big-time recruits like Rabb are looking at college as a place to prepare themselves for the NBA. If Ivan Rabb plays well at Cal and goes on to have a stellar NBA career, Cuonzo Martin will be able to tell other big-name recruits that Cal is a great place to prepare yourself for the NBA. In addition, he'll have Ivan Rabb there to answer any questions.
As far as what his impact would mean for next season, it's hard to say because there is still a lot of factors and variables that we don't know. We don't know how good Arizona is going to be, how good UCLA and Utah will be, or what the national championship landscape will be as a whole. But assuming that Tyrone Wallace comes back, I don't see any reason to not expect Cal to make the NCAA tournament and make a run to the Sweet Sixteen. I wouldn't rule out a run to the Elite Eight or Final Four since Rabb would have plenty of quality veteran's around him, but I think that once you get to that point, you're asking for quite a bit of luck.
In conclusion, landing Rabb would be huge for Cal. He would instantly become the face of the program and have an impact that would ripple through the program for many years to come. He would elevate Cal from the middle of the Pac-12 to the forefront of the national championship picture in a way similar to what we saw happen with Utah. Go Bears!
---Ben Parker: follow me on twitter @nba_lord for NBA and Cal basketball news
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