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Although the Cal men’s basketball team is two days away from kicking off its season, the big news on Wednesday was a group of players who won’t suit up in a Golden Bear uniform for at least another year. 

Head coach Ben Braun got official letters of intent from three of the best high school seniors in the country, including two standouts from the East Bay. Oakland Tech High’s Leon Powe and Oakland High’s Ayinde Ubaka are the crown jewels of the class, with Lincoln High (San Diego) wing Dominic McGuire also inking a pact. 

“We’re really excited to have these three guys signed up to play for us,” Braun said. “As much attention as they’ve gotten for being great players, when you get to know them as people, you’re just as impressed.” 

In signing his most highly-regarded class since arriving at Cal in 1996, Braun kept the Bay Area’s two best players close to home. Powe was once considered the second-best prospect in the nation behind NBA-bound LeBron James of Ohio, although a knee injury suffered last spring has knocked Powe down a few spots in most rankings. Ubaka, who played with Powe for Slam ‘N Jam’s AAU team two summers ago, is the West Coast’s top point guard and is ranked as high as second on national position lists. 

McGuire is Braun’s second signing out of San Diego in as many years, as current freshman Rod Benson played at Torrey Pines High. The 6-foot-7, 195-pound McGuire is rated as the 20th-best small forward in the nation by ESPN.com. 

The 6-foot-8, 230-pound Powe is one of the nation’s premier power players, a tremendous force around the basket who dominates the glass. He led his Oakland High team to the Division I state championship game last year, averaging 28 points, 14.8 rebounds and 3 blocks per game. Although a bit undersized for a power forward in the college game, he is expected to have an instant impact at Cal as the highest-ranked recruit since Jason Kidd. 

Powe has also gone through some personal tragedy. He and his siblings were separated from his mother for many years, then she died under mysterious circumstances just before last year’s state championship game. Add the knee injury that kept him from playing last summer and ended the possibility of heading straight to the NBA, and it’s clear Powe has endured more than the average high school senior. 

“Leon has been through a lot in his life,” said Braun, who has been recruiting him since the player’s freshman year. “He has a special type of toughness that comes from going through those things.” 

Ubaka is a silky-smooth point guard who has dominated competition for more than two years, bursting on the scene as a sophomore at Oakland High. At 6-foot-3 and 190 pounds, he has the size to play either guard position, although he will likely play the point at Cal.  

“Ayinde is really very gifted with the ball in his hands,” Braun said. “He’s great in the open court, and he’s hard to contain in the half-court. He can break his man down, and he really enjoys distributing the ball.” 

Ubaka moved up the national rankings with an outstanding performance at the Big Time Tournament in Las Vegas two summers ago, and he did nothing to alter that rise with his performances last season, averaging 23 points, 8 assists and 8 rebounds per game to lead Oakland High to the Oakland Athletic League championship game, where they lost to Powe’s Oakland Tech team. The two future Bears will face off again at least twice this season in the ultra-competitive OAL. 

Braun pointed out that none of the three signees took an official recruiting trip to any other school, and all three had only limited travel for summer tournaments this year in order to concentrate on academics. Although none of the players have officially qualified for the NCAA standards for incoming freshman athletes, Braun said he fully expects all three to qualify. 

The Bears can sign up to two more players for next season. One spot is expected to be taken by former Riordan High (San Francisco) star Marquis Kately, who is currently at a prep school as he attempts to qualify academically. 

Notes: Freshman point guard Richard Midgely is nearly recovered from the thigh injury he suffered earlier in the fall. Braun said Midgely may play in the exhibition on Friday, and will almost definitely be ready for the season opener against New Mexico on Nov. 23... C/F Gabriel Hughes is recovering from a herniated disk in his back and is questionable for Friday’s exhibition.