Jahvid Best

Jahvid Andre Best (born January 30, 1989 in Vallejo, California)[1] is a running back for the California Golden Bears. Entering his junior year, Best's breakout sophomore year caused early speculation of him being a future Heisman candidate and top running back prospect.[2][3] He set several records, including most all-purpose yards in a single season and most rushing yards in a single game for Cal. He was also the Pac-10 rushing leader for the 2008 season.

Early years

Best attended Salesian High School in Richmond, California. In his junior year he had 1,495 rushing yards on 138 attempts with 20 touchdowns. Salesian also won the North Coast Section championship in 2005 to conclude an epic 12-1 season. In his senior year, Best ran for 3,325 yards and 48 touchdowns, both Bay Area single-season records.[1] Salesian once again made it to the NCS finals, but lost in the final game to St Patrick-St Vincent High School of Vallejo.

Best ran track as well, participating in the Arcadia Invitational in his junior and senior years. As a junior, he won the 100 meter dash with a time of 10.39 seconds with an injured foot.[4]As a senior he won the 200 meter dash with a time of 21.40 seconds.[5] Also during his senior year, Best won the California Interscholastic Federation state championship in the 100 meters with a time of 10.31. [6] Best finished his senior season with personal bests of 10.31 and 20.65

Best received scholarship offers from Arizona, Arizona State, California, Michigan, Notre Dame, Oregon, USC, and Washington among others, before ultimately committing to California in 2006.[7]


College career
[edit] 2007

As a true freshman in 2007, Best was the primary backup to Justin Forsett. On only 29 carries, Best had 221 rushing yards, and 2 touchdowns. Best also caught 13 passes for 174 yards and a receiving touchdown. Best was selected as the team's Most Valuable Freshman as well as the team's J. Scott Duncan Award (Most Valuable Special Teams Player).
[edit] 2008

Best quickly got the nation's attention on the season opener against Michigan State on August 30. Best had 111 yards on 24 carries and got a touchdown. His breakout game came on September 6 in a 66-3 Cal win against Washington State, having two touchdown runs of 80 and 86 yards, respectively. Best finished the game with exactly 200 yards and 3 rushing touchdowns.

He would however struggle the next week against Maryland, mostly due to California falling behind early and Best not getting as many touches as the Bears game plan became mostly an air attack. Although he returned to form against Colorado State, he dislocated his elbow and would miss the next game against Arizona State.[8] He returned for the Arizona game, and dashed for a 67 yard score that put the Bears ahead in the second quarter.[9] He would rack up 140 all purpose yards against the Wildcats.


After two more impressive outings against UCLA and Oregon averaging over six yards per carry, Best was held to only 30 yards against the USC Trojans. Following a 201 yard rushing game against the Stanford Cardinal in the 2008 Big Game on 19 carries, Best became the seventh consecutive 1,000 rusher for Cal since Jeff Tedford became head coach in 2002. During the last game of the regular season versus Washington on December 6, Best became the first Cal player to rush for over 300 yards in a game and ended the regular season as the Pac-10's leading rusher, beating out Oregon State's Jacquizz Rodgers, who missed the final game of the regular season against Oregon and the subsequent 2008 Sun Bowl due to injury.

A 186-yard, two touchdown performance in the 2008 Emerald Bowl to conclude the season earned him Offensive MVP honors for the game. Best finished the 2008 season with 1,580 rushing yards, an 8.1-yard per carry average, and 15 touchdowns.
[edit] 2009

On January 15, 2009 Best underwent surgery to tighten a ligament that had been injured when he dislocated his left elbow against Colorado State on September 27, 2008. This was followed up by foot surgery on January 23 to relieve the irritation of an extra bone that was caused when Best bruised his foot halfway through the 2008 season. He missed spring football practice as a result.[10] Best was named as the most explosive player in college football by Rivals.com in February 2009.[11] In early June Best was able to participate in team summer workouts without pain.[12]

In Cal's season opener against Maryland, Best rushed for 137 yards and had two rushing touchdowns in the Bears' 52-13 victory. On September 12 against Eastern Washington, he rushed for 144 yards and one touchdown, and had one 22 yard receiving touchdown. On September 19 against Minnesota he ran for 131 yards and all of Cal's five touchdowns in the victory, a personal best and a modern school record.[13] He was named Pac-10 Player of the Week, as well as Rivals.com National Player of the Week.[14][15] However, the next week Best was held to 55 rushing yards and no touchdowns on 16 carries against the Oregon Ducks.[16] The following week he was held to 48 yards on 15 carries against the #7 Trojans, also unable to find the end zone.

Best was injured during the second quarter of a game against Oregon State on November 7, 2009. He flipped in mid-air while attempting to hurdle a defender into the end zone and landed on the back of his head, causing his helmet to come off. After a 13-minute delay, Best was taken off the field. A preliminary evaluation concluded that he had sustained a concussion.

source

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jahvid_Best