Nick Alftin had chills throughout his body.
 
Walking out of the north tunnel at California Memorial Stadium on his recruiting visit and taking in all the sights and sounds of a Cal football gameday experience gave him butterflies in his stomach.
 
The Woodside native and Archbishop Mitty High School senior will have plenty more opportunities to experience those emotions in front of his friends and family now along with the seven other Northern Californians in his recruiting class – McCallan Castles (South Lake Tahoe/South Tahoe HS), Will Craig (Granite Bay/Granite Bay HS), Colt Doughty (Los Gatos, College of San Mateo/Los Gatos HS), Brandon Mello (Clayton/Clayton Valley Charter HS), Miles Owens (Oakland/Bishop O'Dowd HS), Evan Tattersall (Granite Bay/Granite Bay HS) and JH Tevis (Piedmont/Menlo School).
 
Alftin and seven other Northern California signees in the 2018 Cal football recruiting class can remain close to their families while enjoying everything that Cal has to offer.
 
Since becoming head coach at Cal, recruiting in the Bay Area and Northern California has been a strong point of emphasis for Justin Wilcox. He and the Cal football staff are laying the groundwork to keep the local talent at home and in the Blue and Gold.
 
"There's no reason why the local guys shouldn't be coming here," Wilcox said. "There are really good football players in the Bay Area, Northern California and the West Coast. Their friends and family can come watch them play here. There's that sense of community, which I think is really important. At the same time, we have a national and a global brand, so there are going to be times when we go to Indianapolis or Arizona for a recruit, but we want to build our team from the inside out right here in the Bay Area. There are a lot of people that we think can fit our profile locally."
 
It's an asset in establishing name recognition at the national level when a college football roster boasts talented local players. Excitement is generated in the community, which expands and makes that program an attractive destination no matter where a player is from.
 
"From the beginning, our goal from a recruiting standpoint was we needed to have the nucleus of our team be from the Bay Area and Northern California," recruiting coordinator Marques Tuiasosopo said. "We really wanted to get the homegrown talent in. If they're invested in the program and fans are excited about them because they knew about them in high school, there's an easy buy-in. This is where they're from, so that makes it fun for them. That was a big priority for us. Our staff has done a great job of building great relationships with them where they trust us and trust that we're going to develop them to the fullest."
 
For Doughty, it was Wilcox's direction and philosophy that resonated with him, as well as the education he would receive at Cal. He knew he could experience everything Cal had to offer and be just a car ride away from home.
 
Doughty believes the hometown connection will help him and his teammates bond immediately.  
 
"The closer people are the more you want to go to bat for each other," Doughty said. "The more people will do things right if you want to fight hard for each other, and that's where the strength of a football team comes from. Having so many guys from the Bay Area gives us a good head start in building that camaraderie."
 
Hailing from Cal's backyard in Oakland made Owens' decision to come to Cal all the simpler. Having the opportunity for his friends and family to continue to watch him play meant the world to him.
 
"Being from the Bay Area, living here for another four years with all of the good vibes and diversity here, that's going to be a lot of fun," Owens said. "My family can keep going to all of my games, and they're really happy about that. They wanted me to pick the place that was the best fit for me, so picking Cal was kind of a bonus in that regard."
 
Getting adjusted to college life may be easier for Craig and Tattersall. The two were high school teammates at Granite Bay High School, just northeast of Sacramento, and will continue to don the same jerseys at Cal in the fall.
 
Tattersall said going through the recruiting process with Craig helped their friendship grow stronger, which will give them a boost in Berkeley.
 
"We were relatively doing all the same things at the same time [during the recruiting process], so that allowed us to get a lot closer," Tattersall said. "It strengthened the relationship for the next however many years we play together. Especially with him being my roommate in the fall that will help with getting acclimated."
 
Alftin also has a Cal connection in his family. His older sister, Christine, played volleyball for the Golden Bears from 2014-17. Attending Christine's volleyball matches allowed Nick to get a sense of what the experience would be like for him.
 
"I've been raised around Cal for my entire life," Alftin said. "From being around the program when I was recruited, I could tell the culture has changed a lot in the past year. Everybody wants to play for Coach Wilcox. Hopefully incoming recruits can see what's happening in their own backyard and join us."
 
Wilcox and his staff are laying a foundation to win with Northern California's own.