I think it's pretty clear the kid is in love with the West Coast. I think his heart has been set on Stanford, and Cal is as close as he's going to get in terms of distance and academia. NSD is an arbitrary date set by the NCAA. I'm not going to a hold a kid to any sort of meaningless standard set by an outside entity.Think bigger picture. The constant courting and attention that he's receiving from all of these universities and coaching staffs. He's had years to think about this and make a decision. If anyone still thinks this is about academia they are sadly mistaken..
What I can't believe though is that he would have an ACT score high enough for admittance to Cal-Berkley but not Stanford.