As one of the hottest teams in the country over the last 20 games, Cal may have secured an at-large berth to the NCAA tournament over Arizona last night to advance to the Pac-12 tournament semifinals. They play USC today at 2:30 in Scottsdale.

These guys have them "in" the tourney as of today: https://d1baseball.com/stories/2024-d1baseball-field-of-64-projections-may-24/

Baseball America still has them out, opting to project 11 SEC teams as in instead (!)

A win today would presumably all but assure them a bid.

Lastly, if you havent been following Cal Baseball, they've got a bunch of talent, but catcher Caleb Lomavita is gonna be a first round pick.

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2025 QB recruit Robert McDaniel and Cal are going their separate ways. The Hughson rising senior had been committed to Bears since March.

"The task force said it would be best to shift the athletics brand to “Cal Berkeley,” both in the name and logo. In the recent announcement, the university said it’s scrapping this recommendation."

Just amazing how clueless this "task force" is. They could have pulled 5 random people from this board for their "task force" and come up with better ideas and recommendations than whoever was suggesting Cal Berkeley to replace Cal.

I mean can you even imagine any other flagship university emphasizing the city the school is in for their athletics branding?

Florida Gainesville -> No, Task Force, it's just Florida
Wisconsin Madison -> No, Task Force, it's just Wisconsin
Tennessee Knoxville - > No, Task Force, it's just Tennessee

I know the expert witness for the House side of the case against the NCAA. We talked last Tuesday and he told me the NCAA could settle but doesn't seem inclined to do so. Well, according to this article, literally the next day, NCAA lawyers advised a settlement.

This dwarfs the Alston SCOTUS decision that resulted in the NIL world of college sports. This is literally the NCAA members throwing in the towel and saying "OK, we have to pay players now." This will lead to unionization and collective bargaining, and it will also get into player acquisition and compensation caps, working conditions, etc. Who the hell knows how "school" will end up fitting into this new world order, but a few thoughts.

Is Stanford ready to join this new world? I've heard Stanford partisans say Stanford would never agree to join a system to pay players because (and these are my words) that is beneath their elitism. But they did join the ACC, and have embraced NIL, so I don't know. But, if Stanford does drop out of pro college sports, Cal stands to benefit in a very big way. I know people here have said Cal won't "go pro" either, but I think Cal has way too many alumni who would storm the UC offices if UCLA was in and Cal was out.

Cal may be poised to become the pro team(s) of the East Bay, and take the "priced out of pro sports" fans from the whole Bay Area. This could create a significant amount of value for Cal teams and usher in a Golden Era of Cal sports.

Cal linebacker commit Carter Jones (left) and inside linebacker target Ke'Breion Winston chat on an unofficial visit with the Bears back in the spring. (Matt Moreno | Golden Bear Report)

I already posted about John Mills beginning his official visit with the Bears today, but he will not be the only one on campus this week. The Bears are not wasting the time before the upcoming short dead period and will have a handful of targets in for visits in the coming days.

Here's a rundown of who is expected to make the trip out to Berkeley for a visit.

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One of the highest-rated visitors this week offensive lineman from Hawaii. Ikakoula is now at West High School in Salt Lake City, and the Bears have been building momentum with the 6-foot-4, 310-pound prospect heading into his official visit. Stanford, Iowa State and Oklahoma State are the other school in line to host him on a trip in the coming weeks but it wouldn't be a huge shock if he ends up pulling the trigger before getting all those visits in. Mike Bloesch has been building some real momentum with offensive line recuriting, and this is a key visit for the Bears.

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It's probably going to take a little longer for Xavier Ukponu to decide on a school, but Cal has continued to stay in the conversation despite a ton of programs becoming more involved in recent months. The high three-star defensive lineman has set up official visits with Arkansas, Oregon and LSU with an official visit to Florida also likely next month. Typically you want to be the last program to host a high school recruit but the Bears will instead get the first shot at impressing him on an official visit, and it might not be a bad thing at all. The Bears are in the race for a reason and Bloesch and the rest of the staff have been able to build a nice pipeline into Guyer HS in Denton as of late. LSU is the biggest competition right now. USC, Tennessee, Washington, Miami and Texas A&M are some of his other offers.

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You can read some more detailed thoughts on Mills in this thread linked here, but his visit is an important one for the Bears. Landing a local recruit who is being pursued by several top programs would be a major victory for Cal. Washington, Florida and Texas are also set to host the St. Ignatius standout in the coming weeks while Nebraska already had him on campus for an official visit last month.

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The versatile safety from Kahuku HS in Hawaii has had his official visit set with the Bears for two months. He will finally get to make that trek out to Berkeley this week. Aiden Manutai has gained the attention of programs across the country, and the visit with the Bears will open a busy stretch for the three-star prospect. He used his first official visit on a trip to Arizona last month. Penn State is hosting him next week while visits to Tennessee, Nebraska and Washington will follow that.

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This weekend's trip to Berkeley will mark a return visit for three-star inside linebacker Ke'Breion Winston. The Lancaster, Texas recruit made the trip to Cal for an unofficial visit during spring ball where he spent quite a bit of time around current commit Carter Jones, who will also be on campus this week for an official visit. Winston has official visits set up with Arizona State, Baylor and Arkansas coming up over the next several weeks, so it will be vital for Cal to make a strong enough impression once again to earn his pledge through all those other trips. Illinois also just recently jumped into the mix with an offer for the 6-foot-1 linebacker.

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Commits

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In addition to the uncommitted 2025 recruits visiting, the Bears will also have Jones back on campus for a visit with the team. He's been on campus a bunch already, but he has also been a good ambassador for the program in helping to bridge the gap between the staff and recruits. Plus, current LSU transfer commit Ryan Yaites will get his opportunity to get back on campus for a visit before making the move out west for good later in the summer. Yaites already visited Cal as a high school prospect but committed before getting the opportunity to get back on campus after his one season at LSU. He is another Guyer player, so that is another positive connection for the Bears this week.

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One of the most important official visits of the spring/summer will begin today. St. Ignatius tackle John Mills will spend the next couple days with the Bears as he continues to make his way through the process. Cal is competition with some top programs as Mills will see Washington, Florida and Texas in the next several weeks. He used his first official visit on a trip to Nebraska last month.

Landing a local prospect like Mills over that other competition would be a major recruiting victory for the staff and build on the momentum already being established in the 2025 cycle. The expectation is that Mills will decide soon after his visits wrap up, so this is an important opportunity for the Bears to make a move.

There is a dead period that will begin Sunday, so schools hosting official visitors are moving those trips up a bit.

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Big 6-foot-1 running back Anthony League has committed to Cal today. The Long Beach-Millikan standout was previously at Los Alamitos High School. He plays both ways, and some schools had been looking at him as an athlete recruit but he's a running back in my opinion and will be a really nice piece to have in the future alongside Jojo Solis.

Washington, Utah, BYU, Arizona, San Jose State, Colorado State, Oregon State and Yale had been some of the other schools in pursuit of League this spring.

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Our main big boy transfer thread has gotten a little stale, so we're going to refresh things here as the spring portal window opens today. We'll keep track of all the new offers and visits happening for the Bears and also track those recruits who are leaving the program as well.

So far it has been a bit quiet for the Bears but that is expected to change. There are several positions the staff is looking to address over the next several weeks.

As a reminder, the transfer portal window will run from April 16-30 giving non-graduate transfers an opportunity to enter the portal and seek out a new home. They do not have to decide by the 30th but just have to have their names entered by the end of that day. Graduate transfers are permitted to enter the portal at any point.

Additions

– ILB Liam Johnson (Princeton | March 22)
– OL Braden Miller (Michigan State | April 21)
– TE Corey Dyches (Maryland | April 25)
– DL TJ Bollers (Wisconsin | April 25)
– DB Jasiah Wagoner (Oklahoma | April 27)
– DB Ryan Yaites (LSU | April 29)
– OLB Deamontae Diggs (Youngstown State | April 30) **Decommitted
– WR Kyion Grayes (Ohio State | May 5)
– DL Serigne Tounkara (Missouri | May 7)
– QB CJ Harris (Ohio | May 8)
– OLB Cheikhsaliou Fall (Eastern Kentucky | May 15)
– TE Jerry Johnson III (Texas A&M | May 16)
– OL Will McDonald (Coastal Carolina | May 19)

Departures

– OLB Myles Jernigan (April 11 | Committed to Louisville)
– CB Collin Gamble (April 22 | Withdrew from portal on May 13)
– OL Ender Aguilar (April 23)
– TE Marquis Montgomery (April 24)
– OL Martin Tine (April 24 | Committed to Texas State)
– DB Kaylin Moore (April 26 | Committed to UCLA)
– DL Tiu Afalava (April 28)
– WR Marquez Dortch (April 29 | Committed to Troy)

Official visits continue this week as the Bears build on a busy spring. The attention will soon turn back to high school prospects, and a couple of those recruits have already started to highlight their upcoming official visits this weekend. We'll update this list as the week goes on

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Utah-based offensive lineman Ben Howard will use his first official visit on a trip to Berkeley this weekend. The 6-foot-3, 300-pound recruit from Skyridge HS also holds offers from Penn State, Iowa State, Arizona State, Arizona, Washington State and Utah State. He's originally from Las Vegas.

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Big 6-foot-6, 295-pound offensive tackle recruit Mark Handy will be using his second official visit on a trip to Cal this weekend. He already visited with the Bears during spring ball, so this will be a return trip to Berkeley. Baylor hosted him for his first official visit a couple weeks ago. Duke (May 31), Arkansas (June 7), Minnesota (June 14) and Utah (June 22) are the other schools set to host the Albuquerque native on official visits in the coming weeks.

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Three-star receiver Tavian McNair has an impressive offer list, and he is soon set to begin the most important stretch of his recruitment. The Corona-Centennial recruit will begin his official visits with a trip to Arizona State next week followed by trips to Utah, Cal and Kansas. He is also hoping to set visits with Georgia, Texas A&M and Washington State before the dead period.

The Bears have remained among the most active programs in his recruitment, and he's already been on campus before. His last trip was for last month's spring showcase, and the connection with Cal has helped him build a strong relationship with the staff — particularly receivers coach Burl Toler III.

I caught up with the Cal priority target to discuss his upcoming official visit with the team plus was able to get a better feel for where he's at overall in the process heading into his busy month. Right now his plan is to decide by the beginning of July, so it will be a crucial stretch for the 6-foot-1 pass catcher who looked great at the Millikan Tournament of Champions on Saturday.

"It's a great coaching staff. Coach Marshall (Cherrington), great guy. Coach Burl (Toler), great guy. Coach (Mike) Bloesch, great guy. I love them all. ... Coach Burl shows love all the time. He constantly checks in on me. Coach Bloesch and the whole coaching staff loves me, and they keep checking in on me. It's been good."

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Cal has beaten out a handful of Power 4 programs for a commitment form 2025 offensive lineman Ben Howard today. The Lehi (Utah) Skyridge recruit took an official visit to Berkeley over the weekend and committed to the staff before announcing this morning. Howard also held offers from Penn State, Iowa State, Arizona State, Arizona, Washington and Utah State as well. He checks in at 6-foot-4 and 310 pounds.

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High three-star defensive lineman BJ Canady announced his top 3 today ahead of an Oct. 4 commitment announcement. The Bears remain in strong position here, and I've had my Rivals FutureCast prediction locked in since Sept. 7 in favor of Cal. I do not plan on changing it (hint, hint) as he settles in on announcing his choice. Kansas and Kansas State are the other two programs on the list.

The Bears made a strong impression on Canady during his official visit for the Auburn game, that is what I will say about this one. You can read his reaction to that trip at the link above.

"The crowd was electric," he said. "The fans were saying hi and knew who I was, so that was a plus. I already knew and saw the facilities, I already had a relationship with the coaches, so that was really good. ... The crowd was better than I thought it was gonna be. I did not think it was gonna be that packed like that, so that really changed my perspective of the game."

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Will McDonald, a graduate transfer from Coastal Carolina, has announced his transfer commitment to Cal this morning. The 6-foot-2, 295-pound North Carolina native started all 13 games at left guard for the Chanticleers in 2023. The Bears have not quite settled on the left side of the offensive line, so he could certainly challenge for a role at the left guard spot. At the very least he'll provide some experienced depth up front.

He's played in 50 games with 26 starts in five seasons in his career.

McDonald played 781 snaps in 2023 and allowed 9 pressures and 1 sack according to PFF.

Per his Twitter account, Jeff Nwankwo, a 6' 6" SF from JC Cowley College in Lawrence, KS has decommitted. IMO, Jeff likely felt that he was recruited over by Ola-Joseph, Omot, Stojakovic and Petraitis and did not want to compete against those commits for playing time. It is ironic that Madsen's recent successful recruiting effort had caused a very good JC player to bail out. Also, when I see JC from KS, a red flag is raised with respect to the challenge of academics at Cal.

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Texas A&M transfer fullback Jerry Johnson III has announced his transfer commitment to Cal. He did not make an appearance in his one season with the Aggies (2023) but played in 26 games over three seasons while at Rice. He caught 1 pass for -3 yards during his time with the Owls and was mostly used on special teams. He'll move to tight end with the Bears.

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That’s what The UC Regents are recommending UCLA should pay Cal yearly in Calimony through 2030.

Since it was brought up, here is a list of all the roster additions made by Cal so far this spring. I've also included the returners and fall signee, Jeremiah Wilkinson, to give the full scope of what the team looks like now after Mady Sissoko's commitment.

Transfers

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2023-24 stats: 1 game, 1.0 ppg, 2.0 rpg

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2023-24 stats: 32 games (32 starts), 16.7 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 1.4 apg

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2023-24 stats: 32 games (29 starts), 11.6 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 1.5 apg

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2023-24 stats: 32 games (32 starts), 11.3 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 5.4 apg

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2023-24 stats: 29 games (29 starts), 7.5 ppg, 2.2 rpg, 0.5 apg

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2023-24 stats: 32 games (10 starts), 7.8 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 0.9 apg

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2023-24 stats: 24 games (20 starts), 15.7 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 3.7 apg

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2023-24 stats: 35 games (26 starts), 3.3 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 0.3 apg

JUCO transfers

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2023-24 stats: 34 games (34 starts), 18.6 ppg, 7.6 rpg, 2.0 apg

Walk-ons

Kevin Armstrong II (6-foot-6, 206 pounds) | Breck School (Minneapolis, Minnesota)

Returning players

Login to view embedded media 2023-24 stats: 16 games, 0.4 ppg, 0.9 rpg, 0.4 apg

Login to view embedded media 2023-24 stats: 7 games, 0.9 ppg, 0.3 rpg, 0.3 apg

Fall signees

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Spring transfer departures

PG Devin Askew (March 18) | Committed to Long Beach State
PF Grant Newell (March 19)
SG Rodney Brown Jr. (March 19) | Committed to Virginia Tech
SF Monty Bowser (March 20)
PF ND Okafor (March 25)
SG Jalen Celestine (April 1)
PF Gus Larson (April 22)

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Cal has landed a commitment from 6-foot-5, 255-pound outside linebacker transfer Cheikh Fall this morning. The Brooklyn, New York native played in 11 games (4 starts) last season and had 3.5 TFL and 2 sacks last season at Eastern Kentucky.

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Where do the Bears stand with
1) remaining football scholarships
2) remaining hoop scholarships
3) additional football portal targets
4) additional hoop portal targets

Go Bears!! 🐻

Ohio QB transfer CJ Harris is on campus today.

Ohio has already removed his bio, so I'm not 100 percent sure, but I believe he has two years of eligibility left. He passed for 248 yards, 2 TDs and 3 INTs in limited action last year.

We'll use this space to track the movement to and from Cal's roster this offseason through the transfer portal.

Additions

– LB Teddye Buchanan (UC Davis | Dec. 5)
– QB Chandler Rogers (North Texas | Dec. 11)
– DL Aidan Keanaaina (Notre Dame | Dec. 16)
– DB Marcus Harris (Idaho | Dec. 17)
– OL Rush Reimer (Montana State | Dec. 18)
– WR Jaden Richardson (Tufts | Dec. 20)
– K Ryan Coe (North Carolina | Dec. 21)
– WR Tobias Merriweather (Notre Dame | Dec. 21)
– WR Cole Boscia (Colorado | Dec. 21) *
– RB Kadarius Calloway (Old Dominion | Jan. 3)
– OL Victor Stoffel (Temple | Jan. 8)
– WR Mikey Matthews (Utah | Jan. 9)
– WR Jonathan Brady (New Mexico State | Jan. 11)

* denotes PWO
bold denotes enrolled at Cal

Departures

– QB Ben Finley (Nov. 28) — committed to Akron (Jan. 5)
– DB Tyson McWilliams (Nov. 29) — committed to UC Davis (Jan. 15)
– OL Brayden Rohme (Nov. 30) — committed to UMass (Dec. 22)
– ILB Kaleb Elarms-Orr (Dec. 1) — committed to TCU (Dec. 20)
– OL Everett Johnson (Dec. 1) — committed to Montana (Dec. 17)
– ILB Blake Antzoulatos (Dec. 1)
– K Mateen Bhaghani (Dec. 4) — committed to UCLA (Dec. 18)
– CB Jeremiah Earby (Dec. 5) — committed to Boise State (Jan. 4)
– QB Sam Jackson V (Dec. 11) — committed to Auburn (Dec. 27)
– DB Raymond Woodie III (Dec. 18) — committed to Bethune-Cookman (Dec. 25)
– TE/DE Moso'oipala Tuitele (Dec. 19)
– WR Jeremiah Hunter (Dec. 21) — committed to Washington (Dec. 29)
– DB Dejuan Butler (Dec. 27)
– DB Sai Vadrawale (Jan. 2) — committed to Oregon State (Jan. 7)
– FB Andy Alfieri (Jan. 16)

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Was a bit of an inconsistent season for Jalen Celestine but he brought plenty of value to the floor for the Bears. Now he’ll look to finish out his career elsewhere after entering the transfer portal tonight.

Jeff Faraudo reported on the Cal Sports Illustrated site that Collin Gamble, Marquez Dortch, Marquis Montgomery, and Tiumala Afalava will reportedly remain with the Bears after entering the portal. Is that really likely to happen?