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High three-star QB Jaron Sagapolutele will visit Cal this weekend. He’s been really really good this week at Elite 11 and it feels like a crime that more schools aren’t in the picture. He’s visited Boise State, Oregon State and Utah State so far.

Simply put, after seeing him this week, Cal has to close on him. He’d be a huge pickup in this class.

He’s been one of the two or three most consistent performers at the camp this week and some of the top quarterbacks in the country are here.

Cal only offered him a few weeks ago but has made up a lot of ground in a short amount of time.

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Four-star Archbishop Riordan athlete Chris Lawson has trimmed his list to three schools, and Cal is part of that top group along with Oregon and Washington. The 6-foot-1 prospect visited Cal in the spring and will be back in Berkeley on June 14 for what will be his final official visit before a June 21 commitment announcement. He took an official visit to Washington this weekend and will see Oregon next week.

Lawson trimmed a number of schools from his list earlier in the process as he has focused more on the idea of playing defensive back in college. Most schools wanted him on offense. Cal has recruited as a receiver but is open to him playing defense, and that has helped the Bears make a move in addition to continued efforts from the staff to keep him home.

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2025 running back Jojo Solis is backing away from his commitment to Cal, he announced this afternoon. The high three-star prospect from Aquinas HS in San Bernardino had been looking into other schools and the Bears have been looking at other options at the position as well, so it is not a huge shock all the way around.

Cal has a commitment from Anthony League and had Nate Sheppard in for an official visit over the weekend, and Sheppard could easily slide into a similar role as Solis should he end up with the Bears.

The program still has 11 commitments in the 2025 class as it stands now.

I have a story prewritten, posting now

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Willie Mays just pasted away earlier today. He was my hero growing up as a NY Giants fan in NYC's suburbs who gave me so many great memories of his special talents. I was overjoyed when the Giants followed me to SF. RIP Say Hey Kid. It is too bad that he will miss by 2 days to see the Giants on TV play in his hometown of Birmingham where he started playing professionally in the Negro League.

Great publicity for the program, Kidd mentioned earlier this week how he and JB are both bears. I hope Madsen can build a relationship there and get some recruiting momentum out of this. Elite recruits and NBA stars DO go to Cal

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Five-star guard Isiah Harwell has trimmed his list down to four schools and will make his commitment public on Sept. 12. In addition that news, Harwell plans to take an official visit to Berkeley on June 25.

The Idaho native has family connections with Cal assistant Amarrow Morgan and that is a big part of why the Bears are in the running. He’s taken an official visit to Gonzaga already this year and Houston hosted him on an unofficial visit.

Texas is the other program still on the table for the 6-foot-5 guard.

Cal is back at it hosting a number of top targets this weekend. The Bears have another solid group coming in highlighted by an important local visitor. Here's the rundown of who is expected to be on campus in Berkeley over the next couple days.

Login to view embedded media Other visits: Washington (May 31), Oregon (June 7)
Decision: June 21

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Login to view embedded media Other visits: Arizona State (May 31)

Login to view embedded media Other visits: Arizona State (April 26), Texas Tech (June 7)

Login to view embedded media Other visits: Oregon State (May 10), Arizona State (June 7), Washington (June 21)

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Login to view embedded media Other visits: Duke (May 31), Northwestern (June 21)

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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Lancaster, Texas linebacker Ke'Breion Winston has committed to Cal today following his official visit last week. The 2025 recruit is the second linebacker in the class for the Bears alongside Carter Jones.


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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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Jaydn Ott was named a preseason All-American by Phil Steele on Tuesday while six other players earned All-ACC honors from the publication. Linebacker Cade Uluave and Craig Woodson were named second-team members alongside Ott while specialists David Bird and Lachlan Wilson were selected to the third team in Cal's new conference. Newcomer Marcus Harris and offensive lineman Sioape Vatikani were named to the fourth team on the Phil Steele list.

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 | Committed to BYU as a walk-on)
– 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)

Here's the latest group of official visitors for the Bears as they hit the second big week of recruiting to end the spring. Most programs are building up to the weekend of the 21st, but there is still a nice group of recruits expected on campus this weekend in Berkeley.

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Cal will have to wait it out as he takes over official visits in the coming weeks, but offensive line recruit Vaea Ikakoula's official visit with the Bears over the weekend left a strong impression. The three-star prospect from Salt Lake City (originally from Hawaii) was blown away with his time in Berkeley, and it allowed him to grow his bond with Mike Bloesch and the rest of the Cal staff.

"I loved the visit. I came into the visit not knowing what to expect, and it blew me out of the water. That's all I will say. It blew me out of the water. It was a great visit."

You can read my full update with Ikakoula at the link up top.

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The latest: https://n.rivals.com/news/rb-nate-s...official-visit-plans-after-northwestern-offer

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Three-star athlete Jae'on Young has announced his commitment to Cal this afternoon. He had planned visits to Kansas and Boston College in the next couple weeks, but the Bears showed him enough to push him to make an early decision. He will play defensive back with the Bears and the tandem of Terrence Brown and Tre Watson helped close the deal over the weekend.

"The authenticity is real at Cal. And the development of Coach TB (Terrance Brown) along with Coach (Tre) Watson will help me excel at the next level."

I'll have a more detailed writeup with Young later on, but here is a quick story on his decision Monday.

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Cal has added a commitment from another weekend visitor tonight with three-star defensive lineman LeBron Williams making his pledge to the Bears public. Williams (6-2, 255) took an official visit to UCLA last weekend and also holds offers from Washington State, San Diego State, Nevada and Hawaii.


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The Bears get back into Arizona and continue building up the inside linebacker group with a commitment on Saturday from 6-foot-3, 205-pound prospect Beckham Barney. He doesn't have an overly impressive offer list, but he was one of the most productive defensive players in Arizona last season. He finished 2023 with 145 tackles and 13 tackles for loss.

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I wrote an article about former Stanford star Dwight Powell playing in his first NBA Finals, but I made sure to give Jaylen Brown a shout out. The article is here, but if you just want to know what I wrote about Jaylen Brown, I'll spare you having to read through several paragraphs about Dwight Powell (though I do mention Jason Kidd is his head coach):

"P.S. I would be remiss if I did not also mention that I covered Boston Celtics star Jaylen Brown during his freshman year at Cal for Rivals’ GoldenBearReport.com. He's playing in his second NBA Finals and is in search of his first NBA championship. It’s been a lot of fun for me to watch the growth of his basketball career from his days at Cal all the way until now. The thing I remember the most about him is how hard he worked. He was always getting up extra shots in between water breaks and took his craft really seriously. He was constantly looking for ways to improve, which is why he's been able to take his game to another stratosphere."

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Kevin Armstrong 6-6
Hugh Vandeweghe 6-7
Steph Marbury 6-0

I think we will see some legit contributions out of this group in the coming years.

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Four-star 2025 wing Jovani Ruff has narrowed his focus down to four schools — Cal, USC, Oregon and Kansas. He’s also set a commitment date for June 5.

The Bears remain the only program still involved to have hosted him on an official visit up to this point. He visited Washington as well but the Huskies have been eliminated.

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Stephon Marbury II, a 2024 point guard from New York who played at DME Academy in Florida, announced his commitment to Cal today. It is expected the son of former NBA guard Stephon Marbury will join the Bears as a walk-on.

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