I had the opportunity to take in the Spring Game from the University Club at the top of Memorial Stadium and it is definitely something to see. If you have an opportunity to take in a game from there then I highly recommend it. The views are stunning and the experience is elevated to say the least. Go Bears!!!!!

FYI -- plenty more to come this month, of course.

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2025 high three-star tight end Stevie Amar was back at Cal for an official visit a couple weekends ago, and the Bears continue to impress him as he moves through the process. Although he has been on campus in Berkeley several times, Cal was able to still leave a strong impression on him on the latest trip. He has four more official visits coming up throughout June, but the Bears have given him a lot to think about as he works towards a likely summer decision.

"I'd say before the visit, the relationship was still strong. Cal was one of the earlier schools to offer me, so I'm forever grateful for that, and they've showed a lot of love since they've offered me. But, man, going up there and getting to meet all the new coaches and the entire staff, it was pretty great. I feel like the relationship only got stronger."

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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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A few kickoff times have been announced for the fall.

"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

He was a unique character, fantastic hooper, whip smart and a great fan of our dearly departed PAC. In fact, the loss of both at the same time is a form of tragic significance in my opinion.

Rumors are speculating that Utah might join the ACC.

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i doubt this is possible but wouldnt be surprised if the ACC and B12 fight it out in order to stay alive and try to compete with the B10/SEC.

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Such a difference Coach Madsen has made. Just being in top four with USC, Kansas, & Oregon is unbelievable if you think back to where we were 2 years ago.

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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.

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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Cal is battling with several top programs for high three-star Texas-based defensive line recruit Xavier Okponu. The 2025 prospect from Guyer HS in Denton spent the weekend in Berkeley for an official visit kicking off a busy stretch for the 6-foot-3, 300-pound recruit. He will next see Arkansas, Florida and LSU, but the Bears made some headway in his recruitment over the weekend.

He's cancelled his Oregon visit and USC has fallen out of favor with Ukponu leaving just Washington and Cal as the West Coast schools in the picture as it stands right now. The Bears have continued to sell him on a potential opportunity to play early, and that has resonated with him.

"It was fun, I had a great time. They treated me very well, they treated my family well. The players were cool. It was a great experience. They emphasized that I can come in and make an impact early my freshman year and that Cal is home."

Read the full update at the link up top.

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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.

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.

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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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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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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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