Arizona OL Joe Borjon, who made three starts last season for the Wildcats, is visiting Cal today. I think he has two years of eligibility left if I did the math correctly -- spent 2020-2021 at JUCO, didn't play at Arizona in 2022, played last season. He's a big body at 6-foot-8, originally from La Puente.

And then on Monday, Youngstown State DL Deamonte Diggs is visiting. Played off the bench last season for YSU, making 11 tackles and 4 sacks. Has two years of eligibility left. 6-6, 260.

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Maryland tight end Corey Dyches has announced his commitment to Cal. Dyches had been the top available transfer player at his position according to Rivals and was previously committed to Charlotte. Instead, the Bears quietly brought him on campus and were able to score a flip.

He caught 49 passes for 491 yards and 2 touchdowns in the 2023 season and should give the Bears another intriguing piece to use in the passing game.

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A perfect example of why you keep relationships positive in recruiting. Wisconsin OLB/DL TJ Bollers visited Cal during his recruitment and was a priority target for the Bears back in the 2021 class. Now, he's headed to Berkeley to join the team after three seasons in Madison. He played in four games in 2023 but was on the field in 11 contests in 2022. The Bears are bringing him in as a defensive lineman but he was listed as an outside linebacker with the Badgers.

He's added weight and is close to 280 pounds now, so he will slide inside and play along the front at Cal.

Bollers had been a four-star prospect ranked No. 105 overall as a recruit from Clear Creek Amana in Tiffin, Iowa.

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Three-star 2025 DL prospect Xavier Ukponu is a priority target for the Bears in the current cycle, and he officially trimmed his list down to nine schools that he is focused on right now. The Bears have remained in the picture and are part of that group. Cal is likely to get him on an official visit at some point but will have to play some catchup here it seems. He's set official visits to LSU and Arkansas recently while Texas A&M, Oregon and USC are all likely to get him out for official visits as well.

Washington, Oklahoma State and Florida are the other programs on his short list. Mike Bloesch is leading the recruitment for the Bears with his connections to Texas.

The Bears close out the spring with their spring showcase Saturday, and the team will have a number of recruits on campus for the event. Here's a rundown of who is expected to be on campus this weekend visiting with the program.

Transfer

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Michigan State transfer offensive tackle Braden Miller is on an official visit to Cal this weekend after entering the portal earlier this week. The Colorado native, who checks in at 6-foot-7 and 314 pounds, did not play as a freshman in 2022 but did appear in three games last season (vs. Richmond, Indiana and Penn State) as a right tackle. The Bears have had a couple offensive linemen out this spring, including Temple transfer Victor Stoffel, so adding some more depth up front has been a priority already for the staff. Miller was highly recruited out of Eaglecrest High School in the Denver suburb of Aurora. Michigan, Tennessee, Oklahoma State, Nebraska and Miami were some of the programs involved in his recruitment before he decided on the Spartans. As noted below, he's the younger brother of Barrett Miller, who transferred to Cal from Stanford for his final season last year.

2025

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Cal is nearing the end of spring practice with just one day left for the Bears. Friday's practice ended up being much closer to a normal day than a walk-though giving us one more opportunity to see the team in action before Saturday's spring showcase. There was actually quite a bit of action throughout the work day Friday allowing for some continued evaluations for the staff.

Here's a rundown of what stood out during Friday's practice on Day 14.

– The quarterbacks have mostly been clean in recent practices, and the turnovers numbers had been down. That changed Friday, as the defense was able to come up with four interceptions on the day. Defensive back Miles Williams (pictured above) came away with two of the takeaways for the defense during Friday's practice. He first was able to step in front of a pass from Fernando Mendoza, who looking downfield for receiver Mikey Matthews. It's a throw Mendoza would like back though Williams made a nice play to haul in the pass.

Williams' second interception came during the "rush skelly" period that gave the defense ample opportunities to make plays. The veteran defensive back delivered when he was able to snag a pass from Chandler Rogers for his second interception.

Linebacker Cade Uluave followed with an interception shortly after as he also was able to take one away from Rogers during the sequence.

Marcus Scott II came away with the final interception of the day as he closed out the second team period with an interception working against Rogers late in practice.

– It was another impressive day for the defense all around with several impressive plays on that side. Xavier Carlton has quietly put together an impressive spring, and he came up with a sack of Mendoza midway through the first team period. Taht was later followed by a sack for defensive lineman Ricky Correia on Mendoza in a third-down situation.

Uluave continues to look better each day since his full return to the field this spring. Friday's practice was arguably his most impactful with plays all over the field. In addition to his interception, he also came up with a tackle for loss against Mendoza during the final team period on a third-down play plus he pressured Mendoza early in that same period forcing an incompletion. The second-year linebacker also had a big hit on Jaydn Ott at the end of a 10-yard run during the skelly period.

Elsewhere defensively, defensive back Isaiah Crosby came up with a pass breakup working against Matthews. Safety Craig Woodson also had a nice pass breakup working against tight end Jack Endries on a challenging play. During the DEVO period that allowed some of the younger/new players an opportunity to get on the field, Ja'ir Smith and freshman Dayday Aupiu both came up with pass breakups as well as they worked against reserve quarterbacks Brady Weingart and Belay Brummel.

– As much as the defense was again able to stand out, the offense also had some impressive plays on its side. Mike Bloesch and the offensive staff continue to work the receivers into the running game, and there are a number of options at the position to get those players the ball on end-around plays and handoffs. Marquez Dortch and Josiah Martin have been to two players most used in those scenarios this spring, and Dortch had a nice 10-yard run in that situation early in the team period.

The first touchdown of the day came on a running play, however, with Jaivian Thomas taking the ball 23 yards into the end zone to close out the first team period.

The second touchdown of the day came during that DEVO period with Weingart finding receiver Isaac Torres for 13-yard score late in the day.

The top offensive play of the day, outside of Thomas' run, was a nice connection between Rogers and Martin. The Cal quarterback found Martin over the middle and he ended up escaping defenders for a nice run after the catch resulting in a 33-yard gain during the first team period.

Mendoza also had a nice connection with Trond Grizzell on an 11-yard play early in the second team period. Grizzell had to climb the ladder and he hauled in the fourth-down pass to move the chains.

– The Bears are a little banged up right now, especially along the defensive line, so there should be opportunities for some players to have a chance to shin Saturday. One of the defensive linemen who has been talked about quite a bit recently is Akili Calhoun, who was working with the first unit alongside Correia a bit during Friday's practice.

As a reminder, the spring showcase begins at 2:30 p.m. and should be the best opportunity to see game-like action for the Bears this spring.

Post-practice interviews and practice clips

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I was looking around to see if any of the Cal players have found a new home. So far I’ve only seen one.
Rodney Brown - Va Tech. We’ll get to see what a mistake it was not holding on to him now that he’s in conference

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Former Oregon and Indiana transfer linebacker Anthony Jones will take an official visit to Cal this week after he added an offer from the Bears last Thursday. The 6-foot-3, 243-pound redshirt freshman has also added an offer from Michigan State in recent weeks. The Las Vegas native was a high three-star prospect out of Liberty HS in Henderson, Nevada. He ultimately signed with the Ducks but only played in a couple games before entering the portal. Citing mental health and personal reasons, he opted to enter the portal again after playing in 12 games with Indiana last season.

He proceeded to commit to Oregon State in December before backing away from that decision by January. Jones finished the 2023 season with 12 tackles and contributed on half a tackle for loss. He'll have three years of eligibility left at his next school. Jones plays outside linebacker and he would add to the depth there for the Bears should he end up in Berkeley.

Cal making a big impression on Blueitt after a recent visit:

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Monty Bowser is now the fifth Cal player to enter the transfer portal as he officially went in this afternoon. Bowser played in 10 games this season and made four starts when the Bears were missing several players early in the year. Ultimately, he averaged 0.3 points and 1.7 rebounds.

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Some versatile depth for the front court added now by the Bears as 6-foot-7, 215-pound Minnesota forward Joshua Ola-Joseph has announced his commitment to Cal today. He averaged 7.5 points and 2.2 rebounds across 29 games and 19 starts for the Gophers last season.

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Miller played in three games as a redshirt freshman last season, all at right tackle. He was a three-star recruit in the 2022 class.

Younger brother of Barrett Miller.

Cal's 2024 Spring Showcase is in the books, and although a number of players were held out of action as a precautionary measure to preserve health, there were still a number of big plays and a lot of action to see Saturday at California Memorial Stadium. Here are some quick notes that I will expend on later plus some of the standout moments from Saturday's scrimmage.

– The Bears ran over 60 plays during Saturday's scrimmage portion and mixed in some special teams periods as well. There were a number of top absences but all four quarterbacks had an opportunity to get on the field and get some work in during the scrimmage. Fernando Mendoza and Chandler Rogers took a bulk of the snaps at quarterback but only Mendoza came away with a touchdown in the showcase. He found Tobias Merriweather for an 8-yard connection. Rogers went 4 for 10 on pass attempts and was credited with an interception after Mayze Bryant snagged the ball away from Marquez Dortch in the red zone (clip below)

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Mendoza opened the scrimmage with a 60-yard connection to Trond Grizzell and a shot play call early from Mike Bloesch. It was the type of connection that has been building throughout the second half of the spring with both Grizzell and Mendoza looking sharper the last several practices.

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– It was really the first opportunity for both Brady Weingart and Belay Brummel to have any kind of live action, and Brummel stepped up by guiding several strong drives to finish up the day. He eventually ended up with two passing touchdowns and a rushing touchdown to close things out. He hit Dortch on a 4-yard touchdown before connecting with tight end Nate Rutchena on an impressive play on both ends from 16 yards out. The second-year walk-on signal caller capped the practice with a 7-yard rushing score.

You can see clips of each of those below.

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– Though the group is banged up, the interior defensive line certainly had several key contributors again Saturday. Newcomer Aidan Keanaaina was the standout with 4 tackles in the scrimmage to close out an impressive stretch late in the spring. He started to make a noticeable impact during the team's first scrimmage last Saturday, and that continued through the final days for the Notre Dame transfer.

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– With Cade Uluave held out, it was an opportunity for the young linebackers to have an opportunity and most of them stepped up in a big way. Freshmen Aaron Hampton (7), Eze Osundu (6) and Luke Ferrelli (5) all led the defense in tackles while second-year freshman BJ Jones finished the day with 4 tackles and a sack.

– In all, there were four sacks for the Bears defense on the day including Jones' takedown of Brummel late in practice. Second-year freshman Murphy Glasgow had one late in practice while interior defensive linemen Akili Calhoun and Stanley Saole-McKenzie also had a sack apiece in Saturday's showcase.

– There were two interceptions for the defense during Saturday's action including the one for Bryant against Rogers. The other came with Weingart at quarterback looking to the sideline. Defensive back Cam Sidney made a nice play on the ball to come up with the pick late in practice.

– The running back group finished out a strong spring with another impressive performance. The group ran for 150 yards collectively and was led by 61 yards for Byron Cardwell, who has looked great coming off his knee surgery last year. He continues to run with a ton of physicality and that helped him Saturday. Running backs accounted for two touchdowns in Saturday's showcase with Jaivian Thomas getting the offense on the board with a 1-yard rush before Dean-Taylor Chapman ran in a score from 2 yards out later in the afternoon. Jaydn Ott was one of the players held out of Saturday's action.

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– It wasn't all positive news Saturday. Justin Williams-Thomas went down with an apparent knee injury at the end of a run about midway through Saturday's showcase. He was down in pain for a bit before being helped off the field by the medical staff. He eventually was able to walk under his own power after being worked on but Justin Wilcox did not have an update on him after the showcase. Matthew Wykoff appeared to injure his shoulder during a tackle of Bryant on the red zone interception after he collided with Cardwell on the play.

Post-game media session

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In college basketball.... supposedly has a non-recruiting role with the new Kentucky staff...

12:30 PM Pacific. The #3 Bears edge out Stanford for the last of the two spots in their semifinal.

Super exciting team behind eMjae Frazier and Mya Lauzon, and they've been so clutch all year. What a great job by the Howells to raise this program from the ashes of the near cuts to make them a title contender.

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UTSA guard Christian Tucker has announced his commitment to Cal today after wrapping up a visit with the Bears.

He averaged 11.2 points, 5.5 assists and 1.2 steals for the Roadrunners this season.

The Cal Reading Challenge with Jaydn Ott and Jack Endries has a big event TODAY at the Spring Showcase!

Show Cal cares! Please participate and donate! You can donate online and bring proof of the donation with you!

Below is a cut and paste from the Spring Showcase Media Information https://t.co/Ml5gpDDLAU

The link to donate online via Amazon is at https://calbears.com/news/2024/4/15/cal-football-launches-summer-reading-challenge.aspx

Cal Football Summer Reading Challenge And Book Drive

Help us combat summer reading loss with the Cal Football Summer Reading Challenge originally founded by former Golden Bear Patrick Laird in 2018 and hosted this year by Jack Endries and Jaydn Ott. This year's challenge will launch with a book drive at the Cal Football Spring Showcase.

Contribute to the Cal Football Summer Reading Challenge book drive by bringing a new book to donate from our online wish list, to the Cal Football Spring Showcase. All books on our wish list are Jack & Jaydn tested, and teacher approved. Every book donated will find its way to a Title 1 classroom and a Bay Area student to encourage summer reading.

o Fans can bring their new books to the spring showcase and donate them at one of the two donation stations located at the Gate 2 and Gate 5 entrances to California Memorial Stadium.

o The first 500 people to donate will receive a limited-edition memorabilia item and priority access to Jack and Jaydn at the team's postgame autograph session.

o If you donate online, show a screenshot with proof of the donation at one of two donation stations at California Memorial Stadium.

o Donate 10 or more books from the online wish list and be entered into a raffle for a chance to win exciting autographed items from the Cal football program.

In addition to the book drive and reading challenge, Jack and Jaydn will be visiting schools this summer along with their teammates to promote reading.

Download a reading long and learn more by visiting the Cal Football Summer Reading Challenge Cal Football Summer Reading Challenge page. You can also follow us at @calbearsread on Instagram and X. Jack and Jaydn are excited to turn pages with you this summer!

Hey @BenParker ... I saw on Twitter that reportedly a main reason Cal was never considered by Sean Stewart was due to Mark Fox. Is this true? I didn't even know Yogi had a college aged kid!

Hey @Matt Moreno can Duke Rivals folks get a backstory here?

And for the Cal bball folks here ... is this a kid we would open the NIL wallet wide for? If he is interested of course. The appeal here is he would stay in ACC but play for his dad's alma mater.

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Three-star running back Carter Jackson has backed off his commitment to Cal tonight. He’d been committed to the Bears since June but it was starting to feel like this could be where things were headed.

He’s a solid player but Cal still has Jojo Solis in the mix and I’m a big fan of him, plus the running back spot is not one that is currently hurting for depth.

Lots of news from around the country:

Cal is nearing the end of spring ball now into the final week. Wednesday was the final big work day for the Bears with Friday expected to be a lighter practice ahead of Saturday's spring showcase. There were a few team periods throughout Day 13 allowing for some more opportunities to see the players in a more game-like setting.

Here's a rundown of the top takeaways and notes from Wednesday at CMS.

– Quarterback Chandler Rogers has some ups and downs throughout the last month, but in recent practices he has started to look a bit more sharp. He has had more chances to work with the first unit in recent weeks, and he had one of his most impressive single plays Wednesday. There have been several moments when the North Texas transfer has displayed his ability to pick up yards on the ground but nothing like what he showed Wednesday.

Early in the first team period, Rogers broke off a 52-yard rushing touchdown that showcased a different gear from the veteran quarterback. He was allowed to complete his run and that meant seeing him in the open field really for the first time this spring. Typically, the whistle has blown bringing the play to an end when the quarterback gets out on the run to help avoid injury. It was an impressive play for Rogers as he made his way up the right sideline.

– Offensively, the Bears continue to work some different elements of the offense, and it continues to look like Mike Bloesch will do his best to get the ball in the hands of his playmakers. There were several instances with end-around plays being used, and the Cal OC has been adamant about using his receivers in space.

– The running back position is deep at Cal with seemingly every player having the type of skill set to get on the field this season. The focus lately has been on using the younger backs, and Jaivian Thomas has been one of the standout performers in recent days. He was again the highlight of the group Wednesday with several notable plays on Day 13. He had a 20-yard run midway through the first team period, and he caught a 15-yard pass from Rogers during the 7-on-7 portion of practice. Late in the day, Thomas got the rest of the team excited with a big hit he delivered on Cam Sidney before breaking off a 13-yard run on the next play.

– Defensively, there were a number of impressive plays from all over the field, but the front seven continues to come together in a nice way heading into Saturday's spring showcase. There has been a big emphasis on playing well against the run as of late, and that continued to be the case Wednesday. The interior of the defensive line has taken a step forward in recent practices, and that group was again in the mix on Day 13. After the big run from Rogers, the defense took control of the first team period with strong plays from inside linebacker Hunter Barth and safety Ja'ir Smith, who both had sacks during that portion of practice, plus defensive lineman Ricky Correia and outside linebacker David Reese, who both had tackles for loss during that initial team period.

Second-year players Tiu Afalava and Ryan McCulloch came up with pressures on the quarterbacks during that first team period as well.

Meanwhile, inside linebacker Cade Uluave continues to look more like himself coming off an injury to open the spring. He came up with a sack of Rogers to open the final team period.

– Receiver Trond Grizzell has continued to play at a high level this week, and he came up with several big catches on Day 13. It was highlighted by a 40-yard diving catch during the 7-on-7 period on a pass from Fernando Mendoza. That duo linked up for an 11-yard touchdown play late in practice.

– The Bears have been working a bit more on special teams than I can remember last spring, and there will be some more work needed in the protection game heading into the fall. There have been a few blocks already this spring, and there were two more Wednesday. Defensive back Dayday Aupiu came up with a blocked punt during a special teams period while cornerback Nohl Williams blocked a field goal during the final team period.

– Elsewhere on special teams, kicker Ryan Coe continues to look like the real deal. His range has continued to extend throughout the spring, and he hit from 58 yards out to close Wednesday's practice. It ignited the entire team, and there is plenty of confidence in the UNC transfer's ability. During Wednesday's practice he connected on field goals from 58, 53, 51 and 21 yards out. He did miss on a 53-yard attempt early in the final team period before coming back and hitting the other four.

Touchdown plays

– Chandler Rogers 52-yard rush up the right sideline
– Justin Williams-Thomas 16 yard rush up the middle
– Fernando Mendoza to Trond Grizzell to the left for 11 yards

Post-practice interviews and practice clips

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How goes the battle at QB. This forum should have good insight

Would sure love for Madsen to bring in Aidan Mahaney from St. Mary's, but I would think that he'll be highly coveted.

A very nice collection of recruits headed to Berkeley over the next couple days as the Bears close out their third week of spring practice. The campus is going to be plenty busy Saturday for Cal Day, and there will be some big names taking in the sights around Berkeley.

Here's a look at the list ...

Commits

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2025

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