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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Commits
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.
