Jaron Keawe Sagapolutele will spend his Saturdays in Berkeley after all.
After flipping from Cal to Oregon on National Signing Day, Sagapolutele reversed course once again and signed with the Golden Bears after entering the transfer portal this weekend.
Sagapolutele, the top-ranked player in Cal’s 2025 recruiting class, initially committed to play under head coach Justin Wilcox in July. On National Signing Day on Dec. 4, Sagapolutele elected to play for Oregon and enrolled early in the university. Roughly a month later, Sagapolutele entered the transfer portal and landed at his original choice: Cal.
Per 247Sports, Sagapolutele is the eighth-ranked quarterback in his class and the 106th-best prospect nationally. As a senior at James Campbell High School, Sagapolutele threw for 3,404 yards with 46 touchdowns to three interceptions and was named the 2024 MaxPreps Hawaii High School Football Player of the Year.
In the midst of Sagapolutele’s saga, quarterback Fernando Mendoza entered the transfer portal and took his talents to Indiana in late December. Mendoza’s final act as a Golden Bear was leading Cal on a 98-yard, game-winning touchdown drive to shock Stanford in The Big Game, then delivering an impassioned postgame interview that brought him to tears.
“This has to be the most special moment in my life to date,” Mendoza said amidst tears.
With Mendoza transferring and Chandler Rogers graduating, Sagapolutele will have an opportunity to immediately compete for playing time. Along with Sagapolutele — a four-star prospect according to ESPN, 247Sports and Rivals — Cal’s quarterback room currently features freshman EJ Caminong and redshirt sophomore CJ Harris.
Of those two, Harris has the most experience, having made his collegiate debut for Ohio in 2020 and playing in 12 career games, completing 97-of-178 attempts for 1013 yards over parts of four seasons. Caminong was thrown into emergency quarterback duty in Cal’s 24-13 loss to UNLV in the LA Bowl, completing 6-of-19 passes for 57 yards in his unexpected collegiate debut.
Sagapolutele will likely have his opportunities to hand the ball off to running back Jaydn Ott, who announced on social media that he will be returning for his senior season following a junior year marred by a lingering ankle injury.
