Cal Football: Who Are the Best Golden Bears From Outside the Golden State?

Cal has traditionally recruited in-state, but there are some special exceptions

Cal football coach Justin Wilcox has made recruiting the Bay Area and Northern California a priority. That stands in contrast to the approach used by his predecessor, Sonny Dykes, who focused a lot of energy on Texas and the South.

The Golden Bears’ 2021 recruiting class currently includes 18 prospects who have given verbal commitments. Ten of them are from California, four from the Bay Area.

Cal has five so-called four-star prospects, according to 247Sports, and they include tight end Jermaine Terry of Richmond and defensive end Akili Calhoun of Brentwood.

Perhaps the Bears’ top recruit is wide receiver J. Michael Sturdivant of Flower Mound, Texas, who scored two touchdowns in his team's season-opening game last week. (Yes, they are playing high school this fall in Texas!) Other four-stars on the Cal recruiting list are wideout Mavin Anderson of Mission Viejo and quarterback Kai Millner of Gilbert, Arizona.

Millner faces a mountain of history that suggests virtually all of Cal’s best quarterbacks were in-state recruits. That includes Aaron Rodgers, Jared Goff, Kyle Boller, Pat Barnes, Dave Barr, Mike Pawlawski Troy Taylor, Steve Bartkowski, Joe Roth, Craig Morton and Joe Kapp. And current Bears QB Chase Garbers.

It got us to thinking about the best out-of-state players to ever play for Cal.

Here is our list of the Top-10, ratings based on combined performance at Cal and beyond (with their position, years at Cal and hometown):

Chuck Muncie

Photo courtesy of Cal Athletics

1. RB CHUCK MUNCIE (1973-75), Uniontown, PA: Muncie played one season at Arizona Western JC, then rushed for 3,052 yards in three seasons, including 1,460 yards as a senior, both school records at the time. Muncie helped the Bears to a Pac-8 co-title and finished as runner-up in the Heisman Trophy voting. He had two 1,000-yard seasons in the NFL and over nine seasons totaled more than 9,000 yards rushing and receiving with 74 total touchdowns.

Cameron Jordan

Photo by Brett Davis, USA Today

2. DL CAMERON JORDAN (2007-10), Chandler, AZ: After earning All-Pac-10 honors in 2010, Jordan was the No. 24 pick in the NFL draft by New Orleans. Jordan is now in his 11th season with the Saints and has started 146 of 147 games at defensive end. He has 87 career sacks, including a career-best 15.5 a year ago. A five-time Pro Bowl pick, Jordan was a first-team All-Pro selection in 2017.

3. WR KEENAN ALLEN (2010-12), Greensboro, NC: Allen caught 205 passes during his three-year Cal career, including 98 as a sophomore, and scored 20 touchdowns as a college player. Chosen in the third round of the 2013 draft, Allen has been a prolific NFL receiver, with 303 catches for 3,788 yards and 18 touchdowns the past three seasons. He is a three-time Pro Bowl pick and was the NFL Comeback Player of the Year in 2017 when he caught 102 passes after tearing his ACL in the 2016 season opener.

Ken Harvey

Photo courtesy of Cal Athletics

4. LB KEN HARVEY (1986-87), Austin, TX: A first-team All-Pac-10 pick his senior season, Harvey was the No. 12 pick in the 1988 NFL draft. He played 11 seasons for Phoenix and Washington, during which time he accumulated 89 career sacks and made four Pro Bowls. Harvey had more than 90 tackles each in four different seasons, including a career-best 120 in his second pro campaign.

Sherman White

Photo courtesy of Cal Athletics

5. DL SHERMAN WHITE (1969-71), Portsmouth, NH: As the No. 2 pick in the 1972 NFL draft, White was the highest-drafted Cal player who did not grow up in California. A two-time All-Pac-8 pick, he had 18 sacks as a junior. A year later, White was a consensus first-team All-American on a team that also included Jim Plunkett, Jack Ham and Jack Tatum. White played defensive tackle for the Bears, then started 149 games over 12 seasons at defensive end with Cincinnati and Buffalo.

Justin Forsett

Photo by Isaiah J. Downing, USA Today

6. RB JUSTIN FORSETT (2004-07), Arlington, TX: Forsett rushed for 1,546 yards as a senior to earn all-Pac-10 honors. He had nine games of at least 100 yards that season. Forsett barely missed 1,000 as a sophomore, totaling 999 yards on a gaudy 7.6 yards per attempt.  A seventh-round draft choice in 2008, Forsett played nine NFL seasons and totaled more than 5,000 yards rushing and receiving. He had nine 100-yard games as a pro, including a best of 182 yards for the Baltimore Ravens against the New Orleans Saints in 2014. 

J.J. Arrington

Photo courtesy of Cal Athletics

7. RB J.J. ARRINGTON (2003-04), Rocky Mount, NC: Arrington set Cal’s single-season rushing record as a senior when he ran for 2,018 yards with at least 100 yards in every game, including a pair of 200-yard outings. He scored four touchdowns against USC and rushed for 261 yards against Southern Miss. Arrington was a consensus All-American on a 10-2 Cal team and was taken in the second round of the draft. He played four NFL seasons.

Evan Weaver

Photo by Al Sermeno, KLC fotos

8. LB EVAN WEAVER (2016-19), Spokane, WA: Weaver was a consensus All-American and Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year as a senior in 2019 when he led the nation with a school-record 181 tackles. He had three games last season with at least 20 tackles, and finished his career with 407. As a junior, his fourth-quarter pick-six keyed an upset victory over eventual Pac-12 champion Washington. Weaver is a rookie on the Arizona Cardinals' practice squad.

Tyson Alualu

Photo by Jake Roth, USA Today

9. NT TYSON ALUALU (2006-09), Honolulu, HI: A three-year starter for the Bears, Alualu was a first-team All-Pac-10 selection as a senior. After a starring performance in the Senior Bowl all-star game, where he had a sack, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery, Alualo went No. 10 in the 2010 draft. He earned All-Rookie honors with Jacksonville. Now in his 11th NFL seasons, Alualu has started 100 games for the Jaguars and Pittsburgh Steelers.

Ryan Longwell

Photo courtesy of Cal Athletics

10. PK RYAN LONGWELL (1993-1996), Bend, OR: Longwell was named All-Pac-10 as a punter and placekicker as a senior. He averaged 41.7 yards per punt over his Cal career (including 45.2 yards as a senior in 2011) and made 31 field goals. Longwell focused on placekicking during 14 years in the NFL. He made 361 field goals at an 83-percent success rate and scored 1,687 career points for Green Bay and Minnesota — 18th-most in NFL history.

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HONORABLE MENTION: Isaac Booth (Indianapolis, IN); RB Lindsey Chapman (Marrero, LA); LB Devante Downs (Mountlake Terrace, WA ); RB Vic Enwere (Missouri City, TX); NT John Haina (Honolulu, HI); WR Maurice Harris (Greensboro, NC); P Nick Harris (Phoenix, AZ); RB Daniel Lasco (The Woodlands, TX); QB Kevin Riley (Portland, OR); TE Richard Rodgers (Worcester, MA); NT Daryle Skaugstad (Des Moines, WA); RB Isi Sofele (Salt Lake City, UT); LS Nick Sundberg (Phoenix, AZ); NT Mack Travis (Las Vegas, NV); CB Steve Williams (Dallas, TX).

TRANSFERS: LB Khairi Fortt (Stamford, CT via Penn State); DE James Looney (Lake Worth, FL via Wake Forest); QB Davis Webb (Prosper, TX via Texas Tech).

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Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo

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