Counting Down Cal's Top-50 Transfer Athletes: No. 36 Ovie Brume

We rank the mid-career arrivals in Berkeley who have had the greatest impact on the Golden Bears

Ovie Brume | Photo courtesy of Cal Athletics

The transfer portal era in college athletics seems like it’s been with us forever. Likewise, most fans can recall less turbulent times when transfers happened, they simply didn’t look like a stampede to the 1849 California Gold Rush.

We thought it was time to rank the best transfers Cal teams have attracted, most of them in recent seasons but also including a few OGs from yesteryear. 

We limited our ranking to transfers from four-year colleges.

Here is the next athlete in our countdown: 

No. 36 Ovie Brume

Sport: Rugby

Arrival year at Cal: 1992 (1992-93 season)

Previous schools: Saint Mary’s

Contributions at Cal: 

—Longtime Cal rugby coach Jack Clark on Ovie Brume: "Possibly the fastest and most classic wing ever to play at Cal."

---A speedy presence on the outside, Brume provided big-play potential for three national championship Cal squads.

---Brume was particularly productive in the postseason, scoring a try in Cal’s 17-6 semifinal victory over Harvard in 1993 and recording the first try in the Bears’ 27-13 victory over Navy in the 1994 championship game. He scored three tries in the final two games of the 1995 national championship playoffs.

---Brume was a member of U.S. Colleges Rugby All-Star team that competed internationally.

---His unexpected death at the age of 47 led to the creation of the Ovie Brume Award in his memory. The Ovie Brume Award is presented each year to the Cal rugby player who best demonstrates sportsmanship on and off the field.

---A Nigerian who completed his secondary schooling in Scotland, Brume was a vital part of three Cal national championship squads.

Standout performance: In the 1995 postseason, Brume scored two tries in a 41-12 semifinal victory over Penn State on May 6, and the next day scored Cal’s first try in a 48-16 win over Air Force in the finals.

Impact on his team: He has a continuing impact on Cal rugby by virtue of the Ovie Brume Award presented every year to a Cal rugby player. He is remembered for his athleticism, hard work, intelligence and sportsmanship – and the fact that he died much too young in 2002 at the age of 47. He was on the dean’s list at Cal and acquired a masters degree in Business Administration at Harvard Business School. His full name was Oviehire Adeyemi Kesiena Brume.

Previously on our list: 

No. 37 Kekoa Crawford

No. 38 Jake Howerton

No. 39 Luc Bequette