Cal Football: Defensive Back Collin Gamble Enters the Transfer Portal

Coach Justin Wilcox anticipated a lot of post-spring practice activity in the portal.

Defensive back Collin Gamble is the first Cal player to enter his name into the transfer portal since the end of spring practice Saturday.

A fifth-year junior from Flower Mound, Texas, Gamble will look for a new football home, according to transfer portal lists from both 247Sports and On3.

The news is unsurprising, given the amount of movement in and out of the transfer portal this time of year.

“There will be activity, both ways. That’s just the era we live in in college football,” Cal coach Justin Wilcox said after Saturday’s spring game. 

Gamble started 16 games in 2021 and ’22 but sat out all of last season with an injury. He was projected to be a backup at either cornerback or nickel this fall.

The 5-foot-10, 190-pounder had 32 tackles in eight games in 2022 before suffering an injury. He played 11 games in ’21 and totaled 31 tackles, along with an interception.

Cal fortified its defensive secondary through the transfer portal this offseason, adding Marcus Harris, a cornerback from Idaho who projects as a starter, and Ja’ir Smith, a former junior college player, who is expected to play safety. Both bring much-needed speed to the Bears’ secondary.

Freshman defensive back Dayday Aupui, an early enrollee, also impressed during spring ball.

Cal already has added one player through the transfer portal this week, with news that offensive tackle Braden Miller, formerly of Michigan State, will follow older brother Barrett Miller to Berkeley.