Cal Among Leaders for No. 1 JUCO Prospect, Who Will Announce Soon

Defensive back Alius Mayo, the nation's No. 1-ranked junior college prospect in the class of 2027, indicated on social media recently that he will announce his college commitment on August 2, and Cal is among the leaders to land Mayo.

Mayo will enter his sophomore season at Modesto Junior College this fall, and he has received offers from a number of elite four-year football programs, including his five finalists -- Cal, Alabama, LSU, Arizona State and Mississippi State. Both 247Sports and Rivals/On3 rank him as the No. 1 junior college prospect in the class of 2027.

The 247Sports site indicates that Cal and Alabama are the leading contenders for Mayo, and Rivals/On3 predicts as of July 27 that Alabama has a 61.4% chance to land Mayo while Cal has a 20.1 percent of getting a commitment from him. All of the other schools have less than a 3 percent chance of landing Mayo.

It suggests Alabama is the leader for Mayo's services, but Cal is still in contention. The only visits he has taken were to Cal on June 12 and Alabama on June 18.

Mayo commitment tweet | Alius Mayo X account

Cal head coach Tosh Lupoi has made it a priority to target and sign Northern Caolifornia's top prospects, and Mayo will be a test case as the Golden Bears are competing against elite programs for him.

At 6-foot-4, 190 pounds Mayo is tall for a cornerback, but he has received rave reviews. He played his high school football at Lincoln High School in Stockton, California, and he had interest in Fresno State, Sacramento State, Portland State and UC Davis coming out of Lincoln. But there is no indication that he received any offers.

However, he received lots of interest based on his freshman season at the junior college in nearby Modesto.

In 2025 he played in 11 games for Modesto Junior College, which finished with a 9-3 record and lost to San Mateo College in the Northern California Football Conference championship[ game. He claims to have a 44-inch vertical jump, which would certainly open some eyes of college recruiters.

Full Season highlights! #AG2G✝️
▫️3.6 GPA
▫️1st Team All-Conference DB
▫️6’4 190lb
▫️Modesto JC
▫️44’ vertical
▫️@CoachAbbasi @JUCOFFrenzy @CoachMays21 @MJCFootball @CoachJacks209 @JuCoFootballACE pic.twitter.com/aKRk4vdQ8U
— Alius Mayo (@Aliusmayo4) January 2, 2026

Mayo recorded 30 tackles, including 25 solo stops and one tackle for loss, and one interception in 2025. He was one of the few freshman starters on a team dominated by sophomores.

Cal's 2027 recruiting class is ranked as the nation's 20th-best class by 247Sports Composite, and it is rated as the 23rd-best in the country by Rivals Industry Composite. In ESPN's recruiting rankings posted July 24, it ranks Cal's class as the 21st-best in the nation, noting that Cal "is building a 2027 class focused on versatile, athletic playmakers, particularly from its strong in-state footprint. This class aims to inject speed, size and aggressiveness along with players who bring multi-positional flexibility and high developmental ceilings to compete in the ACC."

The Bears already have commitments from three high school defensive backs for the class of 2027 -- Jeovanni Henley, Kamil Loud and Duvay Williams. Loud and Williams are four-star recruits.

Cal has a recent history of sending defensive backs to the NFL. Cal has had at least one defensive back taken each of the past seven NFL drafts, the longest such streak of any college. Eleven defensive backs who finished their college careers at Cal are currently on NFL preseason rosters.

Lupoi has a start on continuing that tradition.

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