Cal Beats Out Alabama, LSU to Land No. 1 Junior College Prospect

Cal and coach Tosh Lupoi pulled off another recruiting coup on Sunday when the Bears beat out Alabama and LSU to land a commitment from defensive back Alius Mayo, the nation's No. 1-ranked junior college prospect in the class of 2027.

Mayo, who is entering his sophomore season at Modesto Junior College this fall, announced his commitment on Sunday, choosing Cal over his four other finalists – Alabama, LSU, Mississippi State and Arizona State.

Rivals/On3 and 247Sports both rank the 6-foot-4, 190-pound Mayo as a four-star recruit and the nation’s No. 1 junior college prospect in the class of 2027. He claims to have a 44-inch vertical jump, which, along with his size, suggests he has big-time potential as a college cornerback.

Alabama and Cal reportedly were Mayo’s two favorites, and his only two official visits were to Cal on June 12 and Alabama on June 18.

Most sites gave the Crimson Tide the edge in landing Mayo, but apparently Cal pulled ahead, enabling Cal to land another Northern California player. Lupoi has said that he wants to get all the top Northern California players to stay home and come to Cal.

And Mayo is certainly a Northern California prize. He attended Lincoln High School in Stockton, California, and had interest in Fresno State, Sacramento State, UC Davis and Portland State coming out of high school, but there is no indication that he received an offer from any of them.

He was listed as an “athlete” coming out of high school but has found a home as a cornerback at Modesto Junior College, located about 30 miles from Stockton.

He played in 11 games for Modesto Junior College in 2025 when he had 30 tackles, including 25 solo stops and one tackle for loss, and one interception as a freshman.

Check out 25/26 Season Highlights by Alius Mayo on @hudl https://t.co/eqHs3wYUce #hudl
— California Golden Bears on SI (@jakecurtis53) July 29, 2026

Modesto JC went 9-3 last year and lost to San Mateo College in the Northern California Football Conference championship game.

Mayo is the only junior college player who has committed to Cal for 2027, and Cal has only three junior college transfers on its current roster – quarterback Dominic Ingrassia (College of San Mateo), outside linebacker Odera Okaka (College of San Mateo) and defensive back Isaiah Crosby (Trinity Valley Community College).

However, the new NCAA rule that gives athletes five years to play five seasons may make junior college transfers more attractive. If the player has not taken a redshirt season after playing two seasons at junior college football, he will have three years or eligibility at his chosen four-year school instead of two as was previously the case.

Cal's 2027 recruiting class moved up from being ranked the 24th-best class in the country before the Mayo commitment to the nation's No. 21 class after his commitment, according to the Rivalry Industry Composite rankings. Before Mayo’s commitment, Cal's 2027 recruiting class was ranked as the nation's 21st-best class by 247Sports Composite, while ESPN placed Cal’s class 21st in the country in its most recent rankings posted July 24.

Cal received commitments from three high school defensive backs for the class of 2027 -- Duvay Williams, Jeovanni Hodge and Kamil Loud.

The recent success of Cal defensive backs in the NFL may have influenced Mayo’s decision. At least one Cal defensive back has been selected in every one of the past seven NFL drafts, and that is the longest streak involving defensive backs of any college. There are 11 defensive backs who ended their college careers at Cal are on NFL preseason rosters as of Sunday.

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