Cal Sports Report

Cal Has a Second Chance to Land QB Jaron Keawe Sagapolutele

Hawaiin prep star Sagapolutele entered the transfer portal on Saturday after enrolling at Oregon in December, and one prominent site predicts Cal will land Sagapolutele.
Jeff Faraudo|
Justin Wilcox
Justin Wilcox | Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

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California Golden Bears

Cal will get a second chance at landing four-star quarterback prospect Jaron Keawe Sagapolutele because the Oregon signee entered the transfer portal on Saturday.

Sagapolutele, rated as the top prospect in the state of Hawaii this fall, originally committed to Cal on July 8. He was the Bears’ top prospect in the class of 2025 until flipping to Oregon on the Dec. 4 signing day.

Adam Gorney of Rivals reports Sagapolutele "now has a real possibility to transfer to CAL"

On3's Pete Nakos and Steve Wiltfong have predicted that Cal will land Sagapolutele.

Although the transfer portal closed to most players last week, players on teams playing in bowls after Dec. 28 deadline have until five days following their bowl game to enter the transfer portal, Brandon Huffman of 247 Sports reported. So the 6-foot-3 graduate of Campbell High at Ewa Beach, Hawaii, has until this weekend to make a move.

Because Sagapolutele has already enrolled at Oregon, he is likely to enter the transfer portal instead of requesting a release from Oregon.

Although there are deadlines for players to enter the transfer portal, a player who has entered the portal can commit to another college at any time. In other words, if Sagapolutele enters the transfer portal on Saturday, he could commit to another school at anytime until the summer, although he is unlikely to wait that long.

There is another window in April for players to enter the transfer portal.

Cal lost starting quarterback Fernando Mendoza to the transfer portal last month and the redshirt sophomore wound up at Indiana. His backup, Chandler Rogers, has no more college eligibility. The Bears did not land a quarterback during the early transfer portal period.

Sagapolutele also was pursued late in the recruiting cycle by Georgia, but ultimately trimmed the Bulldogs from his list and chose Oregon over Cal. He grew up a fan of the Ducks and was projected as a lead candidate to be the replacement for Ducks star Dillon Gabriel.

Sagapolutele finished his prep career as Hawaii’s all-time passing leader with 10,653 yards, breaking Gabriel’s record. Sagapolutele threw 46 touchdown passes this season with just three interceptions.

The question now is this: Why did Sagapolutele decide to transfer so soon after entrolling? He even participated in a few Oregon practices leading up tp the Copllege Football Playoff game against Oregon State.

The Oregon Ducks on SI website speculates that Sagapolutele may have had a change of heart about Oregon because the Ducks' coaching staff is high on Dante Moore, a former five-star prospect who began his career at UCLA.

Moore is part of a deep quarterback room at Oregon that also will include Akili Smith Jr., a December signee.

Cal, by comparison, still is looking for its No. 1 quarterback. CJ Harris, a redshirt sophomore transfer from Ohio, spent this season as the Bears' No. 3 QB and started the LA Bowl against UNLV. When he was injured during the game, freshman EJ Caminong saw his first collegiate action.

Cal replaced a number of offensive coaches last month, and that included the addition of offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Bryan Harsin, a former head coach at Boise State and Auburn.

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Jeff Faraudo
JEFF FARAUDO

Jeff Faraudo was a sports writer for Bay Area daily newspapers since he was 17 years old, and was the Oakland Tribune's Cal beat writer for 24 years. He covered eight Final Fours, four NBA Finals and four Summer Olympics. 

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