Cal Sports Report

Hawaii QB Nainoa Lopes Commits to Cal for 2026

Four of Cal's 2026 commitments are from players from Hawaii. Cal's recruiting class is ranked 16th in the country

Jake Curtis

Cal head coach Justin Wilcox
Cal head coach Justin Wilcox / Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images
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Cal continued to tap into its Hawaii pipeline on Tuesday when three-star quarterback Nainoa Lopes of football powerhouse Saint Louis High School in Honolulu, Hawaii, announced on social media he has committed to Cal for the class of 2026.

Lopes is Cal’s 19th commitment in the class of 2026, and four of them are from Hawaii.  Plus Cal has several players on its current roster from Hawaii, including freshman quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele.

The 6-foot-3, 180-pound Lopes is rated the 108th-best quarterback in the class of 2026 by 247 Sports, and he chose Cal over offers from San Jose State, Florida Atlantic and UAB.

Rivals and 247 Sports both rank Cal’s 2026 class as the 16th-best in the country at this early stage, while On3 places Cal’s class at No. 31.

This past season as a junior Lopes completed 67.5% of his passes for 2,055 yards, 19 touchdowns and eight interceptions. He led Saint Louis High School to the Hawaii state title in 2024, completing 8-of-11 passes for 72 yards, no touchdowns and no interceptions in the championship game. He completed better than 65% of his passes in each of his final 11 games of 2024.

Lopes is the 13th player to commit to Cal in the past three weeks, joining defensive lineman Kingston Schirmer, offensive tackle Esaiah Wong, tight end Luca Wolf, wide receiver EJ Morgan, defensive lineman Frank Fanua, offensive lineman Koloi Keli, tight end Taimane Purcell, quarterback Brady Palmer, offensive tackle Tommy Tofi, four-star running back Victor Santino,  defensive tackle Nemyah Telona and offensive lineman Elisha Faamatuainu. 

Lopes speaks after an early-season win:

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Jake Curtis
JAKE CURTIS

Jake Curtis worked in the San Francisco Chronicle sports department for 27 years, covering virtually every sport, including numerous Final Fours, several college football national championship games, an NBA Finals, world championship boxing matches and a World Cup. He was a Cal beat writer for many of those years, and won awards for his feature stories.

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