USC Freshman Transfer LB AJ Tuitele Commits to Cal

USC freshman linebacker transfer AJ Tuitele, who did not enter the transfer portal until the last day that it was open, announced on social media on Monday that he has committed to Cal.

The 6-foot-2, 215-pound Tuitele played in just three games in 2025 as a true freshman and recorded just one tackle. So he will come to Cal as a redshirt freshman with four years of eligibility remaining.

Tuitele is from North Las Vegas, Nevada, and attended Mojave High School. He was named the Nevada Player of the Year and was rated as a three-star recruit. On3 ranked him as the 15th-best linebacker prospect in the country in the class of 2024.

He also had offers from Texas and Washington State before choosing USC.

As a senior in 2024, he recorded 167 tackles, including 37 tackles for loss in 13 games for Mojave High School, which finished with a 12-1 record and won the Nevada 4A State Championship. He had two games in which he recorded 20 tackles.

The 37 tackles for loss certainly catches your eye.

Tuitele was the second linebacker transfer to commit to Cal on Monday, joining Oregon transfer Kamar Mothudi. A third transfer linebacker, Tristan Jernigan of Texas A&M, had committed to Cal earlier.

Cal's two starting inside linebackers from this past season, Cade Uluave and Luke Ferrelli, have transferred to other schools. Ferrelli went to Clemson, and Uluave is transferring to BYU.

The transfer portal window has closed, but players who are alreadyy in the portal can commit to another school at any time.

New Cal head coach Tosh Lupoi and Cal general manager Ron Rivera have been active in the transfer portal, and they are probably not finished bringing transfers to Cal.

The Bears finished 7-6 in 2025, which was their first winning season since 2019.

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