Quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele, who first committed to Cal in July before his Dec. 4 flip to Oregon, has signed with Golden Bears, he told ESPN on Sunday, after entering the NCAA transfer portal over the weekend.

Sagapolutele becomes the top-ranked member of the Bears’ 2025 recruiting class. The No. 1 prospect from Hawai’i and ESPN’s No. 18 pocket passer will be eligible to play immediately next fall. His decision marks the latest twist in a dramatic cycle for the talented 2025 high school quarterback class, as well as a significant recruiting win for Cal coach Justin Wilcox.

Sagapolutele’s move comes just 32 days after he spurned the Bears and signed with the Ducks’ top-ranked class during the early signing period. He enrolled at Oregon last month and joined the program for its Rose Bowl preparations, even standing on the sideline during the Ducks’ loss to Ohio State in the College Football Playoff quarterfinal on Jan. 1.

Sagapolutele, who placed a heavy emphasis on early opportunity and development throughout his recruitment, told ESPN that the bowl season experience with Oregon gave him a view of the Ducks’ future outlook at quarterback. With 2024 starter Dillon Gabriel out of eligibility, the Ducks are expected to lean on Dante Moore and Austin Novosad next fall. Behind them, 2025 quarterback signee Akili Smith Jr. (No. 87 in the ESPN 300) is also set to arrive on campus this month as an early enrollee after participating in practices during bowl season.

As Sagapolutele’s confidence over his future at Oregon wavered, he found a pathway back to Cal. Given his December enrollment, he was permitted to use the transfer portal in the five-day window granted to Ducks players following the Rose Bowl defeat, formally entering the transfer portal Saturday.

“I just felt that there was another school in particular that was right for me,” Sagapolutele told ESPN. “I’m excited to be a priority over there and to get to work. I’m ready to see what God has in store for me at Cal.”

Sagapolutele capped his career at Campbell (Hawai’i) High School with 3,404 yards, 46 touchdowns and just three interceptions this season, surpassing Gabriel as the state’s all-time passing leader with 10,653 yards. With his return to the Bears, Sagapolutele can expect a much clearer path to contend for early snaps under center.

After former Cal quarterback Fernando Mendoza‘s offseason transfer to Indiana and the graduation of veteran Chandler Rogers, the Bears are thin at the quarterback position heading into 2025. While Cal is expected to remain active in the transfer passer market this cycle, Sagapolutele will have a chance to compete immediately in a position room that currently holds just 13 games of college experience between returners CJ Harris and EJ Caminong.

Wilcox and the Bears were among the earliest Power 4 programs to recruit Sagapolutele, a late riser in the 2025 class whose stock soared after an impressive performance at the 2024 Elite 11 Finals in June. That early investment paid off over the summer when Sagapolutele committed to Cal over finalists Oregon State, Boise State and Utah State.

The Bears, however, struggled to hold off late recruiting pushes from Georgia and Oregon in the fall after both schools offered Sagapolutele following the start of his senior season.

Sagapolutele left his October visit with the Ducks blown away by the offense under coordinator Will Stein and encouraged by the time he spent with Gabriel, a fellow Hawaiian who coached Sagapolutele during the Elite 11 event last year. Sagapolutele ultimately canceled a pair of scheduled November visits to Georgia, but he gave the Bulldogs strong consideration before pulling his pledge from Cal and joining the Ducks’ latest stockpile of high school talent.

Sagapolutele said the connection that he developed with Cal’s coaching staff never faded. As he experienced a change of heart with the Ducks, it was Sagapolutele’s relationships with Wilcox, Bears offensive coordinator Mike Bloesch and quarterbacks coach Sterlin Gilbert that pulled him back to Cal, stamping a critical victory for a Bears recruiting class that ranked 65th by ESPN.

“It’s the right environment for me,” Sagapolutele said. “Coach Gilbert is going to develop me and it’s a place where I’m going to be able to go in and compete early on.”

Sagapolutele’s move comes in a cycle that saw nine of ESPN’s top 16 quarterback prospects flip their pledges.

While Sagapolutele’s move through the transfer portal before ever playing a college game represents a feature unique to this modern age of college football, it is not entirely unprecedented. He follows 2024 five-star passer Julian Sayin, who transferred from Alabama to Ohio State last year following Nick Saban’s retirement, as the second high-profile quarterback prospect in as many cycles to enroll with a school in December before entering the transfer portal just weeks later.

After failing to beat Texas during his four years at Kansas State, Ohio State quarterback Will Howard noted the upcoming showdown against the Longhorns carries “extra motivation” for him.

“That was the only team I didn’t beat when I was in the Big 12,” Howard said Sunday. “They’re always a good team. But none of those games were unwinnable. Definitely excited to get another chance at these guys.”

Howard’s Buckeyes face Texas in the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic on Friday with a trip to the national championship on the line.

Howard has thrived in his two outings in the College Football Playoff, posting a postseason QBR of 98.3, the best of any playoff quarterback. Ohio State defeated Tennessee 42-17 in the opening round then Oregon 41-21 in the Rose Bowl quarterfinal. Howard passed for a total of 630 yards with five touchdowns in those games, propelling the Buckeyes to the playoff semifinal against the Longhorns.

“Texas is a heck of a football team,” Howard said. “So we’re going to have to be on our stuff.”

Howard went 0-3 against Texas while at Kansas State; he didn’t play in the Wildcats’ 2022 loss to the Longhorns.

Behind now-Atlanta Falcons star running back Bijan Robinson, Texas routed the Wildcats 69-31 in 2020 with five touchdowns in the third quarter. In 2021, Howard and the Wildcats led at halftime but couldn’t hold on after failing to score in the second half.

But Howard said the loss that “still pisses” him off came last year, when the Longhorns prevailed in overtime 33-30 after Howard slipped while trying to throw a pass on fourth-and-goal from the Texas 4-yard line. The Longhorns went on to win the Big 12 and make the playoff.

“That one still sticks with me,” Howard said. “I don’t like how that one ended. … I know there’s a lot of people back in Kansas that are rooting for the Buckeyes to get this one done against these guys.”

Georgia quarterback Jaden Rashada plans to file the paperwork required to enter the NCAA transfer portal, a source told ESPN’s Pete Thamel on Sunday.

Rashada, the No. 31 overall recruit in the 2023 ESPN 300, did not appear in a game during his lone season as a backup for the Bulldogs.

The 6-foot-4, 190-pound redshirt freshman from Pittsburg, California, is reentering the portal in search of an opportunity to become a starter and will have three more seasons of eligibility at his next school.

Rashada became one of the most high-profile recruits of the name, image and likeness era of college athletics when he flipped from Miami to Florida in December 2022 after agreeing to a four-year, $13.85 million deal with Florida’s now-defunct Gator Collective. Rashada signed with the Gators but did not enroll at the school after the NIL collective failed to make promised payments and attempted to terminate the agreement.

Rashada sued Florida coach Billy Napier, former Florida staffer Marcus Castro-Walker and booster Hugh Hathcock in May 2024, claiming they defrauded him out of millions by backing out of the agreement.

The NCAA launched an investigation into Rashada’s recruitment in 2023. In March 2024, the NCAA paused its investigations into collectives and third-party involvement in NIL deals after a federal judge granted a preliminary injunction in a lawsuit brought by the attorneys general of Tennessee and Virginia.

Florida agreed to release Rashada from his letter of intent after his deal fell apart. He spent his freshman season at Arizona State, his father’s alma mater, and started two games during a redshirt season.

Rashada entered the transfer portal in April 2024 after the Sun Devils brought in Michigan State transfer Sam Leavitt to compete with Rashada. Leavitt would end up leading the program to a Big 12 title and a College Football Playoff appearance.

Rashada joined Georgia this season to compete with Gunner Stockton for the Bulldogs’ starting job in 2025. Stockton earned the No. 2 role behind starter Carson Beck this season and helped the Bulldogs defeat Texas in the SEC championship game after Beck suffered a season-ending elbow injury.

In his first career start, Stockton threw for 234 yards and one touchdown in Georgia’s 23-10 loss to Notre Dame in the CFP quarterfinal at the Allstate Sugar Bowl on Thursday.