QB recruit back to Cal after portal flip from Ducks
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Eli Lederman, ESPN Staff Writer
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.
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Greg Wyshynski
Boston Bruins CEO Charlie Jacobs vowed that his team would return to the playoffs next season despite finishing in last place and trading away several players at the deadline.
“We’ve spoken at great length about this: The team that we currently have, [if] healthy and with the additions we intend to make this summer, I anticipate that we’ll have a playoff team and play meaningful hockey at this time of year in 2026,” he said.
The Bruins were last in the Atlantic Division (76 points) with their lowest standings points percentage (.463) in 18 seasons. The team fired head coach Jim Montgomery 20 games into the season and traded popular veteran players such as captain Brad Marchand, center Charlie Coyle and defenseman Brandon Carlo at the deadline.
“We fell way short and it’s disappointing for us,” team president Cam Neely said. “It’s disappointing for our fan base. They deserve better. They’ve supported us for a hundred-plus years. This gives us an opportunity to regroup a little bit, reset and build back better.”
GM Don Sweeney laid out a plan for that quick build back to contention. The first target is to add more offense, specifically on the wings.
“The scoring potential of our group needs to be increased and addressed this summer,” said Sweeney, whose team was 28th in the NHL in goals per game despite a 43-goal campaign from star David Pastrnak.
Sweeney said he wants the Bruins to get back to their core identity of being a strong defensive team in front of effective goaltending. Both Jeremy Swayman, in the first year of an eight-year, $66 million contract extension, and Joonas Korpisalo were in the negatives for goals saved above expected this season.
“Our goaltenders previously have been really, really good. This year, they weren’t as good. That’s fact. And our team in front of them didn’t defend with the same level of conviction,” he said.
Then there’s the aspect the Bruins hope turns around for next season: health. Key defensemen Charlie McAvoy and Hampus Lindholm both missed significant time last season.
To orchestrate all of this, Sweeney and Neely have to decide on the next head coach of the Bruins. Joe Sacco went 25-30-7 as an interim coach. Sweeney said Sacco has been informed that there will be a coaching search and that he’ll be a finalist for the job. The coaching search process is underway for Boston.
Sacco led the Avalanche to a 130-134-40 record from 2009-2014 and was a finalist for coach of the year in his first season. He spent 10 years as a Bruins assistant before being promoted for the rest of the season when Jim Montgomery was fired.
Sweeney is facing some uncertainty himself. He has been the Bruins’ general manager since May 2015, but is entering the last year of his contract. Neely said he’s debating whether or not to extend Sweeney.
“I’m still contemplating what the best course of action is. I really feel like Don has done a good job here, for the most part,” Neely said.
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