Jaron Keawe Sagapolutele Returns to Cal in Transfer Portal After QB's Flip to Oregon

Jaron Keawe Sagapolutele, who originally committed to Cal before flipping to Oregon, is back with the Golden Bears again.

ESPN's Eli Lederman reported the news on Sunday regarding the 4-star quarterback, who is ranked as the eighth overall signal-caller in the class of 2025, per the 247Sports Composite ranking.

Sagapolutele committed to Cal last July but then switched to the Ducks on Dec. 4. However, he entered the transfer portal on Saturday.

"I just felt that I wasn't a main priority [at Oregon]," Sagapolutele told Lederman. "Of course there's going to be competition anywhere I go. But I'm just looking at other QB rooms and the best place for me to go get on the field early."

Oregon has a crowded QB room with Dante Moore, Austin Novosad next fall and Akili Smith Jr. aboard. Moore is the presumed starter in 2025. It would have been quite tough for Sagapolutele to carve out early playing time, so he's back at Cal.

Sagapolutele has an opportunity to start as a freshman at Cal after 2024 starter Fernando Mendoza entered the transfer portal and landed at Indiana.

The Golden Bears still have talent left over in the QB room, namely backup CJ Harris, a former Ohio Bobcat star. However, the door is open for Sagapolutele to star in Berkeley.

"I just felt that there was another school in particular that was right for me," Sagapolutele told Lederman. "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."

Lederman noted that Sagapolutele "placed a heavy emphasis on early opportunity and development throughout his recruitment." It appears he'll get that with the Golden Bears as his transfer portal ordeal over the last month or so ends.

After his December enrollment, Sagapolutele was allowed to use the transfer portal during a five-day window that Ducks players got following the team's loss to Ohio State in the Rose Bowl on New Year's Day.

He quickly landed back where he started, and now Sagapolutele could very well be in position to be QB1 beginning in 2025, when Cal opens the year at Oregon State on Aug. 30.