Numerous college football teams accused of tampering with Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele, says Cal official

Numerous college football teams accused of tampering with Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele, says Cal official

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Numerous college football teams accused of tampering with Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele, says Cal official

Numerous college football teams accused of tampering with Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele, says Cal official originally appeared on The Sporting News.
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In the wild world of the college football transfer portal, one of the brightest young stars in the country, Cal Golden Bears quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele (JKS), had his phone ringing by numerous teams. However, he was never in the portal.

Sagapolutele is coming off of an extraordinary season as a true freshman starting for the Golden Bears. He finished top-20 in passing yards with 3,454 passing yards, threw for 18 touchdowns, nine interceptions, and added four additional touchdowns on the ground.

“Anytime you have a true freshman that comes in and balls out and does incredibly well, you’re going to have teams that try and get in on him and try and talk to people around him and hit him up,” a Cal official told The Sporting News on the condition of anonymity.

“There were numerous teams that came in and hit his representation up, hit his family up. Teams from all over the SEC, ACC, Big Ten. There were teams everywhere trying to get in on him.”

Sagapolutele opted to remain with the team even after the coaching change from Justin Wilcox to Tosh Lupoi from Oregon. Lupoi was on staff at Oregon when JKS originally committed to the Ducks before flipping to Cal prior to last season.

The tampering by numerous Power 4 teams comes even after Sagapolutele expressed his intention to remain at Berkeley back in December. "After spending time with my family, a lot of prayer and many discussions, I have come to realize that Cal is the best place for me," he told ESPN. 

Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele’s Heisman case

The incoming sophomore QB has a strong preseason case to make for Heisman consideration with his notable offseason progression. Along with what Lupoi and the rest of the coaching staff have done to surround him with key players.

“The biggest thing for him (Sagapolutele) is getting his body in a better spot," the Cal official added. "It was in a great spot last year. There’s a natural progression to your physical development. Focusing on that, adding muscle mass and toning himself down, he’s done a great job with that.”

Aside from his physical attributes, Cal hit the transfer portal hard in an effort to surround JKS with complementary pieces. In total, they brought in 13 offensive transfers, including 4-Star receivers Chase Hendricks and Ian Strong, as well as 4-Star tight end Dorian Thomas. All of which were 550+ yard receivers last season. Henricks and Strong recorded 700+ yards. Cal’s offensive transfer commits in total are made up of:

4-Star WR, Ian Strong

4-Star WR, Chase Hendricks

4-Star TE, Dorian Thomas

4-Star RB, Adam Mohammed

3-Star TE, Rico Walker

3-Star IOL, Ashton Rivera

3-Star IOL, Kahlee Tafai

3-Star WR, Cooper Perry

3-Star OT, Jimothy Lewis

3-Star OT, Mykeal Rabess

3-Star RB, Carter Vargas

3-Star RB, Ashten Emory

3-Star OT, Jacob Arop

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“Those are all guys who have come in, and one of their big reasons for picking this place was to be able to play with Jaron," said the Cal official.

The chemistry was on full display at the Golden Bears' spring game with JKS throwing for 185 yards and 1 touchdown. Perry, who followed Lupoi to Cal from Oregon, caught that single touchdown while Strong, Hendricks, and Thomas were all busy as well.

Cal will open their season with an in-state rivalry against UCLA on September 5th, where JKS will look to begin his Heisman candidacy.

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