West Coast recruiting: Cal and Oregon duel for top quarterback prospect while Washington goes big

The Hotline is delighted to provide college football fans with a regular dive into the recruiting process through the eyes and ears of Brandon Huffman, the Seattle-based national recruiting editor for 247Sports. He submitted the following report on Nov. 27 …

And then there were two

With Cal quarterback commit Jaron Keawe Sagapolutele cancelling his scheduled official visit to Georgia for the weekend, the race for the No. 1 recruit in Hawaii is down to two schools.

Sagapolutele hasn’t de-committed from Cal, which welcomed the four-star prospect to campus last weekend for the Big Game win over Stanford.

The left-handed passer will stay home this week and work towards a final decision: stick with the Bears or flip to Oregon, his childhood favorite which has a lefty from Hawaii, Dillon Gabriel, spearheading its top-ranked team. (Sagapolutele broke Gabriel’s high school passing record.)

Did Cal do enough to hold onto him? We tend to think they did, but the Bears won’t feel confident until pen hits paper next week.

You can make an easy and convincing case that Sagapolutele is the most important recruit in Justin Wilcox’s tenure. The Bears are holding on to hope that he’ll stick with them.

More schools add 2026 prospects

While the biggest buzz coming from Berkeley was the positive strides made in retaining Sagapolutele, the Bears also landed a commitment in the 2026 class.

Santa Margarita (Calif.) cornerback Jayden Crowder, who was in Memorial Stadium on Saturday, gave an early commitment.

Arizona State had arguably the most dramatic win of the weekend, outlasting BYU in a wild finish to keep its Big 12 title hopes alive.

The victory led to a commitment from Dallas offensive tackle Cortavious Tisaby in the 2026 class.

The Huskies’  huge haul

It has been a terrific week for Washington, with two commitments from players in the 2025 class and two more from members of the 2026 class.

The ’25 group was heavy on offensive linemen, with three of the four pledges playing up front and the other being a tight end.

The commitments started ramping up on Sunday, when Peter Langi chose UW over Arizona, where his brother, Michael is committed.

It continued on Monday when Top247 lineman Esun Tafa announced for the Huskies; then Ah-Deong Yang, from the 2026 class, joined the fray that afternoon.

The series of successes concluded Tuesday when former Washington State pledge Austin Simmons flipped his commitment to the Huskies from the Cougars.

Bruins  receive great news

While UCLA came up short in DeShaun Foster’s first game as head coach against USCs, recruiting wasn’t impacted.

Prior to the game, class of 2026 receiver Kenneth Moore III, from St. Mary High School in Stockton, became the Bruins’  fourth commitment in the class — all from wideouts. Moore picked the Bruins over Washington, Stanford and Washington State, where his father played.

On Tuesday, UCLA landed its first 2027 pledge, courtesy of Tulare (Calif.) playmaker Demaje Riley, who has amassed nearly 2,000 receiving yards and 27 touchdowns in his first two years on varsity.

The Bruins also are in the final four for another Central California prospect: Sanger receiver Bryson Baker, who is down to Cal, Michigan State, UCLA and Utah.

Big games for Ducks, Trojans

Washington heads to Eugene this weekend for Oregon’s final home game of its inaugural season in the Big Ten.

The Ducks will face a bitter rival that has won three straight in the series and would love nothing more than to spoil Oregon’s perfect season.

The Ducks will have plenty of commitments and recruits in the stands, too, including:

— Top247 linebacker Tristan Phillips, a four-star player who will announce his decision on December 7th on the 247Sports YouTube Channel;

— Mater Dei 2026 lineman Kodi Greene, a five-star prospect who has already committed to the Ducks;

— Two key recruits from the class of 2025: Zac Stascausky (four stars), who’s from Portland and currently committed to Washington;  and McKay Madsen (three stars), the two-sport star from Fresno.

Meanwhile, USC will have several top prospects inside the Coliseum when the Trojans host Notre Dame, including 2025 edge rusher Jahkeem Stewart and linebacker Madden Faraimo, the top uncommitted prospect in California in 2025, who has a short list that includes both the Trojans and the Irish.

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