Cal Football Lands Top Transfer WR Ian Strong from Rutgers
Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele will have a huge weapon on his hands via the portal for the 2026 California Golden Bears offense.
The California Golden Bears have landed one of the top wideout transfers in college football. Ian Strong, ranked as the 6th best transfer wide receiver by On3 and a top 20 WR by 247Sports, has signed with the California Golden Bears. At 6-3, 210 pounds, Cal now has a prototypical X receiver for their young star quarterback to target.
The Cal passing offense struggled with making catches in traffic all of last season. This will not be a problem with Strong, who is widely considered one of the best contested catchers in all of college football. Strong is tied for 4th in the country with 17 contested catches in 2025, alone in 2nd with 20 in 2024. Strong hauled in 52 catches for 762 yards in 2025, highlighted by an 88-yard, three touchdown performance against Maryland.
It’s a huge win for Tosh Lupoi (who you can see in the above video welcoming Strong on his visit) and new wide receivers coach Ike Hilliard, as Strong also visited Notre Dame this week. Cal will have one of its most talented outside wideouts in a long time, and Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele now has his security blanket on the outside.
Welcome to Cal Ian!
I think there's an argument that this is the single best transfer pickup for Cal football in the portal era.
Cam Coleman, you're up next. Give me all the receivers.