Cal edge David Reese enters transfer portal
The rotation is now wide open at the edge position for new starters for the Golden Bears.
The California Golden Bears had a tough bit of news, as edge David Reese entered the transfer portal. Reese did walk on Senior Day, but there was still some potential wiggle room for a return if things worked out the right way. But he will be looking for a new spot next season in what would be an astonishing eighth season of eligibility.
Reese finished his career at Cal with 58 tackles, 15.5 tackles for loss and 11 sacks, as well as forcing five fumbles. Reese had a strong finish to the 2023 season, helping the Cal defense to a strong finish, punctuated with a four tackle, three sack, one forced fumble performance against UCLA. His senior season was injury-plagued, but he did have a two-sack, two pass breakup performance against Wake Forest, as well as a six tackle, 2.5 TFL, 1.5 sack performance and a forced fumble in the Big Game.
Cal does return a significant number of edge players in Ryan McCulloch, Myles Williams and Serigne Tounkara, as well as incoming talents like Jayden Wayne from Washington, John Gayer, Odera Okaka from the College of San Mateo and freshman John Tofi. With Reese, Xavier Carlton and Chiekh Fall on their way to new pastures, the Bears will have a pretty wide open spring battle for who sees action here.
Best of luck David! Go Bears forever!
He was a solid player and an inspirational leader during his time at CAL and I wish him nothing but the best wherever his future takes him. And he has a CAL degree! David has the talent to potentially play on Sundays, but his injury history will be tough to overcome for teams looking at him in the draft. I am totally guessing the he wants to maximize his NIL value in the last year of his playing career, especially that he is fortunate to get an 8th year, and he believes he may have better options than at CAL. When it comes to livelihood and a paycheck, you can never hold that against a player. Best of luck to David and thank you for your time as a Golden Bear!
8 years of eligibility. Wow. Anyway, he earned his degree so I'm proud of him and wish him success at his next step.