Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele bids Caloha, hails the Calgorithm, Cal fans for the love

The new highly touted Cal quarterback is making his presence felt early after coming back to the California Golden Bears and as he prepares for the Polynesian Bowl.

Credit: Rob Hwang

Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele provided some much needed boost for the California Golden Bears when he recommitted. Getting a transfer of a five-star prospect from the top-ranked program this regular season isn’t exactly something you’d expect in Berkeley, so things have been abuzz ever since.

Mori Suesue from Team Pala coined a new phrase we can all use to greet each other as Sagapolutele made the journey to the Bay. “Caloha” everyone!

He spent most of last week in Berkeley, attending a Cal men’s basketball game.

After some time in Berkeley, Sagapolutele headed back to Hawaii to prepare for the Polynesian Bowl. This bowl showcases a lot of upcoming island talent. Fellow Cal defensive back commit Aiden Manutai and his future defensive teammates LeBron Williams and Jae’on Young also are participating—Manutai was courted by Nebraska near the end of the cycle, but stayed firm to the Golden Bears (paid interview with Rivals here).

In an interview with Matt Moreno of Cal Rivals at Polynesian Bowl prep, Sagapolutele shouted out the Cal community, and even mentioned the Calgorithm by name.

(video courtesy of Matt Moreno)

"The fanbase kept showing me love even when I was at Oregon. They just kept telling me to come back home. We have our brand, CALOHA. The Calgorithm. It just means a lot that they're always tweeting about me, not just me, but just Cal in general. We've got a big fanbase backing us up. It's exciting to see them come to the game and see the support."

Cal will likely have a significant quarterback battle incoming in the spring if the Bears land another top transfer portal player and also have CJ Harris, Dominic Ingrassia and EJ Caminong ready to battle. But for now, we have a great young Bear ready to compete to be the next top quarterback in Strawberry Canyon.

You can watch both Sagapolutele and Manutai at the Polynesian Bowl this Friday on NFL Network at 4 PM Hawaiian Time, 6 PM Pacific. We will have a live thread!