Cal head coach Justin Wilcox (left) and Oregon head coach Dan Lanning in 2023 Troy Wayrynen-Imagn Images

Oregon Hoping to Flip Highly Rated Cal Commit Tommy Tofi

Originally posted on Cal Bears on SI | By Jake Curtis | Last updated Jun 24, 2025 2:21 PM ET

Will Cal lose the player who is the highest rated of the 22 prospects that have committed to the Golden Bears for the class of 2026?

The case of four-star offensive lineman Tommy Tofi, who committed to Cal on June 3, is starting to look eerily similar to the Golden Bears’ experience with quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele. The highly rated Sagapolutele committed to Cal on July 8, 2024, then started considering Oregon, set a later date to make a “final” decision and ended up committing to the Ducks on December 4.

He enrolled at Oregon, but that episode ended with Sagapolutele transferring to Cal just a few weeks after enrolling at Oregon. Sagapolutele is now a Cal freshman competing for the Bears’ starting quarterback job for the 2025 season.

Oregon is again trying to flip a highly rated player who has committed to Cal, in this case Tofi, who attends Riordan High School in San Francisco and is ranked as the nation’s No 1 offensive guard prospect in the class of 2026 by ESPN. The 6-foot-6, 330-pound Tofi visited Oregon earlier this month, two weeks after committing to Cal, and he might be considering the Ducks.

Rivals reported on twitter that Tofi will make a “final” decision between Cal and Oregon “soon.” He is participating in the Rivals Five-Star Camp in Indianapolis this week, and he is still committed to Cal at the moment. He has not announced that he has de-committed from Cal, and he ended his Rivals twitter video with “Go Bears.”

2026 OL Tommy Tofi recently visited Oregon, and he hopes to have a final decision soon. The Cal commit will be one of the West Coast recruits participating in the @RivalsCamp Five-Star in Indianapolis this week. pic.twitter.com/LUBIj9OTMP
— Rivals (@Rivals) June 23, 2025

Verbal commitments are not binding, and it's not unusual for players to change their commitment before officially signing with a college. When Tofi announced his commitment to Cal, he said part of the reason he chose the Golden Bears was the opportunity to be on the same team as his brother, John Tofi Jr., an outside linebacker who will be a freshman at Cal this fall.

Tommy Tofi committed to Cal after receiving offers from Ohio State, Penn State, Miami, Mississippi, USC, Texas A&M, Tennessee, Florida, Florida State, Washington, Auburn, BYU, Arizona State and Utah, among others, as well as Cal and Oregon.

And he seemed impressed with his recent visit to Oregon.

"One thing that I learned about this trip is that this program has three missions they want to accomplish this year: the Joe Moore Award [for the nation's best offensive line], to win the Big Ten again and win a national championship," Tofi said of his visit to Oregon, according to 247Sports.

"I I had great conversations with the whole offensive line coaching staff and coach [Will] Stein [Oregon’s offensive coordinator], telling me how they'd use me in their offense and telling me that I was their missing puzzle piece in this offensive line group," Tofi said.

High school players’ decision on a college is now complicated by the NCAA House settlement, which allows colleges to pay their athletes directly starting this season.