Stanford lost two quarterbacks to the transfer portal and added a four-star recruit on the position on Wednesday, while Cal missed out on a top QB recruit on national signing day.
Ashton Daniels, the Cardinals' starting quarterback this season, announced Wednesday that he’s moving on from The Farm after substitute Justin Lamson walks out the door.
As a junior, Daniels rushed for 1,700 yards, 10 touchdowns and 12 interceptions while adding 669 yards and three touchdowns as a rusher. He debuted as a rookie in 2022 in a limited role in David Shaw's final season and began nearly all of the last two seasons under coach Troy Taylor.
Daniels, a three-star recruit from Buford, Georgia, may very well be heading closer to home for his next stop.
Lamson, the Cardinals' wildcat quarterback, announced his plans to enter the portal earlier this week after playing two seasons at Stanford, where he transferred from Syracuse in 2023. Lamson can be a graduate transfer and has accomplished 24 of 47 attempts for 804 yards, 4 touchdowns and 4 interceptions this season. He was used as a runner in short-yardage situations, running 68 times for just 94 yards but scoring eight touchdowns.
A brand new face coming to Palo Alto from Murietta, California is Bear Bachmeier, who’s a top-30 quarterback and is the brother of Cardinal wide receiver Tiger. (Another older brother, Hank, was Wake Forest's quarterback that season.)
Bear Bachmeier starred at Murrieta Valley, amassing 86 total touchdowns (30 rushing) as a dual threat in highschool. He may have to compete with former top recruit Elijah Brown, who will likely be a starter for the Cardinals next season after a disappointing 3-9 season.
The top recruit in Stanford's 19-player class is four-star wide receiver JonAnthony Hall from New Jersey, who’s ranked the No. 10 wideout within the country by 247Sports.
Cal, which went 6-6 overall and 2-6 in its first yr within the ACC, suffered a significant blow on Wednesday. The Bears had hoped to sign top-10 quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele from Hawaii after he had been committed to the Golden Bears since July. But Sagapolutele, Hawaii's top player, decided to sign with Oregon.
According to 247Sports, Sagapolutele is taken into account the No. 8 quarterback. He finished his profession with 10,653 passing yards, probably the most in Hawaii State history and surpassing Oregon's Dillon Gabriel (9,848).
Sagapolutele's loss to Oregon is especially painful for Cal because he was the one blue-chip prospect within the Bears' 14-man recruiting class.
Sagapolutele's commitment helped propel Oregon to the highest of the Big Ten recruiting rankings after starting Wednesday behind Ohio State and Michigan within the Big Ten recruiting rankings and was poised to finish Wednesday at the highest.
According to 247Sports, San Jose State University's well-balanced recruiting class ranks sixth among the many 12 teams within the Mountain West Conference as each of the Spartans' 12 newly signed players are 3-star prospects.
The highest-rated prospect for Ken Niumatalolo's program is San Marcos High (Ca.) wide receiver Jase Nix, who finished his four-year profession with 212 catches for 3,304 yards (15.6 yards per catch) and 48 touchdowns. The 5-9, 165-pound Nix is considered the 109th-best prospect within the state and has been favorably in comparison with one other former San Marcos star receiver, Kyle Phillips of the Philadelphia Eagles.
San Jose State also signed intriguing Marin Catholic tight end Braiden Bachich-Dixon, a 6-4, 220-pound speedster who causes problems for defenses in matchups. Bachich-Dixon is California's 111th-rated candidate.
Another interesting addition for the Spartans is dual-threat quarterback Tama Amisone from Kapolei High in Hawaii. Amisone, San Jose's only quarterback on this class, threw for nearly 1,500 yards this yr, ran for greater than 750 yards and in addition had 72 yards receiving.
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