ACC: The Rise of Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele

It was an eventful offseason for then-incoming freshman Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele. However, it all started in the summer before his senior year of high school.

On July 8, 2024, Sagapolutele announced his commitment to California. After garnering bigger offers, including Oregon and Georgia, the southpaw reopened his commitment on Dec. 4.

The Ewa Beach, Hawaii, native signed with Oregon, not an ACC school. But that wouldn’t be the end of his wild year.

After enrolling with the Ducks at the end of December, Sagapolutele entered the transfer portal just seven days later.

Two days after entering the portal, the four-star freshman quarterback committed back to California, the original college he committed to play for.

As a high school prospect, Sagapolutele was ranked the No. 65 player in the country, No. 7 quarterback and No. 1 player in Hawaii.

As a transfer, just a week after he ended his high school ranking, he was ranked the No. 23 transfer and No. 5 quarterback, without even playing a snap of college football.

However, the freshman quarterback wasn’t immediately handed the job. Sagapolutele beat out Ohio State transfer Devin Brown for the starting position. The true freshman beat out a quarterback who was the backup for the national champions.

Sagapolutele has begun his collegiate career by putting Cal in a firm spot to compete in the ACC. The 6-foot-3-inch quarterback has thrown for 1,487 yards and nine touchdowns. Despite throwing seven interceptions, the left-handed quarterback has shown precision passing and advanced reads for a quarterback who’s just 19 years old.

Halfway through the season, he has the Golden Bears at 4-2, with losses to San Diego State and Duke. Despite the San Diego State loss not looking good, the loss against the Blue Devils’ll be looked at as a “good loss.”

The Golden Bears sit in the upper part of the middle of the pack in the ACC. The team is set up for a favorable back half of the season, and with the constant growth of Sagapolutele, Cal could be in for a big season.

The quarterback could put Cal in a great position to not only be in the College Football Playoff at some point in his career, but also earn future commits with players wanting to join the talented arm of the young QB.

With Cal holding a strong history of quarterbacks, Sagapolutele could be the next in line, joining current Detroit’s Jared Goff and Pittsburgh’s Aaron Rodgers.

Not only could he add to the legacy of quarterbacks from Cal, but he could also add to the recent legacy of quarterbacks from Hawaii.

Currently, three NFL quarterbacks are originally from Hawaii. Cleveland’s Dillon Gabriel, Washington’s Marcus Mariota ,and Miami’s Tua Tagovailoa all hail from Hawaii and have found playing time on an NFL roster.

With the national attention that he’s starting to earn, Sagapolutele could be an immediate first-round pick candidate in the 2028 NFL Draft.

Andrew Deal is a third-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him please email him at asd5765@psu.edu.