The 2025 college football transfer portal has been a roller coaster for Cal, but the Golden Bears got more good news on Friday. In his biggest acquisition of the spring window, head coach Justin Wilcox received the commitment of former Liberty edge-rusher TJ Bush Jr, per On3 Sports.

Bush joins Cal after a 58-tackle, 5.5-sack season in 2024. He is just two years removed from a FWAA Freshman All-American season with 32 total stops and 7.0 tackles for loss in his opening season. Bush entered the spring college football transfer portal on April 14 after two years at Liberty.

The commitment is a huge addition for Wilcox and the Bears, who will lose their top three pass-rushers from 2024. Xavier Carlton, Teddy Buchanan and David Reese, the team's top-three sack leaders, each depart after exhausting their collegiate eligibility.

Upon entering his name in the portal, Bush immediately became one of the top pass-rushers available. He is Cal's third-highest-rated transfer, behind quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele and cornerback Hezekiah Masses.

TJ Bush Jr. joins Cal's college football transfer portal class

Oregon Ducks running back Bucky Irving (0) runs the ball as offensive lineman Ajani Cornelius (65) blocks Liberty Flames college football transfer portal defensive end TJ Bush Jr. (23) during the 2024 Fiesta Bowl at State Farm Stadium.
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Bush joins the Bears' incoming transfer class, which is currently led by Sagapolutele, a five-star recruit. Sagapolutele transfers to Cal from Oregon. He initially committed to the Bears before flipping to the Ducks, but will begin his college career at Berkeley nonetheless.

While yet to play a college football snap, Sagapolutele set the Hawaii state high school record with 10,653 passing yards. That mark topped the record set by Dillon Gabriel in 2018. Tua Tagovailoa, Marcus Mariota, McKenzie Milton and Jayden de Laura also completed their high school careers in Hawaii.

Wilcox also recruited former Ohio State quarterback Devin Brown, Arkansas wideout Dazmin James and Colorado State linebacker Buom Jack, among others. Overall, Cal has the ninth-best college football transfer portal recruiting class in the ACC.

However, Cal still lost more talent overall than they gained from the portal. Quarterback Fernando Mendoza and running back Jaydn Ott both left the team as high-profile transfers. While Sagapolutele eases the loss of Mendoza, the departure of Ott, a former first-team All-Pac 12 running back, will be felt.