BERKELEY – Travers Family Head Football Coach Justin Wilcox announced Monday that running back Justin Williams-Thomas has joined Cal's 2023 recruiting class. Williams-Thomas will be a redshirt freshman in 2023 with four seasons of collegiate eligibility remaining when he joins the Golden Bears later this month. He spent his 2022 true freshman campaign at Tennessee.

"Justin is another excellent football player that we are excited to add to our roster via the transfer portal," Wilcox said. "He is a dynamic playmaker with a tremendous amount of ability and a big upside."

Williams-Thomas was a highly recruited prep player in the 2022 recruiting class who ranked as high as the No. 11 running back and No. 156 player overall in the country by Rivals, who classified him as a four-star recruit along with ESPN and On3.
Williams-Thomas prepped at East Paulding High School in Georgia, where he rushed for 3,264 yards and 30 touchdowns over his final two campaigns.

Cal has now announced the first 18 members of its 2023 recruiting class including nine transfers who will be mid-year enrollees this month – TE Asher Alberding, ILB Sergio Allen, TE J.T. Byrne, RB Byron Cardwell, DB Matthew Littlejohn, DB Kaylin Moore, Williams-Thomas, DB Nohl Williams and P Lachlan Wilson.

Cal also signed nine prep players during the early signing period last month that will arrive in Berkeley in June in DL Tiumalu Afalava, DL Zurich Ashford, WR Nyziah Hunter, TE Ben Marshall, OLB Ryan McCulloch, RB Jaivian Thomas, ILB Cade Uluave, DB Sai Vadrawale and ATH Frederick Williams III.

2023 Cal Football Recruiting Class (As Of January 9, 2023)

NAME – POS – HT – WT – YR – EXP – HOMETOWN (LAST SCHOOLS) – DATE ANNOUNCED
Tiumalu Afalava – DL – 6-2 – 275 – Fr. – 1st – Baldwin Park, CA (Bishop Amat HS) – December 21, 2022
^Asher Alberding – TE – 6-4 – 260 – R-Jr. – 5th – Houston, TX (North Texas/Clear Lake HS) – January 9, 2023
^Sergio Allen – ILB – 6-1 – 225 – R-So. – 3rd – Fort Valley, GA (Clemson/Peach County HS) – December 21, 2022
Zurich Ashford – DL – 6-2 – 275 – Fr. – 1st – Las Vegas, NV (Arbor View HS) – December 21, 2022
^J.T. Byrne – TE – 6-5 – 250 – R-So. – 3rd – Carmel, CA (Oregon State/Carmel HS) – January 6, 2023
^Byron Cardwell – RB – 6-0 – 210 – R-So. – 4th – San Diego, CA (Oregon/Morse HS/St. Augustine's HS) – December 21, 2022
Nyziah Hunter – WR – 6-2 – 200 – Fr. – 1st – Salinas, CA (Salinas HS) – December 21, 2022
^Matthew Littlejohn – DB – 5-11 – 180 – R-Jr. – 3rd – San Antonio, TX (Citrus College/Stevens HS) – December 21, 2022
Ben Marshall – TE – 6-4 – 220 – Fr. – 1st – Murfreesboro, TN (Blackman HS) – December 21, 2022
Ryan McCulloch – OLB – 6-3 – 240 – Fr. – 1st – Duarte, CA (Rio Hondo Prep) – December 21, 2022
^Kaylin Moore – DB – 5-10 – 185 – Jr. – 3rd – Westlake Village, CA (Colorado/Oaks Christian HS) – December 21, 2022
Jaivian Thomas – RB – 5-10 – 175 – Fr. – 1st – Oakland, CA (McClymonds HS) – December 21, 2022
Cade Uluave – ILB – 6-1 – 230 – Fr. – 1st – South Jordan, UT (Mountain Ridge HS) – December 21, 2022
Sai Vadrawale – DB – 5-11 – 170 – Fr. – 1st – Concord, CA (Rancho Cotate HS) – December 21, 2022
^Nohl Williams – DB – 6-1 – 185 – Jr. – 4th – Oxnard, CA (UNLV/Pacifica HS) – December 21, 2022
Frederick Williams III – ATH – 6-5 – 265 – Fr. – 1st – Los Angeles, CA (Junipero Serra HS) – December 21, 2022
^Justin Williams-Thomas – RB – 6-0 – 215 – R-Fr. – 2nd – Dallas, GA (Tennessee/East Paulding HS) – January 9, 2023
^Lachlan Wilson – P – 6-3 – 195 – R-Jr. – 5th – Eaglemont, Australia (Tulsa/Xavier College) – December 23, 2022
^January 2023 Enrollee