California football announced the first 17 members of the Golden Bears' 2026 recruiting class Wednesday on the first day of the early signing period that ends Friday. Each of the first 17 members of the class are current high school student-athletes who will be in their first season of collegiate eligibility in 2026.

The group includes 10 student-athletes on the offensive side of the ball in quarterback Nainoa Lopes (Honolulu, Hawai'i/Saint Louis HS), running back Victor Santino (Los Angeles/Miami Edison Senior HS), tight end Taimane Purcell (Aiea, Hawai'i/Kamehameha Kapalama HS), a trio of wide receivers in Kai Meza (Herriman, Utah/Corner Canyon HS), EJ Morgan (Fresno/Central East HS), and Tyree Sams (Fresno/Clovis North HS), and four offensive linemen in Elisha Faamatuainu (Murrieta/Murrieta Valley, CA), Kamo'i Huihui-White (Honolulu, Hawai'i/Saint Louis HS), Daniel McMorris (Norman, Oklahoma/Norman North HS) and Esaiah Wong (Waimanalo, Hawai'i/Kailua HS),

The six members of the recruiting class on the defensive side of the ball consist of defensive back Ernest Nunley (Carson/Western HS), inside linebackers JD McKinley (Corona/Centennial HS) and Jaxon Pyatt (Wheat Ridge, Colorado/Arvada West HS), and a trio of defensive linemen in Frank Fanua Jr. (San Diego/Mount Miguel HS), Lucky Schirmer (Pomona/Centennial HS) and Nemyah Telona (Antioch/De La Salle HS).

Niles Davis (Los Angeles/Westlake HS) was recruited as an athlete.

A pair of four-star recruits in McMorris and Purcell are also the most highly ranked nationally in the class at their respective positions, with McMorris the No. 11 offensive tackle and Purcell the No. 16 tight end. McMorris is also the top overall player from Oklahoma, while Purcell is the No. 3 overall player from Hawai'i. Santino (247 Sports, No. 25 RB), Lopes (247Sports, No. 34 QB), McKinely (ESPN, No. 46 ILB) and Huihui-White (247Sports and ESPN, No. 49 IOL) are among a total of six members of the recruiting class ranked in the top 50 nationally at their positions.

Among the biggest national honors earned were a 2026 Polynesian Bowl selection for Huihui-White.

The prolific wide receiver trio of Meza, Morgan and Sams, along with Davis, combined for career totals of 353 receptions, 5,500 yards receiving and 69 touchdown catches during their prep careers. Meza put up the biggest numbers with 110 catches for 2,018 yards and 25 touchdowns, while Morgan caught 115 balls for 1,721 yards with 21 touchdowns and reached the 2024 Division I-AA state championship game with his team as a junior. Sams finished with 83 receptions for 1,143 yards and 13 touchdown catches, while Davis picked up 41 receptions for 618 yards and 10 touchdowns all as a senior in 2025.

On the defensive side of the ball, the biggest career production as a prep was posted by Pyatt (250 tackles, 29.5 TFL, 8.0 sacks, 2 INT), McKinley (26.0 TFL) and Telona (17.0 TFL, 7.0 sacks). 

Ten members of the class listed their hometowns in California (Davis, Faamatuainu, Fanua Jr., McKinley, Morgan, Nunley, Sams, Santino, Schirmer, Telona), while four hail from Hawai'i (Huihui-White, Lopes, Purcell, Wong) and one each from Colorado (Pyatt), Oklahoma (McMorris) and Utah (Meza).

Eleven members of the class will arrive in Berkeley in January (Faamatuainu, Huihui-White, Lopes, McKinley, McMorris, Meza, Nunley, Purcell, Santino, Schirmer, Wong), while the other six (Davis, Fanua Jr., Morgan, Pyatt, Sams, Telona) will join the Bears in June.

The 2026 recruiting class will continue to be built through the transfer portal and National Signing Day on Feb. 3.

2026 Cal Football Recruiting Class Roster
NAME – POS – HT – WT – YR – EXP – HOMETOWN/LAST SCHOOLS – DATE ANNOUNCED
Niles Davis – ATH – 5-11 – 185 – Fr. – 1st – Los Angeles, CA/Westlake HS – December 3, 2025
Elisha Faamatuainu – OL – 6-4 – 325 – Fr. – 1st – Murrieta, CA/Murrieta Valley HS – December 3, 2025^
Frank Fanua Jr. – DL – 6-3 – 260 – Fr. – 1st – San Diego, CA/Mount Miguel HS – December 3, 2025
Kamo'i Huihui-White – OL – 6-5 – 335 – Fr. – 1st – Honolulu, HI/Saint Louis HS – December 3, 2025^
Nainoa Lopes – QB – 6-3 – 180 – Fr. – 1st – Honolulu, HI/Saint Louis HS – December 3, 2025^
JD McKinley – ILB – 6-2 – 235 – Fr. – 1st – Corona, CA/Centennial HS – December 3, 2025^
Daniel McMorris – OL – 6-6 – 265 – Fr. – 1st – Norman, OK/Norman North HS – December 3, 2025^
Kai Meza – WR – 6-1 – 190 – Fr. – 1st – Herriman, UT/Corner Canyon HS – December 3, 2025^
EJ Morgan – WR – 6-0 – 165 – Fr. – 1st – Fresno, CA/Central East HS – December 3, 2025
Ernest Nunley – DB – 6-0 – 185 – Fr. – 1st – Carson, CA/Western HS – December 3, 2025^
Jaxon Pyatt – ILB – 6-2 – 225 – Fr. – 1st – Wheat Ridge, CO/Arvada West HS – December 3, 2025
Taimane Purcell – TE – 6-4 – 235 – Fr. – 1st – Aiea, HI/Kamehameha Kapalama HS – December 3, 2025^
Tyree Sams – WR – 5-8 – 180 – Fr. – 1st – Fresno, CA/Clovis North HS – December 3, 2025
Victor Santino – RB – 5-11 – 190 – Fr. – 1st – Los Angeles, CA/Miami Edison Senior HS – December 3, 2025^
Lucky Schirmer – DL – 6-2 – 305 – Fr. – 1st – Pomona, CA/Centennial HS – December 3, 2025^
Nemyah Telona – DL – 6-1 – 305 – Fr. – 1st – Antioch, CA/De La Salle HS – December 3, 2025
Esaiah Wong – OL – 6-5 – 290 – Fr. – 1st – Waimanalo, HI/Kailua HS – December 3, 2025^
^January 2026 Mid-Year Enrollee; As of Dec. 3, 2025