California men's soccer standouts Gaku Nishimura and Alfredo Ortiz are among 45 student-athletes invited to the 2025 MLS College Showcase slated to take place Wednesday through Saturday in Mesa, Arizona, Major League Soccer announced Tuesday.  Cal head coach Leonard Griffin will also on be hand in Mesa to coach at the closed-door scouting event, with players showcasing their skills to the league's 30 clubs ahead of the MLS SuperDraft on Dec. 18.

 The list of attendees is subject to change. 
 
Cal's two seniors played pivotal roles in the Golden Bears' 2025 season.
 
Ortiz contributed to both the defense and the attack from his outside back position, tallying three goals, one assist and seven points for the second straight season. He also netted two game-winning goals, both in the state of North Carolina. His 48th-minute strike was the difference in a 1-0 victory at UNC Asheville and his 37th-minute goal was the first of Cal's two in a 2-0 win at Duke in the ACC Championship first round. In 2024, he scored the game-winning goal in the ACC Championship first round at North Carolina, with Ortiz converting Cal's only penalty kick of the season to cap a 2-1 victory over the Tar Heels. The Los Angeles product started his collegiate career at East Los Angeles College before competing at Cerritos College, earning the 2022 South Coast Conference Defensive Player of the Year award while with the Falcons, prior to joining the Bears.

 

A native of Yokohama, Japan, Nishimura also spent two years in Berkeley after playing at San Jose State for two seasons. The midfielder had three assists in 2025, including two in a 6-1 rout at Radford. He combined with Cam Wilkerson to set up Beau Morrison's game-winning goal in a 1-0 triumph over Pitt in the ACC Championship quarterfinal in Berkeley. Nishimura posted two goals, two assists and six points in his first year as a Bear in 2024, when he was also named to the CSC Academic All-District Team and ACC All-Academic Team. As a Spartan, he was named to the 2023 All-WAC Second Team and 2022 All-WAC Freshman Team.
 
A UCLA star who won the 2002 NCAA championship with the Bruins, Griffin played in MLS for several years after getting drafted by the Chicago Fire in 2004, with his career including stints with the Los Angeles Galaxy and Columbus Crew. Now in his fourth year at the helm of the Cal program, Griffin was named the Pac-12 Coach of the Year in 2023.

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