Cal endured a setback earlier this recruiting cycle when three-star in-state quarterback Robert McDaniel flipped his commitment to Arizona in May, but the Bears have recovered impressively from that mid-cycle by landing a commitment from fast-rising high-three-star (for now) Jaron Sagapolutele on Monday.

RELATED: Jaron Sagapolutele discusses his Cal commitment decision

Sagapolotele, out of Ewa Beach, Hawaii, is fresh off a highly-impressive performance at the Elite 11 finals last month, where he turned heads and garnered a lot of fresh attention to his talents.

And while that may lead to a late surge in his recruitment with fresh interest from other schools, Cal was already in on the lefty QB prior to that showcase. That relationship is what led the Bears to landing Sagapolutele's commitment over fellow contenders Oregon State, Boise State and Utah State.

Per the website scoringlive.com, Sagapolutele passed for 3,757 yards, 37 touchdowns and 12 interceptions last year for Campbell High School in Hawaii.

Let's take closer look at what this commitment means for Cal, Sagapolutele's highlights and a scouting report from Rivals national recruiting director Adam Gorney ...

It's hard to lose a commit mid-cycle and recover as well as the Bears have here. In fact, it seems likely that Sagapolutele finishes as a higher-ranked prospect than McDaniel when all is said and done this year.

Speaking of rankings, if Sagapolutele does ultimately end up a four-star prospect -- which seems very possible -- he'd be Cal's first four-star QB recruit since Chase Garbers in the 2017 class.

QB recruiting has been a struggle for the Bears in recent years. They landed three-star EJ Caminong in the 2024 cycle but didn't sign a HS quarterback prospect in the 2023 recruiting class and in 2022 took two-star Fernando Mendoza, who has exceeded his recruiting rating by emerging as Cal's starter last year.

Sagapolutele should have a chance to contribute early in his career at Cal. Mendoza is headed into the back end of his career, and the Bears only have freshman EJ Caminong as a younger quarterback on the roster heading into next year.