NC State QB Ben Finley announces transfer commitment to Cal

In recent years quarterbacks from Arizona have found their way to Cal, and Wednesday night the Bears added another one. Head coach Justin Wilcox and offensive coordinator Jake Spavital made it clear at the end of spring ball that the team would be looking for another quarterback to help round out what had been a thin group.

The transfer portal led the Bears to Phoenix native and NC State quarterback Ben Finley. The 6-foot-3 graduate transfer, who still has three seasons of remaining eligibility, announced his commitment to Cal on Wednesday giving the Bears their second transfer quarterback addition of the offseason.

Though he hasn't been on the field much throughout his first three seasons, he does have experience as a starting quarterback after finishing the year as the Wolfpack's signal caller in 2022.

Over his three games in action over November and December, Finley passed for 741 yards and 3 touchdowns to go with 3 interceptions. His best game came in an upset win for NC State over rival North Carolina as he completed 27 passes for 271 yards and a pair of touchdowns on the road.

Finley has played in eight games throughout his career completing 83 of 152 passes for 912 yards and 4 touchdowns in his career.

Finley, who was ranked as a high three-star recruit out of Paradise Valley High School and held offers from programs such as Arizona State, Arizona and Iowa State, is the brother of former NC State quarterback Ryan Finley.

The Bears wrapped up spring ball with just two scholarship quarterbacks — TCU transfer Sam Jackson V and second-year player Fernando Mendoza. Both quarterbacks split reps throughout spring ball though Jackson ran exclusively with the first unit.

Neither Jackson nor Mendoza have extensive in-game experience and Spavital has put a premium on that when evaluating the teams options this offseason.

"To me it's the best available that you can get," he said. "I've always tried to get mobile quarterbacks or if he's a non-mobile quarterback he's gotta be like Davis Webb and have a really great arm. Gotta have one or the other. Gotta be mobile or you gotta have elite arm talent.

"So, I'm really looking at anything and everything right now. You just take the best available that you possibly can and then you adapt to them. A lot, too, you'd like to see if they have any experience. That's something that I'm always trying to look for when you're looking at quarterbacks. If they've at least been in games and played, so they kind of get that initial 'I've done it already.' ... You'd like to get a guy that has some experience and take the best available from there."

Finley is the second addition from the transfer portal in recent weeks after the Bears added two-time all-conference safety Patrick McMorris (San Diego State) shortly after spring ball came to an end.

Wilcox said the Bears could add as many as eight more transfers when all is said and done this offseason.