Cal Set to Stage its Spring Showcase Scrimmage on Saturday

Admission is free to the event, where the Bears also will launch their annual Summer Reading Challenge

. / Photo by Jeff Faraudo

Cal has announced plans for its football Spring Showcase on Saturday afternoon, a scrimmage event at Memorial Stadium that will wrap up the team’s four weeks of spring practice.

The event will begin at 2 p.m. with gates opening to the public at 1 p.m. Admission is free and fans may enter the stadium through Gates 1, 2 and 5 on the west side of the facility.

The Bears, with lots of newcomers on its roster and coach Justin Wilcox’s staff, will hold a scrimmage with game officials.

Cal has four new assistant coaches on the offensive side, including coordinator Bryan Harsin, a former head coach at Boise State and Auburn.

Three players — Ohio State transfer Devin Brown, returning redshirt freshman EJ Caminong and incoming freshman Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele — are competing for the starting quarterback job. Wilcox is not expected to identify the starter until sometime in fall camp.

Running back Jaydn Ott, healthy after an injury-plagued season in 2024, has had a productive spring, according to Wilcox. Ott, who rushed for 1,315 yards as a sophomore in 2023, will enter his senior campaign with 2,597 career rushing yards, leaving him 771 yards shy of eclipsing Russell White’s program record of 3,367 yards from 1990-92.

Oski will be on hand and there will be food concessions open on the Lisa and Douglas Goldman Plaza.

The program also will launch its eighth annual Cal Football Summer Reading Challenge and book drive. Tight end Jack Endries is spearheading  the Reading Challenge, which was started by former Cal running back Patrick Laird. 

Endries and other players plan to visit local schools in upcoming weeks to encourage reading and share details about the program, in which students in first through eighth grades who complete the Challenge will earn two tickets for the Bears’ Sept. 13 home game vs. Minnesota.

Helping to sponsor the Summer Reading Challenge are the Cameron Institute, Cal Athletics and Cal Football in conjunction with the Berkeley Public Library, Book Inc’s Reading Bridge, Oakland Athletic League and local schools

Cal encourages fans to utilize public transit Saturday because parking near Memorial Stadium is limited. Here are a few of those options:  bart.gov, actransit.org, 511.org and pt.berkeley.edu.

For those who plan to drive, here are parking options: 

— Stadium Parking Garage – Paid parking near corner of Gayley Road (where Piedmont Avenue becomes Gayley Road) and Stadium Rim Way just north of the stadium

— Street Parking – Paid and two-hour free parking may be available on streets near the stadium

·— Witter Lot – Paid parking near the corner of Centennial Drive and Stadium Rim Way just east of the stadium

— Lower Sproul Garage – Paid parking on the north side of Bancroft Way between Telegraph Avenue and Dana Street

— Rec Sports Facility Garage – Paid parking on the north side of Bancroft Way between Dana Street and Ellsworth Street

— Underhill Garage – Paid parking on the corner of Channing Way and College Avenue

Recent articles:

Can ex-Cal star Collin Morikawa earn his third major title at the Masters?

Cal loses a basketball assistant coach to Florida State

Coach Justin Wilcox discusses the role of new football GM Ron Rivera

Ohio State transfer Devin Brown states his case for the starting QB job

Cal rugby takes the first step toward a national championship