Cal Adds Montana State Transfer RB Isaiah Ifanse
Running back Isaiah Ifanse, who is Montana State's alltime leading rusher, has committed to Cal as a grad transfer.
He announced his commitment on social media on Friday, and he gives the Bears some needed depth and talent at the running back spot behind Jaydn Ott. Ifanse is the sixth transfer to commit to Cal since the end of spring football.
Ifanse took an unusual route to his commitment to Cal, including a commitment to San Jose State four months ago before switching to Cal.
He amassed 3,742 rushing yards for Montana State, an FCS school. He missed the entire 2022 regular season while recovering from knee surgery, but he returned for the playoffs and helped the Bobcats advance to the FCS semifinals before losing to eventual national champion South Dakota State.
Ifanse rushed for 91 yards on 10 carries in the postseason victory over Weber State in his first action of the season, then added 162 yards on 11 carries in the second-round win over William & Mary. He finished with 28 yards on seven attempts in the loss to South Dakota State
In December he entered the transfer portal and on January 18 announced that he had committed to San Jose State. However, he re-entered the transfer portal last week and is now committed to Cal.
The 5-foot-10, 205-pound Ifanse was a starter in each of his three previous seasons at Montana State, and he ran for 1,057 yards as a freshman in 2018. He had his biggest year as a junior in 2021, when he rushed for a school-record 1,623 yards and was selected to the first-team FCS All-America squad.
Ifanse is from Bellevue, Wash., and he was named Washington's Gatorade player of the year in 2017. He had offers from Army, Navy and Air Force coming out of high school.
Injuries to Golden Bears running backs during the spring suggested Cal needed to add some bodies at the running back position.
Ott stayed healthy throughout the spring, but Oregon transfer running back Byron Cardwell missed a good portion of spring ball with an injury, and Tennessee running back Justin Williams-Thomas missed all of the spring workouts with a leg injury.
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Cover photo of Isaiah Ifanse is by Erin Woodiel, Argus Leader, USA TODAY NETWORK
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