Cal Football: Safety Elijah Hicks Says He Will Return for Second Senior Season

NCAA exemption allows seniors to repeat their final year because of COVID-19

Safety Elijah Hicks became the third member of Cal’s football team who will take advantage of a one-time NCAA exemption that allows players to repeat their senior seasons.

"I'm coming back to Cal," Hicks wrote on Twitter.

Hicks, 21, joins linebacker Kuony Deng and center Michael Saffell, who previously announced their intend to return for the 2021 season to replay their final campaign.

Hicks’ return is good news for the Bears, who now expect to return eight of the 10 defensive backs listed on their final depth chart from the 2020 season.

Elijah Hicks

Coach Justin Wilcox still awaits word on senior outside linebacker Cameron Goode, who has not announced his plans.

Three other seniors — cornerback Camryn Bynum, defensive end Zeandae Johnson and offensive tackle Jake Curhan — all previously announced their plans to depart Cal and pursue their NFL dreams.

Hicks, a 5-foot-11, 200-pounder from Long Beach, had 28 tackles in the Bears’ four-game season to rank second on the team to Deng, who had 31 tackles. He had a career-best eight tackles vs. Stanford.

Hicks also had one interception and two pass breakups this season.

Hicks already had received an invitation to the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl all-star game, which he will now have to bypass.

A cornerback his first three seasons, he was moved to safety before the Bears played in the 2019 Redbox Bowl.

Hicks has played 42 career games, with 34 starts, accumulating 141 tackles, with nine tackles for loss, two interceptions and two forced fumbles.

Hicks was active in the offseason, starting a foundation called Intercept Poverty to aid students and created a fundraiser that generated $60,000 to help families feed their school-aged children during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Rated as a four-star high school prospect, Hicks chose Cal over a list of schools that included Notre Dame.

For his off-the-field efforts, Hicks landed a spot on the Allstate AFCA Good Works Team. 

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Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo