11 Join Cal Football Program

BERKELEY – The California football team has officially added 11 players to its roster since the end of spring football with the signings of QB Luke Bottari (Utah/College of San Mateo), WR Taj Davis (Washington), RB King Doerue (Purdue), WR Marquez Dortch (Mississippi State), QB Ben Finley (North Carolina State), RB Isaiah Ifanse (San Jose State/Montana State), OLB Tidiane Jalloh (Independence Community College), P Thomas Lee (Cal Poly), DB Patrick McMorris (San Diego State), DB Marcus Scott II (Missouri) and OL Matthew Wycoff (Texas A&M).

Below are notes on each of the signees with extended bios available by clicking on their names:
 
Luke Bottari – QB, 5-10, 205, R-Jr., 5th Collegiate Season
San Mateo, CA (Utah/College of San Mateo/Serra HS)
– Spent one campaign with the program in 2022 but did not see any game action or use any collegiate eligibility
– Led 2019 freshman and 2021 sophomore squads at College of San Mateo to a combined 22-3 record while playing in all 25 games possible (team did not play in 2020 due to COVID)
– Completed 338-of-550 passes for 4,673 yards with a school career-record 46 touchdowns and 13 interceptions for a quarterback rating of 155.7 at College of San Mateo
– Named the Northern California Player of the Year while adding All-State honors as a 2019 freshman
– Led Serra High School to its first state title as a 2017 prep junior
 
Taj Davis – WR, 6-1, 205, R-Jr., 5th Collegiate Season
Upland, CA (Washington/Upland HS)
– Played in 24 games with 10 starts in his final two seasons as a 2021 redshirt freshman and 2022 sophomore at Washington
– Contributed two-year career totals of 47 receptions, 606 yards receiving and four touchdown catches, while also playing on special teams and adding six tackles all as a 2022 sophomore
– Had a career-long 62-yard reception to tie the game at 34-34 with 3:07 remaining in an eventual 37-34 Huskies' win at No. 6 Oregon as a 2022 sophomore
– Opted out of his 2020 redshirt-freshman season shortened by COVID and did not see any game action as a true freshman in 2019
– Ranked as high as the nation's No. 54 wide receiver according to Rivals in the 2019 high school recruiting class
 
King Doerue – RB, 5-10, 205, R-Jr., 5th Collegiate Season
Amarillo, TX (Purdue/Tascosa HS)
– Played in 32 games with 16 starts in four seasons at Purdue from 2019-22
– Rushed 309 times for 1,145 yards and 10 touchdowns, while adding 47 receptions, 381 yards receiving and three touchdown catches
– Posted most of his top statistical numbers as a sophomore in 2021, when he appeared in a career-high-tying 12 games with a career-high six starts and produced career and team highs of 135 rushes and 533 yards rushing, while adding two touchdowns on the ground, in addition to a career-high-tying 20 receptions for 156 yards and his lone career tackle; he played for a team that finished 9-4 overall, won the Music City Bowl and reached as high as No. 25 in the AP Top 25 after a Game 6 win over No. 2 Iowa
 
Marquez Dortch – WR, 6-0, 170, R-Fr., 2nd Collegiate Season
Lucedale, MS (Mississippi State/George County HS)
– Played in one game and recorded one reception for one yard in a single campaign at Mississippi State in 2022 but did not use a season of collegiate eligibility
– Selected for the postseason Alabama-Mississippi All-Star Game and Polynesian Bowl following his 2021 senior prep season at George County HS
– A consensus four-star recruit in the 2021 class who was ranked as high as the nation's No. 24 wide receiver and No. 145 player overall by 247Sports
 
Ben Finley – QB, 6-3, 205, R-So., 4th Collegiate Season
Phoenix, AZ (North Carolina State/Paradise Valley HS)
– Played in eight games with two starts over three campaigns, completing 83-of-152 passes for 912 yards with four touchdown tosses
– Saw his most extensive action as a redshirt freshman in 2022, when he played in three games including starts in each of the Wolfpack's final two games and completed 65-of-123 passes for 741 yards with three touchdown throws for a team that finished 8-5 overall, reached as high as No. 10 at one point in the AP Top 25 and played Maryland in the Duke's Mayo Bowl
– Led the Wolfpack to a 30-27 double-overtime win at No. 18 North Carolina as a 2022 redshirt freshman in his first career start in North Carolina State's regular-season finale, connecting on 27-of-40 passes for 271 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions
 
Isaiah Ifanse – RB, 5-9, 205, R-Sr., 6th Collegiate Season
Bellevue, WA (San Jose State/Montana State/Bellevue HS)
– Played in 40 games in four seasons at Montana State (2018-19, 2021-22) and finished as the school's all-time leading rusher with 3,742 yards and scored 25 touchdowns on the ground to rank sixth on Montana State's all-time list on 630 carries for a program that posted a 43-14 overall record, made the FCS Playoffs each season including a trip to the title game during his 2021 junior campaign, and won a share of the Big Sky title as a 2022 senior
– Became Montana State's first All-American running back since 1982 (second-team AFCS, Associated Press, Hero Sports, Stats Perform) and All-Big Sky running back since 2011 as a junior in 2021, when he established a single-season school-record with 1,623 yards rushing and scored 10 touchdowns on the ground on 280 carries that were the second most in school history
– Attended SJSU in the spring of 2023 before reentering the transfer portal and transferring to Cal for the 2023 campaign
 
Tidiane Jalloh, OLB, 6-5, 270, So., 2nd Collegiate Season
Toulon, France (Independence Community College)
– Contributed eight tackles with 0.5 tackles for loss (-2 yards) in six games off the bench as a 2022 true freshman in his first season of American football
–Ranked as high as the nation's No. 9 defensive lineman in the 2023 junior college recruiting class by 247Sports Composite
 
Thomas Lee, P, 5-11, 185, R-Sr., 6th Collegiate Season
San Ramon, CA (Cal Poly/Dougherty Valley HS)
– A member of the Cal Poly football program for his final three years as a student at the school
– Became the team's starting punter for the final nine games of his 2022 senior season and punted 31 times for 1,152 yards (37.2 ypp) with a long of 51
– Finished his career with 33 punts for 1208 yards (36.6 ypp) as he also punted twice for 56 yards (28.0 ypp) in his first season of collegiate football as a 2020 sophomore when his squad played a shortened 2020 campaign during the spring of 2021
– Did not play football as a prep at Dougherty Valley High School, where he graduated from in 2018
 
Patrick McMorris, DB, 6-0, 210, Sr., 5th Collegiate Season
Santa Ana, CA (San Diego State/Santa Ana HS/Godinez Fundamental HS)
– Played in 42 games with 27 starts at San Diego State from 2019-22 and contributed 162 tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss (-14 yards), five interceptions that he returned for 61 yards, 15 pass breakups, 20 passes defended and two fumble recoveries, including one that he returned 30 yards for his lone career touchdown
– Earned first-team All-Mountain West Conference as both a 2021 sophomore and 2022 junior to become just the second San Diego State safety to pick up spots on two All-MWC first-team squads
– A team captain as a 2022 junior who was named the preseason Mountain West Co-Defensive Player of the Year and also was a member of preseason first-team All-MWC teams by four publications, as well as on watch lists for the Senior Bowl and for the Chuck Bednarik Award and Bronko Nagurski Award given to the nation's top defensive player
– Listed as a four-star transfer by 247Sports
 
Marcus Scott II – DB, 6-0, 180, R-Fr., 2nd Collegiate Season
Houston, TX (Missouri/Conroe HS/College Park HS)
– Did not see any game action or use a season of collegiate eligibility as a 2022 true freshman at Missouri
– Totaled 55 tackles, four interceptions, 18 pass breakups, three forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries as a prep during his 2020 junior at College Park High School and 2021 senior campaign at Conroe High School, while picking up three touchdowns in his career on a pick six, a 75-yard scoop and score, and an onside kick that he returned 65 yards
– A four-star recruit of Rivals both in the 2023 transfer portal class and 2022 high school class, while also being listed as high as the media organization's No. 34 cornerback coming out of high school
 
Matthew Wykoff – OL, 6-6, 330, R-So., 3rd Collegiate Season
Magnolia, TX (Texas A&M/Magnolia HS)
– Played in 16 games with nine starts over two campaigns as a 2021 true freshman and 2022 redshirt freshman at Texas A&M
– Earned a spot on the SEC's All-Freshman squad and was one of three players to earn one of the team's Unselfish Leadership Awards as a 2022 redshirt freshman when he played in all 12 games with nine starts including each of the final seven contests
– Ranked as high as the No. 34 offensive tackle in the 2021 recruiting class according to Rivals