Utah MLB Cade Uluave Makes it Three For Cal in '23

Days after his successful official visit to Cal, 6-1/225 Mountain Ridge (Herriman, UT) High School middle linebacker Cade Uluave‍ made the call to make his commitment to Cal.

“I just have to say, I really believe Cal’s coaching staff can develop me as a player on and off the field,” said Uluave. “They can help me to become the best that I can be.

“Me and my family talked about it for a while and all of us agreed it’s a great place for me and I can succeed and do well there.”

His ties to the program were strong after his unofficial visit in March but the official visit, which came two weeks after his UCLA official was the clincher for him.

“It was awesome,” said Uluave of the visit. “I was really impressed with everything they had to offer. Ultimately, I’d say that the visit was a big success.

“The trip was jam-packed with things to do. It was awesome. I was able to talk to most of the defensive staff so that was really cool.

“I’d say our first day was more of a business-like day, getting to talk to all the coaches, talk about game planning, seeing where they see me fitting in the program. And Friday was more of an experience day. We got to go into Oakland and San Francisco and went bowling and toured the city. That was pretty awesome.”

The Bears were one of the first programs to highly target Uluave and the relationship has continued to build since then.

“I think my relationship with Coach Sirmon is awesome,” said Uluave. “He first reached out to me last December and we’ve kept in close contact ever since. I think he’s a great coach and he’s really knowledgeable of the game and I really have a lot of respect for him. I was able to talk with Coach Wilcox around 45 minutes, too. I really like his coaching style. He’s really a chill, mellow guy who’s also really knowledgeable. So I think he’s an awesome guy.”

The two-way athlete did it all on the field as a junior, with 54 tackles and two forced fumbles on defense and 146 carries for 806 rushing yards and 15 TDs on offense at running back in 2021. He also competes in track and field for Mountain Ridge, as well.

The return trip after the March visit gave Uluave much more of a chance to get a feel for what it would being a student athlete at Cal and the deeper dive made a great impression.

“I think Junior Day was a little brief but this weekend was more in-depth,” said Uluave. “I was able to see both on campus and off campus housing. I really like the freshman dorms. They’re really nice. And off campus, Femi lives off campus and I liked it a lot there, too. I can see being very comfortable in both places.”

As for what he’s looking for in a program, much of what Cal has to offer is what the Utah MLB is looking for in a future home. An articulate student athlete with a 3.85 gpa, academics are high on the list.

“Academics are huge for me,” said Uluave. “I come from a family of educators for generations so academics have always been a high priority for me. So going to a school like UC Berkeley and getting a degree from there would be huge for me.

“I’m also looking for somewhere I feel really comfortable and somewhere that feels like home, somewhere I want to be for the next for years and where I’m excited and enthusiastic about everything I do there rather than, ‘Oh man, now I’ve got weights or workouts.’ Also, something I’m looking for is a coaching staff that develops me on and off the field. I’m not just going there to play football. I can’t play football forever. Someday it’s going to end. So I think they have a lot of cool programs like their Life After Ball program with a dedicated coach I was going to meet with. I was able to meet with him and he had a lot of great things to say about life after ball.

“I think Cal is a place that will develop me both as a player and as a person.

““I really feel like from the visits I’ve been at, I really feel we can bond and build that team chemistry really quickly and that can be really beneficial for me as well as the team. I think Cal is a great opportunity for me and I’m very, very excited for what’s to come.”

Uluave becomes the third 2023 Cal commit, joining St. John Bosco safety RJ Jones‍ and Santa Clara OL/DL Amos Talalele‍ in the Bears’ current class.

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