Bears Pull in Commit From 4 Star Soph RB Jojo Solis

Sophomore Aquinas (Adelanto, CA) 4 star running back Jojo Solis‍ become Cal's earliest commit in recent history with his commitment today to the Bears.

Solis received his offer back in April and gradually built a strong relationship with running backs coach Aristotle Thompson and the Cal staff after his first unofficial visit to Berkeley.

“My relationship with Coach AT and the staff so far has been like a relationship that you could keep on building on and our relationship right now is strong and I just feel like they make me feel like it's home over there,” said Solis.

“Coach Wilcox is a great head coach. He knows what he's trying to do with his offensive scheme and he's just building and trying to get weapons to build for his offense. And I want to be one of those weapons.”

Cal’s stellar academic reputation was another element that sold Solis and his family.

“Their academics caught me,” said Solis. “That was what really caught me because when my family and I first went out there, they sat us down and they talked to us about the academics and they were telling me and my family how they graduate 80% of their football players. And that caught my attention and that caught my mom's attention and my dad's attention because getting a degree from Cal is something so big.”

Solis and his family chose a good weekend to take a return visit to Cal, coming on on Big Game weekend and taking in the Bears’ exciting come-from-behind 125^th Big Game victory over Stanford.

“The stadium? Oh my God, the atmosphere is so dope out there,” said Solis. “As soon as I got there, the whole stadium was packed, all four quarters. Halftime nobody left. Everybody still had high energy. Everybody was still into the game and it just made me look back and look around and made me feel like just the environment I want to play under.”

The 6-0/185 running back burst onto the prep scene, immediately dominating on varsity as a true freshman, rushing for 2,088 yards in 259 carries (8.1 ypc) and 35 TDs on the ground and 24 receptions for 465 yards (19.4 ypc) and 2 TDs through the air. Solis played injured with internal bruising of his ribs before shutting things down five games into his soph season, adding 422 yards in 64 carries and 15 more TDs on the ground and 17 catches for 235 yards and another TD through the air.

Interestingly enough, the 4 star RB’s commitment comes on the heels of one of Cal’s prior earliest commits in 2024 Pasadena tight end Camden Jones‍ who chose the Bears last month.

Solis’s motivation for choosing the Bears this early was both practical and inspirational.

“Honestly, it's my background and like what I used to do and what I see people doing now that I used to hang around,” noted Solis. “It's just opened my eyes and made me feel like I need to get out of the high desert and do something better with my life and just put myself, put myself on the map and put myself on a better path, on my own road, trying to make something different for myself.”

Other stories:

Wilcox Talks About New Additions to Program and Changes on Tap

Bears Add First '24 Commit in Pasadena TE Camden Jones