No. 9 on Cal’s transfer list is Hezekiah Masses, a cornerback who arrived in Berkeley in 2025 and wasted no time turning a vacancy into a strength.
Masses came to the Bears from Florida International with one year of eligibility remaining after three seasons and 36 games there from 2022 to 2024. At FIU, he totaled 105 tackles, two interceptions and one pass breakup. Cal brought him in to help at cornerback, and the 6-foot-1, 180-pound Florida native delivered at a level that put him among the nation’s best.
Masses led the country in total passes defended with 18 and averaged 1.38 per game. He finished with 13 pass breakups and five interceptions, and his five picks plus 13 PBUs both ranked tied for second in the ACC. He also added 47 tackles.
The honors followed quickly. Masses was a first-team All-ACC selection and earned second-team recognition from the Walter Camp, Associated Press and AFCA Coaches All-America teams.
His Cal debut set the tone. In the Bears’ first three games of 2025 - wins over Oregon State, Texas Southern and Minnesota - Masses posted 14 tackles, three interceptions and three pass breakups.
That season helped extend Cal’s recent run of producing NFL defensive backs. Masses was selected by the Las Vegas Raiders in the fifth round of the NFL draft this spring, making it seven straight years that a Cal DB has been drafted. Over that stretch, the Bears have had 10 cornerbacks or safeties taken.
In Other News...
Jaylen Browns Latest Career Turn Will Hit Cal Fans Hard
Jaylen Browns latest stop in the NBA will land especially hard on Cal fans because it comes with the kind of hard reset that has followed him at every level. Boston moved on from Brown after the relationship between player and team had deteriorated, and the deal brings back Paul George plus four draft picks, including future firsts and seconds, as the Celtics redraw their roster around a major swing.
For Golden Bears fans, the reminder is less about where Brown is going next than how often his defining moments have come with disappointment attached. His Cal career ended with a first-round NCAA tournament loss to Hawaii in 2016, a rough afternoon in which he managed just four points, seven turnovers and an early exit, and now he heads into a new chapter with a new fan base and a fresh start that will be watched closely back in Berkeley. [Read more 🡒]