BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) — California has hired Oregon defensive coordinator Tosh Lupoi, bringing the former Golden Bears player and assistant back as the head coach.
Lupoi replaces Justin Wilcox, who was fired last month after a lopsided loss to Stanford in the Big Game.
“We couldn’t be more thrilled to welcome Tosh and his family back home to Berkeley as our head football coach,” general manager Ron Rivera said in a statement Thursday night. “Tosh is a true Golden Bear, and he understands and embraces the challenges and privileges of being a Cal student-athlete. His strong character, tireless work ethic, coaching acumen and recruiting talents all make him the perfect fit to lead us into the next great chapter of Cal football.”
Lupoi was born and raised in the Bay Area and played defensive line at Cal from 2000-05. He then spent four years as defensive line coach for the Bears under coach Jeff Tedford before leaving to take an assistant job at Washington in 2012.
Lupoi later went to Alabama where he was on Nick Saban’s staff for two national championships, spent three years in the NFL and has been defensive coordinator under Dan Lanning at Oregon the past four seasons.
The Ducks won the Big Ten and made it to the College Football Playoff last season and are in position for another playoff bid this season with a defense that ranks fifth in the nation allowing 4.16 yards per play.
Lupoi is also considered to be one of the better recruiters in college football.
The move is the first major hiring made by Rivera, who was hired earlier this year with the task of getting the Bears back to national prominence. Rivera said after firing Wilcox that the key question any candidate would have to answer before being hired was why they wanted to come to Cal.
It was an easy answer for Lupoi based on his experience as a player and assistant at the school.
Lupoi was part of Tedford’s best at Cal in 2004 when the Bears went 10-2 with Aaron Rodgers at quarterback and got as high as fourth in the nation that season.
But the Bears haven’t finished the season ranked in the AP poll since 2006.
Wilcox had a 48-55 record with a 26-47 record in conference games in the Pac-12 and ACC. He won more than seven games only once in nine seasons when the Bears went 8-5 in 2019, including a win over Illinois in the Redbox Bowl for their only bowl win under Wilcox.
Cal is 7-5 this season and will be headed to a bowl under interim coach Nick Rolovich.
The most immediate task now for Rivera and Lupoi will be working to retain star freshman quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele. Sagapolutele became the first freshman in FBS history to throw for at least 200 yards in his first 12 games and provides reason for optimism at Cal as long as he doesn’t transfer.
Sagapolutele threw for 3,117 yards in the regular season with 17 TDs and nine interceptions.
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FILE -Jacksonville Jaguars defensive line coach Tosh Lupoi, right, calls out instructions on the sideline during the second half of an NFL football game against the Indianapolis Colts, Jan. 9, 2022, in Jacksonville, Fla. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack, File)
For LeBron James, the win mattered more than the streak.
James’ NBA-record run of 1,297 consecutive regular-season games with at least 10 points ended Thursday night at Toronto, and he was the one who made the decision to have it end. Instead of trying to score to win the game — and extend his streak — he set up Rui Hachimura for the final shot.
Hachimura connected on a 3-pointer at the buzzer, James got the game-winning assist, and the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Raptors 123-120. James finished with eight points and had no regrets.
“None,” James said. “We won.”
James’ streak started Jan. 6, 2007 and lasted nearly two decades. It was, by far, the longest such streak in NBA history: Michael Jordan had 866 consecutive double-digit scoring games, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was third best at 787 games, and Karl Malone had the fourth-longest run at 575.
James was fully aware that if Hachimura scored, the streak would end. But Hachimura, in that moment, gave the Lakers the best chance of winning, James figured. And James didn’t hesitate to fire the pass.
“Just playing the game the right way. You always make the right play,” James said. “That’s just been my M.O. That’s how I was taught the game. I’ve done that my whole career.”
James checked back into the game for the final time Thursday with 5:23 left, the outcome and the streak hanging in the balance.
He had six points on 3-of-15 shooting at that point. He scored with 1:46 left to tie the game and missed a 14-footer with 1:01 left that would have gotten him to double digits.
He didn’t take another shot — but could have. Lakers guard Austin Reaves gave James the ball with a few seconds left, but James was happy to get the assist.
“LeBron is acutely aware of how many points he has at that point,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said. “He did it like he’s done so many times. ... The basketball gods, if you do it the right way, they tend to reward you.”
The last time James was held under 10 points in the regular season was Jan. 5, 2007, when he had eight points for Cleveland in a 95-86 win over Milwaukee. He had 19 the next night against New Jersey, and the streak had rolled on ever since.
“You tip your hat to a guy who just cares about winning and making the right play,” Reaves said. “That’s what he’s done his whole career.”
James was held under 10 points twice in the playoffs during the regular-season streak, once in 2011 and again in 2014. Jordan still has the longest streak, counting playoffs, of double-digit scoring games at 1,045.
Including playoffs, James' streak ended at 865 consecutive 10-point games.
It would take a long, long time for someone to catch James’ regular-season total. Houston’s Kevin Durant now has the longest active streak at 267 games — meaning he’d have to play until he’s at least 49 or so to break the record. The next-longest streak is by Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who has 170 consecutive double-digit efforts.
Gilgeous-Alexander could catch James — that is, if he keeps the streak going for another 14 years, when he’ll be 41.
“He’s such an unselfish player,” Lakers forward Jake LaRavia said of James. “He’s just playing the game of basketball. He had the opportunity but because of the player he is and just who he is as a person, he made the unselfish play, passed it to Rui and we won the game.”
James reaching double figures was usually an afterthought long before the start of fourth quarters. During the streak, he had reached the 10-point mark through three quarters 1,266 times entering Thursday.
But two of those single-digit games through three quarters had come in the last week or so: He had nine points going into the fourth against Dallas on Nov. 28, then had six points going into the fourth against Phoenix on Monday night.
James managed to extend the streak that night. One game later, it was done — and he celebrated anyway.
“I always just make the right play. That’s automatic, win, lose or draw,” James said. “You make the right play, the game gods are always giving back to me.”
By his own description, he’s not in rhythm yet, after missing the entire preseason and all but six games of the regular season with an injury — and it showed as he missed his first six shots on Thursday, with three of them not even close.
And he remembers all the times he's been criticized for passing the ball in big moments. He always said the right play is the right play, and those words rung true again Thursday.
“I remember everything that’s been negatively said about me and my game throughout my career,” James said. “And that aspect has been one of the most foolish things I’ve ever heard as far as making the right pass, making the right play. We are in the business of winning basketball games and my whole life I’ve just played the game that way. I’ve taught the game that way. I’ve won at every single level I’ve played at by playing the game that way.”
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Los Angeles Lakers' LeBron James (right) drives to the basket as Toronto Raptors' Sandro Mamukelashvili (54) defends during second half NBA basketball action in Toronto on Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)
Los Angeles Lakers' LeBron James, left, is guarded by Toronto Raptors' Scottie Barnes (4) during second-half NBA basketball game action in Toronto, Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)
