A late offer from local program UCLA wasn't enough to keep three-star cornerback Ernest Nunley from committing to Cal. The 6-foot-1, 180 pound prospect from Western High School in Anaheim announced his commitment to the Bears on Wednesday to become the 23rd addition in the 2026 class for Justin Wilcox's program.

Boise State and UNLV were the other two programs strongly in consideration with San Diego State and San Jose State in the mix as well. Wake Forest and Arizona were two other Power 4 programs that offered the new Cal commit.

Nunley made an official visit to Cal just a couple weeks ago, and that helped seal his decision to join the Bears.

"What ultimately led me to pick Cal is Cal has a history of developing DBs and it’s in a top conference where you play against the top of the top, and also you can tell everybody on the team they’re all like a big family and I wanna be a part of that," Nunley told Golden Bear Report about his decision.

Nunley, who started his career at Narbonne High School in Harbor City, is the third defensive back to commit to the Bears in the 2026 cycle alongside four-star cornerback Jayden Crowder and Long Beach Poly's Deon Jackson as co-defensive coordinator Terrence Brown and fellow secondary coach Allen Brown put together their first class together with the Bears.