Femi Oladejo opens up on what it has been like having fellow Cal transfer J.Michael Sturdivant at UCLA

UCLA landed two big-time transfers this offseason from conference rival California in linebacker Femi Oladejo and wide receiver J.Michael Sturdivant. Both players were among the best on the Golden Bears roster last year.

In addition to being teammates at Cal, the two were also friends.

“It’s actually really funny because me and J.Mike, where we came from, we got really close at Cal, used to work out a lot together in the dorm — literally,” Oladejo said after a recent spring practice. “So it’s been awesome just being able to both get better and compete at the same time.”

Oladejo finished his second year with the Golden Bears with 91 tackles and one interception as started at middle linebacker for the squad. His best game of the season actually came against UCLA in the last game of the regular season. Oladejo had a season-high 17 total tackles in the loss.

Sturdivant led the team in receptions with 65 catches and was second on the squad in receiving yards with 755 yards. The then-redshirt freshman also snagged a team-leading seven touchdowns.

Landing both Oladejo and Sturdivant in the NCAA Transfer Portal were huge wins for the UCLA program. The Bruins have had a very good year in the portal, adding 13 players while only losing 11. They currently rank third in the On3 Transfer Portal Rankings behind only USC and Colorado.

Oladejo was the first one to enter the NCAA Transfer Portal and commit to the Bruins, doing so during the month of December. Sturdivant didn’t commit to UCLA until January but Oladejo said he did pitch his pal on joining him in Westwood.

“I kind of put a little word when I found out he left as well,” Oladejo said. “I tried my best.”

The transfers are already making a good impression during spring ball. When asked in particular about Oladejo, Bruins head coach Chip Kelly said he has been impressed with the amount of time Oladejo spends working on his craft.

“He’s obviously got some physical qualities that we really like,” Kelly said. “He’s tall, he’s long, covers a lot of space in a short amount of time; he’s got really good movement skills for a guy that big, can get into a lot of passing lanes and disrupt some things because of his length. But I really just think it’s his work ethic and his mindset that have been really, really impressive so far since he got here in January.”