Tristan Dunn was one of two former four-star recruits from Washington’s 2024 secondary to enter the transfer portal and on Monday, he found a new home with coach Justin Wilcox and the California Golden Bears.
The former local four-star recruit from Sumner High School was a late addition to coach Kalen DeBoer’s 2022 class and redshirted during his first year on campus, playing in five games, including Washington’s 2022 Alamo Bowl win over Texas.
Then in 2023, he became a key piece of DeBoer’s special teams unit and recorded a career-high 16 tackles during Washington’s run to the national championship before taking a step back when Jedd Fisch’s coaching staff took over.
Dunn played in eight games during the Huskies’ first season in the Big Ten and recorded 3 tackles, but was unable to crack the rotation at safety. Instead of the redshirt sophomore, position coach Vinnie Sunseri turned to some of the other young players in the room to relieve starters Cameron Broussard and Kamren Fabiculanan, including Vincent Holmes, Peyton Waters, and Rahim Wright.
The 6-foot-4, 191-pound safety, who will have two years of eligibility remaining at Cal, was also an important contributor off the field. He was honored by Fisch’s staff with the Tyee Sports Council Community Service Award at Washington’s annual postseason awards banquet for his contributions throughout the season with Bloodworks Northwest.