Fourth-year coach Mark Madsen's team looks completely different once again, thanks to the transfer portal and another roster overhaul. A year after California lost its top two scorers to the transfer portal, the program is rebuilding again with nine new faces and someone will have to pick up the scoring void left by Dai Dai Ames' departure to Tennessee. He averaged 16.9 points per game and the team's next three leading scorers are also gone.
Lee Dort is the top returning scorer at 8.1 points per game, and the graduate student in his third season at the school will be called upon as a key returner to take on a bigger leadership role after he started 26 of 27 games last season.
Cal last year saw Andrej Stojakovic leave for Illinois and second-leading scorer Jeremiah Wilkinson — the 2025 ACC Sixth Man of the Year — transfer to Georgia.
Cal has three players of Lithuanian descent: Mantas Kocanas, Dominykas Daubaris and Nojus Intrusaitis.
Sophomore forward Jake Wilkins is the son of former NBA star Dominique Wilkins.
Transfer Amier Ali hopes to become the first Somali player in the NBA and aims to set an example for other youth from Somalia chasing their dreams.
Cal lost eight players and brought in nine new ones. Among those gone are transfers Ames, Rytis Petraitis (graduated and went to New Mexico) and Justin Pippen (to Ohio State).
The new faces include five transfers and four true freshmen: Amier Ali (junior from Mississippi State), Michael Cooper (from Wright State), Nojus Indrusaitis (junior from Pitt), Jordan Ross (senior from Georgia) and Jake Wilkins (sophomore from Georgia). The freshmen are Dionycius Bakare, Dominykas Daubaris, Nicolas Mitrovic and Gabriel Sularski.
The Golden Bears open the season Tuesday against Adams State and face immediate tests against No 10 Houston (Nov. 8) and No. 21 USC (Nov. 11) in nonconference play. The ACC opener comes Dec. 30 at North Carolina followed by a short trip to No. 2 Duke on Jan. 2. Games against rival Stanford are Jan. 23 (home) and the regular-season finale on March 6 (away).
Cal realizes how close it is to adding to the win column, having faced a scoring margin of 78.2 to 73.3 last season while narrowly being outshot. The Bears averaged 11.5 turnovers and scored 12.6 points off its opponents' turnovers. ... With the personnel changes, the Bears will try to build off their 3.7 blocks per game that keyed their interior defense. ... Senior guard Jordan Ross has played in the past three NCAA Tournaments, competing for Saint Mary's as a freshman and sophomore then Georgia last season before coming to Cal. He and Wilkins are roommates again, as they were at Georgia.
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