ACC TEAM PREVIEW #2 CALIFORNIA GOLDEN BEARS

This feels like a big season for Mark Madsen as he enters his third year as the head coach since leaving Utah Valley State after the 2022-23 season. Cal has a record of 27-38 over the last two seasons since the hire, and is coming off a 15th-place finish in the ACC last year. Mark Madsen and company will be heavily reliant on their transfer portal class this season. They lost their top five scorers from last year (four to the portal and one to graduation), but they will be bringing in a total of seven new players from the portal.

Projected lineup:

G Dai Dai Ames (Virginia transfer)

G DJ Campbell

F John Camden (Delaware transfer)

F Chris Bell (Syracuse transfer)

F Milos Ilic (Loyola Maryland transfer)

I have to say I am quite impressed with how Mark Madsen responded after losing so much talent in the transfer portal cycle. Andrej Stojakovic and Jeremiah Wilkinson were both gut-wrenching losses for the program, as they both averaged over 15 ppg last season and both had multiple seasons of eligibility. Virginia transfer Dai Dai Ames will lead their backcourt this season. He was a very highly regarded recruit out of high school and is now on his third school in three years. He averaged 8.7 points per contest last year in a slow-paced Virginia offense. Ames seems like he could easily have a breakout season.

Delaware transfer John Camden is another guy that Cal will be heavily reliant on next season. He was one of the best players in the CAA last year, averaging 16.8 PPG and making first team all-conference. One thing that could separate this year's team from years past is that they seemingly have more depth. Along with their projected lineup, they'll have G Justin Pippen (Michigan transfer), F Rytis Petraitis (8.2 PPG for last season's team), G Nolan Dorsey (Campbell transfer), F Sammie Yeaney (Grand Canyon transfer), and four-star recruit Jovani Ruff all coming off the bench. It should be more of a balanced scoring effort this year, compared to last year when they were relying so heavily on Stojakovic and Wilkinson.

Overall, I like what Cal did in the transfer portal, but it's almost an entirely new roster. I'm confident in saying that they could have one of the deepest teams in the conference, but I think they lack legitimate scoring options. Unless Campbell and Ames both have breakout seasons, it's gonna be hard for them to get enough scoring out of their backcourt.

Projected finish: 14th in ACC