Way to go, Coach!
Welcome to Cal, Josh!
The Bears made their second 2024 addition of the day this evening, adding athletic 6-7/205 small forward Josh Ola-Joseph, who joins Cal with two years of eligibility after starting 43 games for Minnesota in his freshman and sophomore seasons after signing as a high 3 star from Compass Prep in Arizona.
“The way the coaches welcomed me and the plans they have for the future really attracted me,” Ola-Joseph said of his commitment to Cal. “I really feel like they can help me take my game to the next level. I also like the home environment and the closeness of the coaching staff, too.”
While the high 3 star portal addition played a bit more 4 than 3, he sees his future more at the small forward position.
“I think I can do a little bit of everything,” Ola-Joseph noted. “I’m very consistent in the paint, downhill, driving, athleticism and can shoot the ball at a higher volume. I’m a bit of a tweener but I think my future is at small forward.”
The Bears’ latest addition averaged 7.5 points and 2.2 rebounds while shooting an impressive 60% from the field as a soph and 40% from 3, averaging 15.7 minutes per game.
The Academic All-Big Ten Ola-Joseph becomes the fifth portal addition and sixth overall addition to the 2024 class including JC All-American wing Jeff Nwanko, Vandy transfer center Lee Dort, North Dakota forward B.J. Omot and Western Carolina PG DJ Campbell.
Related:
Bears Add Third Portal Commitment to 2024 Class in Forward B.J. Omot
Bears Add JC All-American Wing Jeff Nwankwo
— Joshua Ola-Joseph (@show_time_josh) April 20, 2024
Josh Ola-Joseph with a huge oop slam for the Gophers pic.twitter.com/VA1AN2pag0
— CJ Fogler account may or may not be notable (@cjzero) December 7, 2023
I believe I read he was in concussion protocol and then came back and struggled to get going again.smokeyrover said:
https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/player/gamelog/_/id/5105822/joshua-ola-joseph
Kind of a mysterious season. Ola-Joseph averaged like 20 mpg through the end of January, then 6mpg the rest of the way.
He averaged 13 ppg and shot over 50% in 9 straight games from early December into Big 10 play. He shot under 50% fg only 3 games all season.
I follow the Gophers a bit. The coach...Ben Johnson....had no prior head coaching experience.smokeyrover said:
https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/player/gamelog/_/id/5105822/joshua-ola-joseph
Kind of a mysterious season. Ola-Joseph averaged like 20 mpg through the end of January, then 6mpg the rest of the way.
He averaged 13 ppg and shot over 50% in 9 straight games from early December into Big 10 play. He shot under 50% fg only 3 games all season.