2025-26 Roster Standing Thread

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barsad
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In reply to sluggo • 12:58a, 6/8/25
Well, so much for getting two pure shooters with the last two spots.
Not that I mind having a 7-footer on the bench with DK Dut
https://calbears.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster/dhiaukuei-manyiel-dut/26363
… always good to have size, but do we really need four big guys 6-10 and above (Dort-Ilic-Kocanas-Dut)?
At 210 lbs he's also the lightest big guy on the roster by 25 lbs, probably too wiry to bang with ACC giants in the paint. 9 games of experience in his whole career, I don't see him getting a lot of minutes. Where's our shooter?
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Basketball Bear
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9:24a, 6/8/25
If these last two are the ones at the end of our bench, I think it is an upgrade from last years. The shooters are already on the roster. Love the possibilities with these bigs, If just one of them pans out that would be great.
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RedlessWardrobe
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9:57a, 6/8/25
We know what we have with Dort (although there's always a chance he improves.)
Having the other three gives Madsen a chance to evaluate them in practice and pre season game situations. Can't tell from video but the newcomer D.K looks very agile and has a nice shot. Still, his lack of width definitely could be an issue.
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HoopDreams
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4:05p, 6/8/25
Coaches like options, and he looks like a unique player with potential

I used to be skeptical of the extraordinarily tall/skinny players but I've seen multiple of them with his body type be wildly successful in D1 ball, including 2 at WSU, Oregon and other teams
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oskidunker
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In reply to HoopDreams • 7:06p, 6/8/25
HoopDreams said:
Coaches like options, and he looks like a unique player with potential

I used to be skeptical of the extraordinarily tall/skinny players but I've seen multiple of them with his body type be wildly successful in D1 ball, including 2 at WSU, Oregon and other teams


Who was our 7 footer who has transferred multiple times? He impressed me somuch I can't remember his name?
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Bjorn91
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5:36a, 6/9/25
Conor Vanover
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oskidunker
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In reply to Bjorn91 • 11:39a, 6/9/25
Bjorn91 said:
Conor Vanover
THATS IT. I am over vanover
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smokeyrover
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In reply to barsad • 3:19p, 6/10/25
barsad said:
Just wanted to keep an easily accessible list that gets updated. Please submit adds below but we can keep the portal chatter to the main Portal thread.
Updated 6/8/25

Cal Bears Roster 2025-26
14 spots filled, 1 to be filled.

1. Chris Bell, 6-7/192 F
2. John Camden, 6-8/220 PF
3. Sammie Yeanay, 6-8/240 PF
4. Justin Pippen, 6-3/180 PG
5. Nolan Dorsey, 6-6/180 SG
6. Milos Ilic, 6-10/235 PF
7. Dai Dai Ames, 6-1/160 PG
8. Semetri Carr, 6-0/160 PG
9. Jovani Ruff, 6-5/190 SG
10. DeJuan (DJ) Campbell 6-2/205 SG
11. Rytis Petraitis 6-7/210 F
12. Lee Dort 6-10/245 C
13. Mantas Kocanas 6-11/235 C
14. Dhiaukuei "DK" Manyiel Dut 7-0/210 C
15. TBD

Walk-ons
14 Jack McCloskey G
15 Kevin Armstrong II G
17 Jaden Goodall F
32 Jayden Karapetian G
55 BJ Fisher. G
All scholarship players except Kocanas listed at calbears.com. Only walkon remaining listed is Fisher.

Very cautiously optimistic about improvement in the backcourt talent and depth. Top end talent not apparent but steadier and stouter play from PG could go a long way. Madsen needs to get a lead guard pick right.
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barsad
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In reply to smokeyrover • 12:10a, 6/12/25
smokeyrover said:
barsad said:
Just wanted to keep an easily accessible list that gets updated. Please submit adds below but we can keep the portal chatter to the main Portal thread.
Updated 6/8/25

Cal Bears Roster 2025-26
14 spots filled, 1 to be filled.

1. Chris Bell, 6-7/192 F
2. John Camden, 6-8/220 PF
3. Sammie Yeanay, 6-8/240 PF
4. Justin Pippen, 6-3/180 PG
5. Nolan Dorsey, 6-6/180 SG
6. Milos Ilic, 6-10/235 PF
7. Dai Dai Ames, 6-1/160 PG
8. Semetri Carr, 6-0/160 PG
9. Jovani Ruff, 6-5/190 SG
10. DeJuan (DJ) Campbell 6-2/205 SG
11. Rytis Petraitis 6-7/210 F
12. Lee Dort 6-10/245 C
13. Mantas Kocanas 6-11/235 C
14. Dhiaukuei "DK" Manyiel Dut 7-0/210 C
15. TBD

Walk-ons
14 Jack McCloskey G
15 Kevin Armstrong II G
17 Jaden Goodall F
32 Jayden Karapetian G
55 BJ Fisher. G
All scholarship players except Kocanas listed at calbears.com. Only walkon remaining listed is Fisher.

Very cautiously optimistic about improvement in the backcourt talent and depth. Top end talent not apparent but steadier and stouter play from PG could go a long way. Madsen needs to get a lead guard pick right.

I'll take cautious optimism. Is there really a hard decision on PG? Unless the 15th guy is the second coming of Jerome Randle, this is Dai Dai's role to run with. Carr and Pippen do not have enough experience to run a team's offense… I'm not even sure that Ames does, either, but he's all we got at this point.
Our "thin ice" at PG is probably our greatest vulnerability today.
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RedlessWardrobe
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6:33a, 6/12/25
I do not know how recruiting discussions sound, but you have to believe that if Madsen is going to get Ames, a guy that already started at point guard for ACC team Virginia, a guaranteed starting role with Cal has to be part of the deal. I could be wrong, but I will be surprised if the majority of point guard minutes goes to anyone else.
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HearstMining
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In reply to barsad • 7:50a, 6/12/25
barsad said:
smokeyrover said:
barsad said:
Just wanted to keep an easily accessible list that gets updated. Please submit adds below but we can keep the portal chatter to the main Portal thread.
Updated 6/8/25

Cal Bears Roster 2025-26
14 spots filled, 1 to be filled.

1. Chris Bell, 6-7/192 F
2. John Camden, 6-8/220 PF
3. Sammie Yeanay, 6-8/240 PF
4. Justin Pippen, 6-3/180 PG
5. Nolan Dorsey, 6-6/180 SG
6. Milos Ilic, 6-10/235 PF
7. Dai Dai Ames, 6-1/160 PG
8. Semetri Carr, 6-0/160 PG
9. Jovani Ruff, 6-5/190 SG
10. DeJuan (DJ) Campbell 6-2/205 SG
11. Rytis Petraitis 6-7/210 F
12. Lee Dort 6-10/245 C
13. Mantas Kocanas 6-11/235 C
14. Dhiaukuei "DK" Manyiel Dut 7-0/210 C
15. TBD

Walk-ons
14 Jack McCloskey G
15 Kevin Armstrong II G
17 Jaden Goodall F
32 Jayden Karapetian G
55 BJ Fisher. G
All scholarship players except Kocanas listed at calbears.com. Only walkon remaining listed is Fisher.

Very cautiously optimistic about improvement in the backcourt talent and depth. Top end talent not apparent but steadier and stouter play from PG could go a long way. Madsen needs to get a lead guard pick right.

I'll take cautious optimism. Is there really a hard decision on PG? Unless the 15th guy is the second coming of Jerome Randle, this is Dai Dai's role to run with. Carr and Pippen do not have enough experience to run a team's offense… I'm not even sure that Ames does, either, but he's all we got at this point.
Our "thin ice" at PG is probably our greatest vulnerability today.
Watching Halliburton play PG in the NBA playoffs, what stands out is his vision. If any of Cal's new guys show that they can find the open man for a shot, that's the guy I want. It may be a freshman - Jason Kidd had that gift right from the start. It would also be nice if they didn't get abused on defense as occasionally happened to Blacksher and Cone.
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barsad
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In reply to HearstMining • 12:26a, 6/18/25
No one mentioned it when we got Kocanas… but we now have a Lithuanian pipeline (two players=a pipeline when you're desperate for international players). Rytis being Lithuanian and speaking the language must have been a draw for Kocanas. Let's bring a few more Lithuanian giants over if we can.
Cool fact: Petraitis' dad, Ramas, played for Oregon St against Madsen back in the day.
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oskidunker
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4:34p, 6/19/25
Just win, baby. I wish we hadDevon Hardin. At least we knew what he could do.
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barsad
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In reply to oskidunker • 9:11p, 7/8/25
Just bumping this up in the thread order, but also…. Where's our 15th man?
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Calbear73
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4:53p, 8/4/25
I believe they will go with 13 scholarshipped players and one Preferred Walk On and just have 14 players on the roster.
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barsad
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In reply to Calbear73 • 12:12p, 8/21/25
Calbear73 said:
I believe they will go with 13 scholarshipped players and one Preferred Walk On and just have 14 players on the roster.

Bumping up again, but thanks for the explanation. So only 14, and who is the preferred walk-on?
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barsad
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In reply to barsad • 12:16p, 8/21/25
18 listed on official roster now, maybe Marbury is the preferred?
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sluggo
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In reply to barsad • 12:47p, 8/21/25
barsad said:
18 listed on official roster now, maybe Marbury is the preferred?

"Preferred" means they used their basketball ability to help get into school. I assume all of the walkons are preferred. I saw Clark play on video and think he has a chance.

I had a friend who practiced with the team for a year after an open tryout. I think he would not be called preferred, but such walkons are rare these days.

Also, I think Cal fans talk too much about walkons because recruiting is so poor.
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calumnus
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In reply to sluggo • 6:13a, 8/22/25
sluggo said:
barsad said:
18 listed on official roster now, maybe Marbury is the preferred?

"Preferred" means they used their basketball ability to help get into school. I assume all of the walkons are preferred. I saw Clark play on video and think he has a chance.

I had a friend who practiced with the team for a year after an open tryout. I think he would not be called preferred, but such walkons are rare these days.

Also, I think Cal fans talk too much about walkons because recruiting is so poor.

Cal fans talk about walk-ons because we tend to have relatively poor scholarship players and relatively good walk-ons.

Cal is distinctly a great academic school with a great degree. That is not really important to most guys that think they are going to play in the NBA so we don't generally recruit scholarship players well.

However, on the other end, preferred admissions to a great academic school with a chance of earning PT in a top league is better than walking on at a basketball power where you have little chance of playing and the degree is not as valuable.

So we often get Ivy or D2 level recruits as walkons who are comparable to some of the lower rated scholarship players we bring in. Add that we have an history of walkons earning major PT and then add to that the fact we often get walkons who are the sons of NBA greats and it isn't surprising that Cal fans probably talk about walk ons more than other programs.
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barsad
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In reply to calumnus • 9:27a, 8/22/25
Preferred or not, I updated the top post with these four walkons:
BJ Fisher, 6-1/175 G, Ross, CA, So
Stephon Marbury II, 6-1/170 G, Purchase, NY, So
Luke Butler, 6-4/180 G, Austin. TX, Fr
Jorell Clark, 6-2/180 G, Palo Alto, CA, Fr

It's August during men's college basketball season, what else are we supposed to talk about? Without this I'll have to read the 10,000th post about an imaginary practice facility or Shocky's latest on free student tickets! Can't wait for the first "how many wins will we get" post based on a pre-season scrimmage.
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BC Calfan
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10:10a, 8/22/25
Marbury at 6'1 is insane haha.

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sluggo
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In reply to barsad • 11:37a, 8/22/25
barsad said:
Preferred or not, I updated the top post with these four walkons:
BJ Fisher, 6-1/175 G, Ross, CA, So
Stephon Marbury II, 6-1/170 G, Purchase, NY, So
Luke Butler, 6-4/180 G, Austin. TX, Fr
Jorell Clark, 6-2/180 G, Palo Alto, CA, Fr

It's August during men's college basketball season, what else are we supposed to talk about? Without this I'll have to read the 10,000th post about an imaginary practice facility or Shocky's latest on free student tickets! Can't wait for the first "how many wins will we get" post based on a pre-season scrimmage.

Message boards are for talking. No criticism there. I think Cal fans here hope for too much from walkons and question why they are not played more. Has Cal had an impactful walkon since RFK and AJ Diggs? That was over 20 years ago.
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HoopDreams
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In reply to sluggo • 1:16p, 8/22/25
sluggo said:
barsad said:
Preferred or not, I updated the top post with these four walkons:
BJ Fisher, 6-1/175 G, Ross, CA, So
Stephon Marbury II, 6-1/170 G, Purchase, NY, So
Luke Butler, 6-4/180 G, Austin. TX, Fr
Jorell Clark, 6-2/180 G, Palo Alto, CA, Fr

It's August during men's college basketball season, what else are we supposed to talk about? Without this I'll have to read the 10,000th post about an imaginary practice facility or Shocky's latest on free student tickets! Can't wait for the first "how many wins will we get" post based on a pre-season scrimmage.

Message boards are for talking. No criticism there. I think Cal fans here hope for too much from walkons and question why they are not played more. Has Cal had an impactful walkon since RFK and AJ Diggs? That was over 20 years ago.

I think the only time people ask why they don't play more is at the end (e.g 2 minutes left) of blowout games. The thinking is a couple minutes for a walkon is great for them personally and for the team (the rotation players are always hyped when a walk-on scores). It also avoids the risk of injuries to our rotation players.

watch this Texas A&M football play where the entire kicking team was made up of walk-ons...

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Harky4
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2:34p, 8/22/25
Ames, Camden, Petraitis (Bell if Rytis is not healthy), Pippen and Dort as guessed starters

Illic, Campbell, Ruff and Carr oof the bench with TBD for the other players (hopefully including a Yeanay who is healthy)

The good news is that most of our non-conference schedule seems to be against teams that will allow Mark to experiment with players and rotations
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BearlyCareAnymore
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In reply to sluggo • 6:57p, 8/22/25
sluggo said:
barsad said:
Preferred or not, I updated the top post with these four walkons:
BJ Fisher, 6-1/175 G, Ross, CA, So
Stephon Marbury II, 6-1/170 G, Purchase, NY, So
Luke Butler, 6-4/180 G, Austin. TX, Fr
Jorell Clark, 6-2/180 G, Palo Alto, CA, Fr

It's August during men's college basketball season, what else are we supposed to talk about? Without this I'll have to read the 10,000th post about an imaginary practice facility or Shocky's latest on free student tickets! Can't wait for the first "how many wins will we get" post based on a pre-season scrimmage.

Message boards are for talking. No criticism there. I think Cal fans here hope for too much from walkons and question why they are not played more. Has Cal had an impactful walkon since RFK and AJ Diggs? That was over 20 years ago.

In response to sanctions, Braun actively targeted recruiting walkons for a time, some of whom were promised a shot at a scholarship. RFK, for instance, was not your run of the mill walk on. That was the golden era of walkons and I agree that Cal fans hope for too much, especially if they come with a famous father. I've always taken the position that I don't count them out, but I don't count them in until I have reason to do so.
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calumnus
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In reply to sluggo • 7:08p, 8/22/25
sluggo said:
barsad said:
Preferred or not, I updated the top post with these four walkons:
BJ Fisher, 6-1/175 G, Ross, CA, So
Stephon Marbury II, 6-1/170 G, Purchase, NY, So
Luke Butler, 6-4/180 G, Austin. TX, Fr
Jorell Clark, 6-2/180 G, Palo Alto, CA, Fr

It's August during men's college basketball season, what else are we supposed to talk about? Without this I'll have to read the 10,000th post about an imaginary practice facility or Shocky's latest on free student tickets! Can't wait for the first "how many wins will we get" post based on a pre-season scrimmage.

Message boards are for talking. No criticism there. I think Cal fans here hope for too much from walkons and question why they are not played more. Has Cal had an impactful walkon since RFK and AJ Diggs? That was over 20 years ago.


The Thurmanator
https://www.sfgate.com/sports/article/Former-walk-on-Thurman-ready-when-Cal-needed-him-2699730.php

Jeremy Lim almost came to Cal as a walkon but chose Harvard instead. Made the NBA which few of our scholarship players have done.

We have had walkons in football that became All Pro.

Recruiting is an imperfect science. Odds are your highest rated players will actually turn out to be your best players, but high rated recruits can flop and walkons can turn out to be great. Not often, but at Cal it seems to happen more than other places.
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barsad
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In reply to Harky4 • 12:12a, 8/23/25
Harky4 said:
Ames, Camden, Petraitis (Bell if Rytis is not healthy), Pippen and Dort as guessed starters

Illic, Campbell, Ruff and Carr oof the bench with TBD for the other players (hopefully including a Yeanay who is healthy)

The good news is that most of our non-conference schedule seems to be against teams that will allow Mark to experiment with players and rotations

I don't hate that starting 5, but Dort remains a question mark for me. I think the most hopeful thing we can say for 25-26 is that our bench is deeper than years past, so if one or two players flame out (bound to happen) maybe Madsen can work some of his motivational magic and get the right combinations cooking.
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