Ryan Betley Joins Cal Men's Hoops

Another piece to Cal men’s hoops incoming class has been filled. A day after Juhwan Harris-Dyson announced his intention to enter the transfer portal, Penn graduate transfer Ryan Betley announced Friday afternoon (April 17) that he’ll be spending his final year of eligibility in Berkeley.

Betley is a 6-5 guard who averaged 11.6 points and 5.8 rebounds and 30.5 minutes in 22 games at Penn last season, missing five conference games due to injury. He missed all of the 2018-2019 season due also due to an injury.

The grad transfer will give Cal an immediate scoring boost on the wing. In all three seasons in which he played significant minutes and games at Penn, Betley averaged in double digits in scoring. He’s a career 38.2% three-point shooter and shot 36% from deep this past season. One of the concerns heading into next season was having a proven and consistent scorer to complement rising junior Matt Bradley. With Betley, Cal has just that. With Betley playing at the two- and three-positions at Penn, head coach Mark Fox now has some flexibility to move Bradley to the two.  

During his freshman and sophomore seasons, Penn played Betley primarily at the four-position but it’s highly unlikely Fox would do that at Cal. With Grant Anticevich, Andre Kelly, and D.J. Thorpe, Cal already has some proven players at the four and Betley would be incredibly under-sized in the Pac-12. He does boost Cal’s length on the perimeter, however, where Fox can now play primarily 6-4 Bradley and 6-5 Betley.

Betley joins true freshmen Monty Bowser and Jalen Celestine in this year’s incoming class of players. Fox still has two scholarships to use for this year’s class. With another scoring option on the perimeter, Fox will likely turn to locking in a point guard. Cal has been reported to be in contact with Hawaii point guard Drew Buggs, Fresno State combo guard Jarred Hyder, and Western Michigan combo guard Michael Flowers.