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Cal Basketball

Mater Dei Coach Gary McKnight Talks About Cal's Two Recent Additions

July 26, 2022
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This summer, the Bears picked up a pair of players from one of the nation’s top programs in Mater Dei (Santa Ana, CA) High school combo guard Devin Askew‍ and wing Jack McCloskey.

The pair’s route to Cal was not the traditional route, though the traditional route is becoming less and less common for many players in the era of the portal.

Cal will be Askew’s third collegiate program after his transfer from Texas after being rated a consensus 4 star out of Mater Dei as a prep and originally playing for Kentucky.

As an early entry freshman at Kentucky in 2020-21, the 6-3/200 Askew averaged 6.5 points, 2.9 assists & 2.6 rebounds per game, starting in 20 games for the Wildcats. As a soph at UT, Askew averaged 2.1 points and 1.3 assists in 14.9 minutes per game over 34 games played. At Cal, his minutes should increase significantly as should the green light to shoot and create scoring opportunities.

“Devin’s a very good player,” said McKnight. “He had a remarkable three years with us on the varsity before he left before his senior year to enroll in Kentucky. His junior year in the playoffs, he went for 45 against (2021 3rd overall pick Evan) Mobley. He was just on fire. He’s a guard who can shoot the ball. He’s a tough kid who likes to be a leader. He’s a very, very competitive kid. 

“He played point for us and we went against some of the best guards in the country but he’s a scorer so he’s kind of a combo, where he can play one or two.”

McCloskey is a 6’7” wing who played his senior season at Mater Dei after a transfer, earning several postseason honors. He’ll be a preferred walk-on at Cal to start his collegiate career.

“Jack comes from a family of athletes,” said McKnight. “His dad played for Loyola Marymount during the Hank Gathers/Bo Kimble years.

“Jack came to us his senior year from Santa Margarita High School. He had a great year. He made 2nd Team All-CIF and 1st Team All-League. Our league -the Trinity League- is a very tough league. He’s a good athlete. He can get up and dunk it pretty easily, with a varied skill set. He’s a very good shooter. He’s a quiet kid, a smart kid. He has a lot of skills. 

“Nowadays, a preferred walk-on is like before the portal a guy who would’ve had a scholarship. Teams now are going to look to the portal first and then there’s kids still left over in the portal. And if they take a high school kid, if they do well they’ll often lose them in the portal after a year or two and if they do bad, they picked the wrong kid. But Jack will be a guy who will stick. He’s low maintenance and will work his ass off for them. I think he’ll be a good addition and I’d hope coming from our program, he’ll be prepared and will have been through any drill possible and he’ll be ready to go.”

The men’s basketball schedule has yet to be announced but is expected to kick off with a pair of exhibitions in early November.

Discussion from...

Mater Dei Coach Gary McKnight Talks About Cal's Two Recent Additions

22,966 Views | 79 Replies | Last: 2 yr ago by Big C
stu
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SFCityBear said:

Hope you are right. Normally, I would not expect the freshmen to be ready to contribute a lot, and it would be a big plus if they can. Fox seems pretty high on Newell, and I hope he is right too. I like Anyanwu, who is pretty raw, but aggressive, and just needs some fundamentals and some skill scoring the ball.
As far as I can tell we have quite a few good athletes. If the raw ones could master the fundamentals and develop some offensive skills we could be pretty good. My worry is the fundamentals and skills may not come quickly enough. If we have to wait till they're seniors then we'll never have enough players who are ready.
philbert
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4thGenCal said:

sluggo said:

4thGenCal said:

MoragaBear said:

Yes, Hyder's finally healthy
Actually not correct, JH is battling back issues and its been going on for the past 2 months. Foot/ankle issues are gone, but He is having ongoing issues with his back and hopefully that will subside. Clayton and Askew are going to be an improvement collectively over Shepard (though Shepard could create decently and occasionally carry the team for stretches offensively). And a high level NBA executive attended a recent practice and said that there is one player on the roster who has legitimate NBA potential (as he develops) and that is ND Okafor. Clearly raw right now and barely past HS age, but the physical tools are impressive. So this team has the makings of being noticeably better than projected, but yes its far too early to have a real handle on where this team will be come Nov/Dec.
I am not a high level NBA executive or even a low level one. But I think Kuany has more NBA potential than Okafor. Kuany has a position, a tall, switchable 3-and-D wing, and has perfect size for that position. If he developed his three point shot it would be possible though a longshot. Okafor is an NBA 5, but he is not an out of this world athlete, or a stretch 5. I question the executive. Which has nothing to do with whether he could eventually be a helpful players for the Bears.

The team being noticeably better than projected? Not without scoring coming from somewhere out of the blue. I will stick with 11th place +/- 1 place.

I have not seen Okafor practice yet, but the NBA executive was the GM for the Denver Nuggets and I will defer to his expertise. The team has the "makings of being noticeably better than the 11/12 place way too early conference projections. However who knows, as its purely a dice roll on how the team will perform. I do think that both new guards will contribute good scoring and hoping that Kuany/Sam/Newell trio, contributes more scoring than thought. Team should be quicker and better defensively across the line up, with added depth to allow more consistent ball pressure. And as Coach Fox alluded to, increases the ability to play up tempo.
No way! You mean Calvin Booth? Did you ask him why he has a Cal tattoo?
calumnus
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stu said:

SFCityBear said:

Hope you are right. Normally, I would not expect the freshmen to be ready to contribute a lot, and it would be a big plus if they can. Fox seems pretty high on Newell, and I hope he is right too. I like Anyanwu, who is pretty raw, but aggressive, and just needs some fundamentals and some skill scoring the ball.
As far as I can tell we have quite a few good athletes. If the raw ones could master the fundamentals and develop some offensive skills we could be pretty good. My worry is the fundamentals and skills may not come quickly enough. If we have to wait till they're seniors then we'll never have enough players who are ready.


Cal is almost certainly the worst school in the entire country to rely on bringing in raw players and developing them. 1st, as often harped on, we have no dedicated practice facility. 2nd, and most importantly, even if we have a dedicated practice facility, Cal is arguably the most challenging school academically (certainly that plays D1 basketball) requiring more time and effort to stay eligible and leaving less time for the many hours needed to develop core skills. Really, those skills need to be well developed before arriving at Cal.

If the choice is between less athletic players with skills and more athletic players who need to develop skills, Cal is better off with a coach who can make use of the former versus a coach like Fox that relies on the latter. It is a big part of the reason I have been saying Fox was a horrible fit from the moment he was announced.
sluggo
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philbert said:

4thGenCal said:

sluggo said:

4thGenCal said:

MoragaBear said:

Yes, Hyder's finally healthy
Actually not correct, JH is battling back issues and its been going on for the past 2 months. Foot/ankle issues are gone, but He is having ongoing issues with his back and hopefully that will subside. Clayton and Askew are going to be an improvement collectively over Shepard (though Shepard could create decently and occasionally carry the team for stretches offensively). And a high level NBA executive attended a recent practice and said that there is one player on the roster who has legitimate NBA potential (as he develops) and that is ND Okafor. Clearly raw right now and barely past HS age, but the physical tools are impressive. So this team has the makings of being noticeably better than projected, but yes its far too early to have a real handle on where this team will be come Nov/Dec.
I am not a high level NBA executive or even a low level one. But I think Kuany has more NBA potential than Okafor. Kuany has a position, a tall, switchable 3-and-D wing, and has perfect size for that position. If he developed his three point shot it would be possible though a longshot. Okafor is an NBA 5, but he is not an out of this world athlete, or a stretch 5. I question the executive. Which has nothing to do with whether he could eventually be a helpful players for the Bears.

The team being noticeably better than projected? Not without scoring coming from somewhere out of the blue. I will stick with 11th place +/- 1 place.

I have not seen Okafor practice yet, but the NBA executive was the GM for the Denver Nuggets and I will defer to his expertise. The team has the "makings of being noticeably better than the 11/12 place way too early conference projections. However who knows, as its purely a dice roll on how the team will perform. I do think that both new guards will contribute good scoring and hoping that Kuany/Sam/Newell trio, contributes more scoring than thought. Team should be quicker and better defensively across the line up, with added depth to allow more consistent ball pressure. And as Coach Fox alluded to, increases the ability to play up tempo.
No way! You mean Calvin Booth? Did you ask him why he has a Cal tattoo?

You beat me to it. The university should have shut down during Calvin Booth's visit. As to his player assessment, I had a better offseason than he did given I did my standard nothing and he drafted Peyton Watson.
Intuit
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Nuggets GM Calvin Booth on new role, contention, building around Nikola Joki - The Athletic

Tells an interesting story of Calvin Booth's tenure as GM in Denver
Harborview
HoopDreams
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Also developed players will often transfer after their breakout year, and often before their senior season

So when we do find a hidden gem, or develop a project or solid player into a top player we'll only probably benefit for a season or two

I used to think our success formula was to develop solid players into veteran good players, and add a star or two into the mix

That formula was supposed to be tested last year with Bradley…

calumnus said:

stu said:

SFCityBear said:

Hope you are right. Normally, I would not expect the freshmen to be ready to contribute a lot, and it would be a big plus if they can. Fox seems pretty high on Newell, and I hope he is right too. I like Anyanwu, who is pretty raw, but aggressive, and just needs some fundamentals and some skill scoring the ball.
As far as I can tell we have quite a few good athletes. If the raw ones could master the fundamentals and develop some offensive skills we could be pretty good. My worry is the fundamentals and skills may not come quickly enough. If we have to wait till they're seniors then we'll never have enough players who are ready.


Cal is almost certainly the worst school in the entire country to rely on bringing in raw players and developing them. 1st, as often harped on, we have no dedicated practice facility. 2nd, and most importantly, even if we have a dedicated practice facility, Cal is arguably the most challenging school academically (certainly that plays D1 basketball) requiring more time and effort to stay eligible and leaving less time for the many hours needed to develop core skills. Really, those skills need to be well developed before arriving at Cal.

If the choice is between less athletic players with skills and more athletic players who need to develop skills, Cal is better off with a coach who can make use of the former versus a coach like Fox that relies on the latter. It is a big part of the reason I have been saying Fox was a horrible fit from the moment he was announced.
SFCityBear
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sluggo said:

philbert said:

4thGenCal said:

sluggo said:

4thGenCal said:

MoragaBear said:

Yes, Hyder's finally healthy
Actually not correct, JH is battling back issues and its been going on for the past 2 months. Foot/ankle issues are gone, but He is having ongoing issues with his back and hopefully that will subside. Clayton and Askew are going to be an improvement collectively over Shepard (though Shepard could create decently and occasionally carry the team for stretches offensively). And a high level NBA executive attended a recent practice and said that there is one player on the roster who has legitimate NBA potential (as he develops) and that is ND Okafor. Clearly raw right now and barely past HS age, but the physical tools are impressive. So this team has the makings of being noticeably better than projected, but yes its far too early to have a real handle on where this team will be come Nov/Dec.
I am not a high level NBA executive or even a low level one. But I think Kuany has more NBA potential than Okafor. Kuany has a position, a tall, switchable 3-and-D wing, and has perfect size for that position. If he developed his three point shot it would be possible though a longshot. Okafor is an NBA 5, but he is not an out of this world athlete, or a stretch 5. I question the executive. Which has nothing to do with whether he could eventually be a helpful players for the Bears.

The team being noticeably better than projected? Not without scoring coming from somewhere out of the blue. I will stick with 11th place +/- 1 place.

I have not seen Okafor practice yet, but the NBA executive was the GM for the Denver Nuggets and I will defer to his expertise. The team has the "makings of being noticeably better than the 11/12 place way too early conference projections. However who knows, as its purely a dice roll on how the team will perform. I do think that both new guards will contribute good scoring and hoping that Kuany/Sam/Newell trio, contributes more scoring than thought. Team should be quicker and better defensively across the line up, with added depth to allow more consistent ball pressure. And as Coach Fox alluded to, increases the ability to play up tempo.
No way! You mean Calvin Booth? Did you ask him why he has a Cal tattoo?

You beat me to it. The university should have shut down during Calvin Booth's visit. As to his player assessment, I had a better offseason than he did given I did my standard nothing and he drafted Peyton Watson.
This gave me a chuckle.
SFCityBear
HearstMining
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calumnus said:

stu said:

SFCityBear said:

Hope you are right. Normally, I would not expect the freshmen to be ready to contribute a lot, and it would be a big plus if they can. Fox seems pretty high on Newell, and I hope he is right too. I like Anyanwu, who is pretty raw, but aggressive, and just needs some fundamentals and some skill scoring the ball.
As far as I can tell we have quite a few good athletes. If the raw ones could master the fundamentals and develop some offensive skills we could be pretty good. My worry is the fundamentals and skills may not come quickly enough. If we have to wait till they're seniors then we'll never have enough players who are ready.


Cal is almost certainly the worst school in the entire country to rely on bringing in raw players and developing them. 1st, as often harped on, we have no dedicated practice facility. 2nd, and most importantly, even if we have a dedicated practice facility, Cal is arguably the most challenging school academically (certainly that plays D1 basketball) requiring more time and effort to stay eligible and leaving less time for the many hours needed to develop core skills. Really, those skills need to be well developed before arriving at Cal.

If the choice is between less athletic players with skills and more athletic players who need to develop skills, Cal is better off with a coach who can make use of the former versus a coach like Fox that relies on the latter. It is a big part of the reason I have been saying Fox was a horrible fit from the moment he was announced.
There was plenty I didn't like about Ben Braun, but he did have a sense of team balance: how many athletic "projects" to take on (Francisco Elson) vs how many skilled but not athletic (Tamir) players. And he found guys like Lampley who was skilled and athletic, but not quite at the elite level. To be fair, he had a lot of misses, but Cal never sunk to its current level. We'll hope for improvement this year!




Big C
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Best off-season news is 1) additions of Askew and Clayton and 2) rumors of Newell being better than expected.

We have a few players that most people aren't expecting much from (Bowser, Hyder, Anyanwu), but could contribute. If things fall into place, I could picture us winning a few more games than last season. That would be a start, finishing within sight of .500.
 
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