Cal Basketball Mid Summer Update (Free Story)

The Mark Madsen era began with a bang.

He impressed right out of the gate with his energy, passion, and confidence.

That translated to results with the exceptional staff he built and even more with his immediate recruiting success.   In the era of NIL, landing talent is a mix of Collective dollars and old-fashioned recruiting.   A coach has to help raise the NIL funds and then has to convince players to join them despite often not offering the most money.

Madsen and his staff’s ability to leverage relationships, source players, and market Cal to them have been nothing short of exceptional especially given the Bears basketball brand being at its all-time low.

calbears.com

Coach Mark Madsen has hit the ground running

On to the updates:

• With recent commitment of an international PG which you can read about here, recruiting for the 2023/24 team is concluded (absent perhaps one or two more PWOs)
• 2024 HS recruiting is in full swing and Cal has its eyes on several players of which at least three are scheduled to visit in the near future.   Read about that here
  • There is another big man, a raw prospect with great size and athleticism that may be visiting as well.  Stay tuned for more info
• In summer workouts, several of the newcomers have stood out.   The constant is Fardaws Aimaq‍ whose shown he can stroke the three, absolutely dominate the glass and may be the Bears most gifted passer
• Jaylon Tyson‍ has gotten better and better since arriving in Berkeley.  Surprisingly strong and springy, he’s been a revelation on the glass and a very difficult player to guard
• Incoming freshman Rodney Brown‍ has really impressed his teammates.  Despite his slender frame, he can get to the rim and has shown very good handles and passing ability.  Could he factor in at the PG position this season? A 6’6 ball handler?!
• Keonte Kennedy‍ is better than advertised.   Can defend four positions, Keonte’s very athletic and versatile.  He will be hard to keep off the court
• Look for this Cal team to eschew a lot of post-up offense in favor of pace, pick and rolls, isolations, and a lot of motion.   A very NBA-style offense vs. a traditional college scheme