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Cal Basketball

The 2024-25 Men's Basketball Squad

July 16, 2024
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Mark Madsen and his staff retained only two players from his first Cal Basketball team, bringing in eleven new faces in the hopes of taking another big step forward in his second season at the helm of the Bears.

We had a chance to attend practice and are happy to share some initial thoughts.

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The 2024-25 Men's Basketball Squad

4,569 Views | 8 Replies | Last: 3 mo ago by calumnus
BearGreg
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If you needed another reason to subscribe to BI and help support Cal athletics, this overview of the roster based on direct observations is a very good one. You won't be disappointed
Gobears49
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Will Cal have to endure turnover of most of it's squad, due to the NIL era, each year? I don't think that is a fun thing for Cal fans to endure. Part of the fun for being a college fan is looking forward to the progress a team makes when its players play several years for the same school.
BearGreg
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Gobears49 said:

Will Cal have to endure turnover of most of it's squad, due to the NIL era, each year? I don't think that is a fun thing for Cal fans to endure. Part of the fun for being a college fan is looking forward to the progress a team makes when its players play several years for the same school.
Personally, I don't think so. Neither does Madsen, which is why he took so many transfers this year with multiple years of eligibility and wants to land at least two HS players.

That said, I suspect that most good programs will lose 1/3 or more of their roster to transfers each year going forward.

The players who didn't get a lot of minutes and who perceive that there continue to be better players ahead of them (new recruits, transfers or returners) will look to leave for greener pastures.

Assuming they live up to their potential, I would expect most if not all of Petraitis, Stojakovic, Dort, WIlkinson, Omot, Ola-Joseph and Tucker to return.
Johnfox
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Tucker only has 1 year of eligibility left?
barsad
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BearGreg said:

The players who didn't get a lot of minutes and who perceive that there continue to be better players ahead of them (new recruits, transfers or returners) will look to leave for greener pastures.

I wish I had the same optimism that the 1/3 roster loss will come from the bench. But the new highest-bidder, auction house era we live in makes me think the 33-50% roster turnover will also draw from starters who've done well enough to see their NIL doubled the next year. I love a 0-0 record and a fresh roster, the potential is always unlimited!
stu
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Johnfox said:

Tucker only has 1 year of eligibility left?
Looks like he played 3 full seasons at UTSA:
https://goutsa.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster/season/2023-24/player/christian-tucker
BearGreg
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barsad said:

BearGreg said:

The players who didn't get a lot of minutes and who perceive that there continue to be better players ahead of them (new recruits, transfers or returners) will look to leave for greener pastures.

I wish I had the same optimism that the 1/3 roster loss will come from the bench. But the new highest-bidder, auction house era we live in makes me think the 33-50% roster turnover will also draw from starters who've done well enough to see their NIL doubled the next year. I love a 0-0 record and a fresh roster, the potential is always unlimited!
I'm not sure I see the risk. We landed Petratitis, Sissoko, Dort and Stojakovic over offers and large NIL bids from big schools lie UNC, Texas, etc. And we retained Ott and Woodson from Football despite Georgia and Texas A&M wanting them.

What makes it different after this season?
calumnus
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BearGreg said:

barsad said:

BearGreg said:

The players who didn't get a lot of minutes and who perceive that there continue to be better players ahead of them (new recruits, transfers or returners) will look to leave for greener pastures.

I wish I had the same optimism that the 1/3 roster loss will come from the bench. But the new highest-bidder, auction house era we live in makes me think the 33-50% roster turnover will also draw from starters who've done well enough to see their NIL doubled the next year. I love a 0-0 record and a fresh roster, the potential is always unlimited!
I'm not sure I see the risk. We landed Petratitis, Sissoko, Dort and Stojakovic over offers and large NIL bids from big schools lie UNC, Texas, etc. And we retained Ott and Woodson from Football despite Georgia and Texas A&M wanting them.

What makes it different after this season?


The current situation is good for Cal but is likely temporary. The game changer that is coming is when schools can/must pay players from their media revenues. That will be a huge disadvantage for us vis a vis the rest of the Power 4. At least until we earn full ACC shares (7 years from now?).
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