Cal Men’s Basketball Forward Andre Kelly declares for NBA Draft and enters Transfer Portal
Cal Men’s Basketball Forward Andre Kelly declares for NBA Draft and enters Transfer Portal
He will still consider a return to Cal
Cal Senior Forward Andre Kelly has declared for the NBA Draft and entered the Transfer Portal. It is likely he did both to keep his options open if he doesn’t get the positive feedback for the 2022 NBA Draft. It’s also noted that he will keep his options open and a return to Cal is not out of the question.
The 6-foot-9 senior averaged 13.4 points, 8.6 rebounds in 21 games. He shot 60.7% from the field and 69.2% from the free throw line. Kelly was playing the best basketball of his career until a leg injury during the USC game on January 29th forced him to miss the rest of the season. He ended the season in the top 5 of double-doubles in the PAC-12, despite missing the last month of games.
We thank Andre for his time here and wish him the best in whatever he decides to do next!
He shouldve transferred a year earlier, but better late than never. Hope he lands with a quality team and gets some exposure.
https://twitter.com/ThePortalReport/status/1515044100411699202
Cal has contacted Eastern Kentucky SR G Jomaru Brown, and is the only P5 school in his final 7...the 6'2" Brown was the leading scorer and averaged 12.2 ppg on 38% shooting for an underwhelming 13-18 EKU in 20 mpg in the ASUN Conf.
Sounds pretty on-brand for Fox and the current Cal program, unfortunately...lose the best player on the roster to the portal (the most likely outcome), and replace him with a role player from a lower level conference (the former Atlantic Sun) who may or may not be overmatched v P12 competition, at least on paper. He has yet to set up an official visit to Cal, but has Coastal Carolina and Milwaukee in the queue.
More troubling, though unsurprising, is you are not seeing Cal linked to ANY big names in the transfer portal. Working the portal is essential nowadays, and Fox/Cal are just a complete non-factor with impact players. In bigger minutes, Brown did have a solid SO year, though his JR year was a waste and his mpg were down in '21. If they landed him AND another experienced transfer, then maybe there are some pieces...but we need a big, as Fox's aversion to trusting FR means the talented but raw ND Okafor may not make a huge impact, and Thorpe wasn't much of a factor before missing the entire season to injury.
Offseason improvement from Jalen/Sam/Kuany remains tantamount.
Go Bears!