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.
Yeah, the stats on Brown seem interesting. Leading scorer in 20 min off the bench. Looks like maybe they limited his minutes the first half of the year coming off an injury the year before? Second half of the season he had a number of 20+ point games, on pretty poor efficiency though.
Kelly was the rock for this Cal team. Skilled player who got better every year. I think by declaring for the NBA, he will also be visible to overseas pro leagues. I think there are plenty of teams who will like his scoring and rebounding, and perhaps he'll be able to extend his range playing overseas.
By putting his name in the portal, he can also see what interest he has from other schools, so he will have a choice between pro and transfer options. He also can return to Cal of course.
Really liked watching Kelly improve and become the team leader. Good luck to him.
AK22 could definitely make a living playing basketball professionally somewhere overseas. The NBA tho seems a bit of a stretch. He will be missed - hope he signs on with a solid squad and gets a taste of March Madness next year…
Yeah. No. Let him go elsewhere and experience success. 4 years of losing is enough. He deserves to have a shot at an NCAA berth if he chooses to play collegiate.
True. I'm afraid we've seen everything that is in Fox' bag of tricks and it isn't enough to create a winner. Should not have hired a 50-something retread.
He shouldve transferred a year earlier, but better late than never. Hope he lands with a quality team and gets some exposure.
This one really hurts, though I agree he deserves a chance at the Dance rather than sticking with a moribund program.
He did earn his Cal degree tho by staying…something Matt Bradley did not do.
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!
But, but Wyking. But, but the pandemic. You can't expect him to start recruiting P5 caliber players yet. It's just too soon JC.
Fox was at back to back football practices for whatever that’s worth.
Maybe he can find someone who can go two ways like Gonzalez or Wes Howell
Otherwise he should be out recruiting.
Yeah, the stats on Brown seem interesting. Leading scorer in 20 min off the bench. Looks like maybe they limited his minutes the first half of the year coming off an injury the year before? Second half of the season he had a number of 20+ point games, on pretty poor efficiency though.
Good for him, we don't deserve him.
Kelly was the rock for this Cal team. Skilled player who got better every year. I think by declaring for the NBA, he will also be visible to overseas pro leagues. I think there are plenty of teams who will like his scoring and rebounding, and perhaps he'll be able to extend his range playing overseas.
By putting his name in the portal, he can also see what interest he has from other schools, so he will have a choice between pro and transfer options. He also can return to Cal of course.
Really liked watching Kelly improve and become the team leader. Good luck to him.
AK22 could definitely make a living playing basketball professionally somewhere overseas. The NBA tho seems a bit of a stretch. He will be missed - hope he signs on with a solid squad and gets a taste of March Madness next year…
One possibility: Wisconsin Badgers
Yeah I don't see him as an NBA pro, but he could carve out an overseas pro career.
Yeah. No. Let him go elsewhere and experience success. 4 years of losing is enough. He deserves to have a shot at an NCAA berth if he chooses to play collegiate.
I’ve got news for you and that is there will be no Cal success until there’s a new head coach.
True. I'm afraid we've seen everything that is in Fox' bag of tricks and it isn't enough to create a winner. Should not have hired a 50-something retread.