Cal Men’s Basketball Forward DJ Thorpe medically retires

The athletic forward will remain at Cal to finish his degree

May 31, 2022

Cal Men’s Basketball announced the medical retirement of junior forward DJ Thorpe. The 6-9 Forward is the son of former NBA player Otis Thorpe. A former 3-star recruit, DJ struggled with injuries last season resulting in his redshirt campaign.

Thorpe, who missed the entire 2021-22 season due to injury, recently concluded his junior year academically as a society & environment major. He is expected to remain enrolled at Cal and complete his undergraduate degree.

"I'm grateful for our entire medical staff and their assistance throughout this process, most specifically Barry Parsons and Dr. Lindsay Huston; their continued support was invaluable during this difficult time," Thorpe said.

The Lake Travis, Texas native played in 53 career games across his freshman and sophomore seasons with the Golden Bears, averaging 1.4 points, 1.5 rebounds and 6.8 minutes per game while shooting 50.9 percent from the field. He appeared in all but eight games throughout the 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons.

"I'm heartbroken that D.J. will be unable to continue his basketball career despite his strenuous efforts to battle back from the injury he suffered this past season," Fox said. "However, I'm thrilled that he will continue to work toward earning his degree from Cal and our program looks forward to fully supporting him in that pursuit."

Thorpe was selected to the Pac-12 Winter Academic Honor Roll in back-to-back seasons in 2020-21 and 2021-22.

We wish DJ nothing but the best for his time here and the sacrifices made to being a student-athlete. And can’t wait to see what he does in his next chapter!