Cal men's basketball forward ND Okafor enters transfer portal
Cal will need to replace four more Golden Bears for the 2024 season.
The California Golden Bears are hard rebooting for the second year in a row. Sophomore forward ND Okafor has reportedly entered the transfer portal. Okafor had some early contributions off the bench to start 2023-24 before an injury at Butler ended his season.
Okafor joins Devin Askew, Grant Newell, and Rodney Brown Jr. in the portal. So for those counting, with Jaylon Tyson likely to test the NBA Draft waters, here is the current makeup of Cal’s 2024-25 roster that has played or is expected to play significant minutes.
Guard Jalen Celestine
Guard Vladimir Pavlovic
Incoming guard Jeremiah Wilkinson
Forward Devin Curtis
Forward Gus Larson
That leaves Cal with over a half-dozen spots they will need to fill in the transfer portal. There is plenty of talent in there and plenty of signs that Cal coaches are hot in pursuit of best players available. But it’s likely Cal will have to wait fo a lot of dominoes to fall before they start replenishing their team.
Cal isn’t the only school in this boat, but after a promising year one with Mark Madsen, this is not the ideal situation to have to rebuild yet again. But if anyone is up for the task, it’s him.
I’ve heard his phone is ringing off the hook with players wanting to play for Cal. But many, & their parents & some agents, seeking the most astronomical dinero possible.
Given the purported culture under Madsen of a band of brothers playing for each other, I suspect the newfound college-level agent class has something to do with this. “Test the waters…you could be a well-compensated star” has a lot of pull to a mid-to-late-stage adolescent.