Consensus top-50 2025 recruit Jovani Ruff commits to the California Golden Bears
Mark Madsen continues to do the thing in Berkeley.
The California Golden Bears men’s basketball team aren’t just building for next year, they’re building for the future. And they’re starting to land the top talent to make that happen.
2025 Long Beach Poly shooting guard Jovani Ruff announced his commitment to Cal on his announcement livestream a few minutes ago. Ruff picked California over Kansas, Oregon and USC.
It is Cal men basketball’s first top-100 prospect since landing Matt Bradley, and their highest rated prospects since Jaylen Brown and Ivan Rabb.
The 6-5, 175 pound wing is the 40th national prospect by 247Sports Composite, was ranked as the 5th best shooting guard and 4th best California prospect. Cal got his only official visit last September of any of his final four.
Here’s his recent Nike EYBL highlights, where you can see his scoring ability on fully display. Ruff is a pure bucket getter, scoring in a wide array of spots. He can isolate, get the basket on handoffs, cut off the ball, and particularly get that spot up game going.
And Ruff also often guards the team’s best player, so he’s got that defensive pedigree as well.
Ruff described the reasons he picked the Bears to On3.
“I picked Cal because they were on me the hardest,” Ruff said. “Through the ups and downs, they believed in me the most out of all the schools, and it’s a Cali school. Coach Madsen and the staff made me feel like family for the time I took my official visit, they keep it real with me and we’ve had some deep conversations about not just basketball but life.”
Here’s a scouting report via Eric Bossi:
"Ruff has size, can create off the dribble and gets hot from deep. One of the hallmarks of his game, though, is the confidence with which he plays. A confidence that a family member helped to instill in him by watching film of some of the NBA's best scorers."
Hopefully with Cal having reconstructed their squad on the fly for the 2024 season, and with a host of returning players for 2025, Ruff will be joining a Bears team poised to make noise deep into March.
What a spring of recruiting for Mark Madsen and company.
Welcome to Cal Jovani! Go Bears!
Go Bears! As I often say, choosing Cal is just about the best decision many of us have ever made. Most good things I now cherish in my life I can trace back to my choice to go to Cal. Coach Madsen? Who wouldn't want to play for him? And to still play in California but play those East Coast teams in the ACC? Best of both worlds. Don't have to live in those crappy places but can stay in the sun and fun of California and still be seen nationally. Welcome to the Bear family young man!
Let's GOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!
Gotta buy a cervical collar because my impression of Cal Basketball changed fast enough to give me whiplash.