Men's Basketball Roster Catch-Up

Familiarizing ourselves with the new roster and having a sense of optimism

Returning senior Rytis Petraitis, from last year’s matchup vs Syracuse. Photo courtesy Rob Hwang.

In his excellent article on roster construction, Evan Miya highlights three factors in building a winning team in modern-day college basketball;

1. Have good basketball players

2. Returning players should account for at least 50% of playing minutes

3. Recruit players who have 2+ years of eligibility remaining

In year one of Mark Madsen’s tenure, Coach Madsen did as well as can be expected for a first year coach trying to revitalize the program. Carryovers Jalen Celestine, Devin Askew, Grant Newell and Devin Curtis contributed meaningful minutes to complement the senior-heavy transfers highlighted by blue-chip talent in Jaylon Tyson and Fardaws Aimaq. Madsen got a late jump on the recruiting trail but landed Jeremiah Wilkinson and several incoming transfers who had multiple years of eligibility remaining. After the 2024 season, Cal lost 4 players to graduation, 2 players who transferred to a different Power-5 school, and 4 players who transferred to a lower division school.

In year two, Cal had good/excellent basketball players in Andrej Stojakovic and Jeremiah Wilkinson, and a solid supporting cast. However, there was zero returning minutes (Gus Larson, Devin Curtis and Vladimir Pavlovic were the only returners), the team struggled with consistency all year and were one-dimensional on offense. After the 2025 season, the Golden Bears lost 3 players to graduation, 4 players who transferred to a different Power-5 school, and 4 players who transferred to a lower division school.

The loss of both Andrej Stojakovic and Jeremiah Wilkinson sting. If they had stayed, there is a very good chance #1 and #2 on Evan Miya’s list would be easily checked for this upcoming year. As it is, Cal will look to fill the void with eleven new players, joining the returning trio of DJ Campbell, Rytis Petraitis, and Lee Dort. Let’s look at the roster, sorted by longest remaining eligibility.

• G Semetri Carr, 6’ 0”, 4 years eligibility

  • 4-star ESPN/3-star Rivals recruit, chose Cal over Washington and several other west coast schools.

• G Jovani Ruff, 6’ 5”, 4 years eligibility

  • Consensus 4-star recruit, chose Cal over Kansas, USC, UCLA and others.

• G Justin Pippen, 6’ 3”, 3 years eligibility

  • Consensus 4-star recruit, played limited minutes with Michigan last year.

• F Sammie Yeaney, 6’ 8”, 3 years eligibility

  • Consensus 4-star recruit, played limited minutes with Grand Canyon last year.

• F Mantas Kocanas, 6’ 11”, 3 years eligibility

  • Lithuanian junior circuit regular, played in 2 game for Florida Atlantic last year before injury.

• F Dhiaukuei Manyiel Dut, 7’ 0”, 3 years eligibility

  • 3-star recruit out of high school, all-state Georgia selection. Had offers from Mississippi St. and Vanderbilt. Redshirt 1 year then limited minutes with Georgia State.

• G Dai Dai Ames, 6’ 1”, 2 years eligibility

  • Started at Kansas State before transferring to Virginia and earning the starting PG spot for most of last year. Averaged 8.7 points, 1.4 rebounds & 1.9 assists per game

• F Lee Dort, 6’ 10”, 2 years eligibility

  • Shot 60% for the Golden Bears in a backup role. Provides a fierce interior presence. All-ACC Academic team.

• F Chris Bell, 6’ 7”, 1 year eligibility

  • Spent past 3 years at Syracuse. As a sophomore, shot 42% from 3-point range in a starting role. Transitioned to bench last year as his shooting regressed, before recovering during conference play with a 44% long range percentage.

• G DJ Campbell, 6’ 2”, 1 year eligibility

  • Key rotational player for the Golden Bears last year, primarily as a backup PG/SG. Averaged 8 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists per game.

• G Nolan Dorsey, 6’ 5”, 1 year eligibility

  • 24/7 4-star transfer ranking. 2024 CAA Defensive Player of the Year playing for the Campbell Camels, leading the conference with 53 steals.

• F Rytis Petraitis, 6’ 7”, 1 year eligibility

  • Started 29 of Cal’s 33 games last year. Filled up multiple statistical categories. Led the team with 1.3 steals per game.

• G/F John Camden, 6’ 7”, 1 year eligibility

  • 24/7 4-star transfer ranking. Limited time in 2 seasons at Virginia Tech. Transferred to Delaware last season, averaged 17 points per game on 46% shooting. Scored over 30 points four times.

• F/C Milos Ilic, 6’ 10”, 1 year eligibility

  • Three-year starter for Loyola-Maryland. Multi-faceted, averaging 14 points, 8 rebounds and three assists. Shot 52% last year, including a respectable 32% from 3-point range.

In summary, there are six underclassmen and eight upperclassmen. On paper, this is a balanced roster with plenty of underclassmen potential mixed with solid play across the board from the upperclassmen. If this were year two or three with this roster, I would be highly optimistic entering the season. In 2023-24, with NBA prospect Jaylon Tyson and Euroleague stud Fardaws Aimaq, the Golden Bears started 4-10 before a late season surge to a respectable finish. No matter how talented a roster is, it takes playing time together to become a cohesive unit. The non-conference schedule provides a manageable path to start out the season (that is an article for next week).

That said, here in the middle of August, I am cautiously optimistic about this team’s potential. There are marked differences in this roster composition from Madsen’s previous teams;

Point Guard Size, Defensive Presence & Facilitation

I’m the guy who wrote an entire Jalen Cone Appreciation Article. Last year, It was highly satisfying to see Oakland’s own Jovan Blacksher Jr. return from serious injury and be a valuable contributor who made my single favorite defensive play of the year. That said, both players were undersized sharpshooters who were a minus defensive presence. In Blacksher’s case, it stuck out more against the oversized ACC lineups.

This year, Cal will have a PG rotation of Pippen, Dorsey, Ames, and Campbell. Rumor from summer practices is that Justin Pippen is the current frontrunner for the starting spot. All of them are more facilitative in nature than their predecessors. Pippen has the length to be a defensive pest for multiple positions. Dorsey is an all-world defender. Ames and Campbell both have the experience in ACC to hold their own.

Improved Shooting At All Three Levels

Last year, Cal shot 41.86% on all field goal attempts, placing them 319th in the nation out of 356 schools. Stojakovic and Wilkinson were the highest volume shooters by far, connecting on 43% and 40% of their shots across 796 total attempts combined*. Milos Ilic(52%) and John Camden(47%) attempted 769 field goals and connected at a much better clip. Chris Bell had a down shooting year, but was a proven outside shooter the prior year for Syracuse. Cal has much better shooters at all three levels.

* - The center combo of Mady Sissoko and Lee Dort were Cal’s best shooters by percentage, connecting on 63% of their combined shots on 220 total attempts.

Player Potential

24/7 Sports gives grades to portal transfer players. The top 3 Madsen incoming transfers by rating have been Stojakovic(94), Tyson(93) and Aimaq(93). This year both John Camden and Justin Pippen score a 92. For Madsen’s three years;

Year/Average Transfer Rating/average high school recruit rating

2023-24/90/87.5

2024-25/88.8/87

2025-26/90.4/89.5

On paper, this is the highest rated composite transfer and freshman class that Coach Madsen has had to work with. What is lacks in top-level star power, it more than makes up for in breadth and depth.

Coach Madsen has a solid history of coaching up players and putting his stars into positions to excel and display their talent. Jaylon Tyson was a star, but not a first-round prospect until January of his solo season at Cal. Andrej Stojakovic was all-world, but after a disappointing year at Stanford there were mild questions on if he would meet or exceed his potential.

My favorite example I can offer is Mady Sissoko. An NBA scout who attended many Cal games last year called Mady at Michigan State “just a guy” in Tom Izzo’s program. The scout was very impressed in Sissoko’s development under Coach Madsen into a legitimate presence in the ACC. That development was enough to earn Sissoko an invite to the Oklahoma City Thunder’s summer league team.

This year’s roster features players like Justin Pippen, Sammie Yeanay, and Chris Bell. All of them underwhelmed vs expectations last year, but all of them have the ability to be difference-makers at the college level. In addition, there is unknown potential in the big men DK Dut and Montas Kocanas, and proven talent in John Camden and Milos Ilic who may be ready to elevate their game with the step up in competition.

Of course, there are also reasons to be hesitant for the upcoming year. Looking at Evan Miya’s three criteria, while Cal’s roster has a reasonable talent level and eight players with at least two years remaining, the returning trio players will most likely fill around 20-25% of the playing minutes**. On paper is very different than in reality. If this team is able to gel quickly, and figure out how to be greater than the sum of all parts, it has a chance to surprise us all.

** - Rytis will most likely be an early season starter, while Dort may be in a center rotation with the other big men. Campbell will most likely be a rotational player and spot starter like last year.

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Returning Senior DJ Campbell, from last year’s matchup vs UVA. Photo courtesy Rob Hwang.

A few random thoughts to wrap up;

• Cal’s opponents shot 47% on all field goals last year, placing Cal as the 325th worst shooting defense in the country. Cal’s lack of size in the backcourt, combined with inefficient defensive switching and rotations, were largely to blame. The new roster helps account for the former, it’s on the coaching staff to account for the latter.

• Cal posted a good hype video focusing on Justin Pippen this week. There are a couple drive-and-kick plays to John Camden, who displays textbook shooting form.

• Coach Madsen has often spoke of learning under Tex Winter and Phil Jackson during his playing days with the Lakers. To me, this roster is well suited for a triangle offense, with a focus on inside-out ball movement. More to come on this as we get closer to the season.