2025 North Carolina Sports Network
Atlantic Coast Conference Basketball Spotlight:
University of California

By Ben McCormick
North Carolina Sports Network

School: University of California, Berkeley

Location: Berkeley, Calif.

Previous NCAA Conference Affiliations: Independent (1907-15), Pacific Coast Conference (1915-59), Athletic Association of Western Universities (1959-68), Pac-8/Pac-10/Pac-12 (1968-24)

ACC Member Since: 2024-25

ACC Ranking Among 31 Leagues (KenPom): 5th (2025), 5th (2024), 7th (2023), 5th(2022), 5th (2021), 4th (2020)

NCAA Tournament Bids: 19 (1946, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1990, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2016)

NCAA Championships: 1 (1959)

Final Fours: 3 (1946, 1959, 1960)

Conference Titles: 0

Conference 1st-Place Finishes: 15 (PCC in 1916, 1921, 1924, 1925, 1926, 1927, 1929, 1932, 1944, 1946, 1957, 1958, 1959; AAWU in 1960; Pac-12 in 2020)

Head Coach: Mark Madsen (48 years old, 2nd season)

As A Player: Stanford (1996-00), NBA (2000-09)

Record at Cal (through Jan. 14): 21-27 (.438) in 1+ seasons

Previous HC Experience: Los Angeles D-Fenders (NBA D-League 2013), Utah Valley (2019-23)

College AC Experience: Stanford (2012-13)

Assistant Under: Johnny Dawkins, Byron Scott, Luke Walton

2023-24 Record: 13-19, 9-11 (6th in 12-team Pac-12)

2024-25 Preseason Prediction (Coaches): 16th in 18-team ACC

2024-25 Record (Through Jan. 14): 8-8, 1-4 ACC

2024-25 Midseason Ranking (KenPom): #127 nationally (13th in ACC)

Upcoming Schedule: at UNC (1/15), at NC State (1/18), Florida State (1/22), Miami (1/25), at SMU (1/29), Syracuse (2/1), NC State (2/5), Wake Forest (2/8)

 

As oxymoronic as it sounds, California is in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Although the Golden Bears and their former Pac-12 counterpart, Stanford, don’t fit in geographically, they certainly fit into the ACC’s standard of academic excellence, and they have a lot of solid athletics programs to offer, too.

“The transition has been really smooth,” Cal head coach Mark Madsen, a former Stanford star, told the ACC Network. “Initially it was a shock, of course, because you have to realize that travel is going to have ramifications for academics, for practice time, all of those things. But Cal, in addition to being an elite academic institution, Cal loves sports.”

Since its last NCAA Tournament appearance (2015-16), though, the basketball team has not been one of Cal’s shining stars.

California is in Year Two of the Madsen era, and the expectations in the school’s first year in the ACC are fairly low. The Bears were picked to finish 16th in the league, and they appear to be on pace with that projection, with a 1-4 conference record in mid-January.

Madsen’s debut a year ago was far from perfect, but a 13-19 sixth-place finish in the Pac-12 was a marked improvement from the final season under coach Mark Fox, in which the Bears were an abysmal 3-29.

Last year’s team had a lot of experienced transfer portal additions — nearly all of whom have since graduated or hopped back in the portal. Cal lost its entire starting five from 2023-24, including its leading scorer and the 20th pick in the 2024 NBA draft, Jaylon Tyson, who left with one year of eligibility remaining.

Madsen had to replace a lot of production, but he didn’t have to look far for his biggest find in the portal.

Former Stanford guard Andrej Stojakovic is a son of former NBA sharpshooter and Sacramento Kings legend Peja Stojakovic. The 6-foot-7 wing shares a similar Cardinal red history with his new head coach, who played at Stanford in the late 1990s.

Through the Bears’ 8-8 start, Stojakovic was leading the Golden Bears in scoring at 20.3 points per game. That was the second-highest mark in the ACC, behind only Stanford forward Maxime Raynaud.

“Andrej is one of the hardest-working players that you’re ever going to meet,” Madsen said. “Andrej is a player that can play multiple positions on the court. He shoots it from three, he gets to the rim, he’s got a mid-range game, and he’s someone that cares deeply about winning.”

Another significant addition from the portal for Cal was Mady Sissoko, a two-year starting center under coach Tom Izzo at Michigan State. So far this season, Sissoko is putting up six points and seven boards per game.

Freshman Jeremiah Wilkinson has been a solid addition for the Bears as well. The three-star combo guard is averaging 12.5 points off the bench.

The Bears have been without forward BJ Omot since Nov. 17, as the North Dakota transfer rehabs an injury. Omot was scoring 10.8 points per game through Cal’s first four games.

Following a 3-1 start and a win over Southern Cal in Omot’s last game played, California’s only power conference win came over Virginia on Jan. 8. That is also the Bears’ first and only ACC win thus far.

2024-25 California Golden Bears
(8-8, 1-4 ACC; through Jan. 14)

STARTERS (stats = 2024-25 numbers)

G Jovan Blacksher Jr., Gr. (5-11/165) — Grand Canyon transfer (4-year starter)
29 mpg, 11 ppg, 2 rpg, 36% FG, 75% FT, 37% threes, 38/29 ATO, 0 blocks, 14 steals

G Andrej Stojakovic, So. (6-7/205) — Stanford transfer (starter)
32 mpg, 20 ppg, 4 rpg, 46% FG, 84% FT, 35% threes, 26/30 ATO, 18 blocks, 11 steals

G Rytis Petraitis, Jr. (6-7/210) — Air Force transfer (2-year starter)
24 mpg, 7 ppg, 4 rpg, 42% FG, 76% FT, 27% threes, 26/18 ATO, 5 blocks, 19 steals

F Joshua Ola-Joseph, Jr. (6-7/215) — Minnesota transfer (2-year starter)
19 mpg, 8 ppg, 4 rpg, 46% FG, 74% FT, 36% threes, 6/13 ATO, 4 blocks, 6 steals

C Mady Sissoko, Gr. (6-9/235) — Michigan State transfer (2-year starter)
25 mpg, 6 ppg, 7 rpg, 61% FG, 67% FT, 6/19 ATO, 16 blocks, 6 steals

KEY RESERVES (stats = 2024-25 numbers)

G Jeremiah Wilkinson, Fr. (6-1/185) — 3-star in Class of 2024
21 mpg, 13 ppg, 2 rpg, 46% FG, 77% FT, 33% threes, 18/25 ATO, 1 block, 7 steals

F BJ Omot, Jr. (6-8/175) — North Dakota transfer (2-year starter)
27 mpg, 11 ppg, 3 rpg, 44% FG, 63% FT, 35% threes, 0/7 ATO, 1 block, 4 steals

G DJ Campbell, Jr. (6-2/205) — Western Carolina transfer (2-year starter)
24 mpg, 3 ppg, 1 rpg, 40% FG, 75% FT, 32% threes, 18/13 ATO, 0 blocks, 11 steals

F Lee Dort, Jr. (6-10/225) — Vanderbilt transfer (reserve)
15 mpg, 3 ppg, 5 rpg, 55% FG, 61% FT, 5/17 ATO, 12 blocks, 3 steals

G Christian Tucker, Sr. (6-3/170) — UTSA transfer (starter)
13 mpg, 2 ppg, 1 rpg, 31% FG, 83% FT, 36% threes, 17/10 ATO, 1 block, 5 steals

Departures from 2023-24: PG Devin Askew (Jr./transfer/Long Beach State), C Fardaws Aimaq* (Ss./Hungary), BF Monty Bowser (Jr./transfer/Northern Arizona), WG Rodney Brown Jr. (Fr./transfer/Virginia Tech), WG Jalen Celestine* (Jr./transfer/Baylor), PG Jalen Cone* (Ss./Spain), WF Keonte Kennedy* (Ss./Sweden), BF Grant Newell (So./transfer/North Texas), C ND Okafor (So./transfer/Washington State), WG Wrenn Robinson (r-Jr.), WG Jaylon Tyson* (Jr./early NBA entry/Cleveland Cavaliers)

*—2023-24 starter (started at least 50% of Cal’s games last season)