It's been a while since I've done one of these, so this is long overdue. I'll address where we are in regards to the 2019, 2020, 2021 classes, etc. If anyone has any burning questions afterwards, I'll do my best to answer them.
2019 class: At the moment, the 2019-20 Cal men's basketball roster has 11 scholarship players: Junior shooting guard Juhwan Harris-Dyson, senior point guard Paris Austin, sophomore shooting guard Matt Bradley, sophomore power forward Andre Kelly, sophomore small forward Jacobi Gordon, junior power forward Grant Anticevich, freshman point guard Joel Brown, freshman center D.J. Thorpe, freshman shooting guard Dimitrios Klonaras, freshman small forward Kuany Kuany, and grad transfer shooting guard Kareem South.
Scholarship player number 12 could very well be German 7-footer Lars Thiemann, who will be visiting Cal June 6-8 after taking visits to Saint Mary's and Oregon State. It's certainly possible that Cal adds a 13th scholarship player, but given where we are in the recruiting cycle, Cal could go into the 2019-20 season with 12 scholarship players and leave one open to use on the 2020 class. We'll just have to see what they do. The wildcard in all of this could be Jordan Brown, but as of now, there doesn't appear to be a whole lot of traction there. I'll reach out to Dion again this weekend and see if there's any movement on that front.
In regards to the depth chart for next season, this is how I see the rotation looking: Paris Austin, Juhwan Harris-Dyson, Matt Bradley, Jacobi Gordon, Kareem South, D.J. Thorpe, Andre Kelly, Grant Anticevich, and Kuany Kuany is the most realistic 9-man rotation that I can think of at the moment. The starting five would be Austin at the point, South at shooting guard, Bradley at small forward, Anticevich at power board, and Thorpe at center.
Harris-Dyson will provide relief in the wing/backcourt, Kelly will provide relief in the post, Gordon will provide relief both in the post and in the wing/backcourt, and Kuany Kuany will provide relief both in the post and in the wing/backcourt. If there is a 10th man to see any time, it would be Joel Brown providing spot relief for Paris Austin, but I do think Matt Bradley will serve as an alternate point guard to Austin. I really don't see Klonaras getting many minutes next season, but maybe he'll surprise me. If Cal were to add Lars Thiemann, then I think you might see Kuany Kuany get bumped out of the rotation or share his minute with Thiemann depending on the opponent. We can address that topic once/if Thiemann commits.
2020: In regards to the 2020 class, the following guys have been offered by Fox and his new staff: 4-star power forward Dawson Garcia, 3-star power forward Osasere Ighodaro, 5-star center Walker Kessler, 4-star point guard Caleb Love, 4-star point guard Recee Beekman, and 3-star shooting guard Niels Lane. The following recruits from the previous staff are also being targeted: 5-star point guard Jalen Suggs, 4-star point guard Dalen Terry, 4-star shooting guard Nimari Burnett, and 5-star small forward Josh Christopher. Latest I heard from Jabri Abur-Rahim was Cal hadn't contacted him, but that could of course change. I also reached out to 3-star center Dishon Jackson, but haven't heard back from him, so it's hard to gauge what Cal's interest is in him.
It's honestly too early to project which 2020 recruits Cal has a good shot with. I've hit up Walker Kessler a couple of times and he's given me nothing, so I'm not feeling too optimistic about that one. But once again, things could always change. It's early yet.
2021: This new Cal staff has extended offers to two 2021 guys: 4-star power forward Chet Holmgren and 5-star point guard Devin Askew. I'll message a few other 2021 guys to see if Cal has reached out like Nathan Bittle and Ben Gregg, but 2021 as far as I'm concerned is pretty bare and too early to project at the moment given the lack of offers given out by this new staff.
2022: This Cal staff has offered one kid in the 2022 class in small forward Prince Aligbe out of Minneapolis, Minnesota. Assistant coach Andrew Francis has offered a few Minnesota guys now, so we'll just have to see if he can pull kids away from the land of 10,000 lakes. Having lived in Minnesota myself on my LDS mission, I can confirm that it does get really cold there and that California can seem like a pretty attractive place.
That's where we sit at the moment with the 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022 recruiting classes. I've been impressed with how Fox has replenished the roster thus far. Should be fun to see if they can land Thiemann and what he's able to to do with this young team in his first year. Once again if you have any questions, comment below and I'll do my best to answer them.
2019 class: At the moment, the 2019-20 Cal men's basketball roster has 11 scholarship players: Junior shooting guard Juhwan Harris-Dyson, senior point guard Paris Austin, sophomore shooting guard Matt Bradley, sophomore power forward Andre Kelly, sophomore small forward Jacobi Gordon, junior power forward Grant Anticevich, freshman point guard Joel Brown, freshman center D.J. Thorpe, freshman shooting guard Dimitrios Klonaras, freshman small forward Kuany Kuany, and grad transfer shooting guard Kareem South.
Scholarship player number 12 could very well be German 7-footer Lars Thiemann, who will be visiting Cal June 6-8 after taking visits to Saint Mary's and Oregon State. It's certainly possible that Cal adds a 13th scholarship player, but given where we are in the recruiting cycle, Cal could go into the 2019-20 season with 12 scholarship players and leave one open to use on the 2020 class. We'll just have to see what they do. The wildcard in all of this could be Jordan Brown, but as of now, there doesn't appear to be a whole lot of traction there. I'll reach out to Dion again this weekend and see if there's any movement on that front.
In regards to the depth chart for next season, this is how I see the rotation looking: Paris Austin, Juhwan Harris-Dyson, Matt Bradley, Jacobi Gordon, Kareem South, D.J. Thorpe, Andre Kelly, Grant Anticevich, and Kuany Kuany is the most realistic 9-man rotation that I can think of at the moment. The starting five would be Austin at the point, South at shooting guard, Bradley at small forward, Anticevich at power board, and Thorpe at center.
Harris-Dyson will provide relief in the wing/backcourt, Kelly will provide relief in the post, Gordon will provide relief both in the post and in the wing/backcourt, and Kuany Kuany will provide relief both in the post and in the wing/backcourt. If there is a 10th man to see any time, it would be Joel Brown providing spot relief for Paris Austin, but I do think Matt Bradley will serve as an alternate point guard to Austin. I really don't see Klonaras getting many minutes next season, but maybe he'll surprise me. If Cal were to add Lars Thiemann, then I think you might see Kuany Kuany get bumped out of the rotation or share his minute with Thiemann depending on the opponent. We can address that topic once/if Thiemann commits.
2020: In regards to the 2020 class, the following guys have been offered by Fox and his new staff: 4-star power forward Dawson Garcia, 3-star power forward Osasere Ighodaro, 5-star center Walker Kessler, 4-star point guard Caleb Love, 4-star point guard Recee Beekman, and 3-star shooting guard Niels Lane. The following recruits from the previous staff are also being targeted: 5-star point guard Jalen Suggs, 4-star point guard Dalen Terry, 4-star shooting guard Nimari Burnett, and 5-star small forward Josh Christopher. Latest I heard from Jabri Abur-Rahim was Cal hadn't contacted him, but that could of course change. I also reached out to 3-star center Dishon Jackson, but haven't heard back from him, so it's hard to gauge what Cal's interest is in him.
It's honestly too early to project which 2020 recruits Cal has a good shot with. I've hit up Walker Kessler a couple of times and he's given me nothing, so I'm not feeling too optimistic about that one. But once again, things could always change. It's early yet.
2021: This new Cal staff has extended offers to two 2021 guys: 4-star power forward Chet Holmgren and 5-star point guard Devin Askew. I'll message a few other 2021 guys to see if Cal has reached out like Nathan Bittle and Ben Gregg, but 2021 as far as I'm concerned is pretty bare and too early to project at the moment given the lack of offers given out by this new staff.
2022: This Cal staff has offered one kid in the 2022 class in small forward Prince Aligbe out of Minneapolis, Minnesota. Assistant coach Andrew Francis has offered a few Minnesota guys now, so we'll just have to see if he can pull kids away from the land of 10,000 lakes. Having lived in Minnesota myself on my LDS mission, I can confirm that it does get really cold there and that California can seem like a pretty attractive place.
That's where we sit at the moment with the 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022 recruiting classes. I've been impressed with how Fox has replenished the roster thus far. Should be fun to see if they can land Thiemann and what he's able to to do with this young team in his first year. Once again if you have any questions, comment below and I'll do my best to answer them.
