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Michigan guard Justin Pippen has announced his commitment to Cal this morning. The 6-foot-3, 180-pound freshman from Los Angeles played in 28 games as a reserve during his first season with the Wolverines and averaged 1.6 points, 0.7 rebounds and 0.6 assists in 6.7 minutes per game this season. The Chatsworth-Sierra Canyon alum was a top-100 prospect according to Rivals in the 2024 rankings.
Pippen will get his chance to return to the West Coast with his move to Cal and will help Mark Madsen fill out his roster following several departures this offseason. He is the third transfer guard to join the Bears since the portal opened following Virginia transfer Dai Dai Ames and Campbell transfer Nolan Dorsey.
Overall, Madsen's staff has added four transfers to the roster for the 2025-26 season with Loyola Maryland big man Milos Ilic rounding out the group so far. Cal is losing several guards from this year's team both through exhaustion of eligibility and transfers. Star guard Jeremiah Wilkinson left the Bears after the season and has since transferred to Georgia leaving a big hole in the back court.
Starting point guard Jovan Blacksher Jr. was in his last season of eligibility this year while backup Christian Tucker also decided to enter the portal following the 14-19 campaign in Year 2 under Madsen.
At Cal, Pippen will get the opportunity to ignite his career after becoming a top recruit in the 2024 class while at Sierra Canyon, where he was a teammate with several high-profile recruits including current NBA reserve Bronny James.
Pippen, the son of former NBA star and Naismith Hall of Fame member Scottie Pippen, emerged as a top prospect later in his career sparking a rise up the rankings as a senior.
Here is what the Rivals national team wrote at the time: "The 2024 guard had a coming out party at the Hoophall West invitational in early December and has kept his momentum since, winning MVP at the Beverly Hills Tournament in mid December. He’s become a more complete scorer and smarter passer in the last year and has his developing game has paves the way for a new brand of confidence, as Pippen has not shied away from the spotlight this year as one of the leaders of a talented Sierra Canyon that now looks to him to deliver in big games. Pippen was looked at as a fringe high-major prospect a year or so ago, but things have changed this year."
Pippen's best performance as a freshman came against Purdue Fort Wayne in a December matchup in which he scored 10 points on 4-of-8 shooting to go with a season-best 4 rebounds and 2 assists. He had a season-high 4 assists on the road at Rutgers later in the season.
