2024–25 California Golden Bears men's basketball team

The 2024–25 California Golden Bears men's basketball team represented the University of California, Berkeley, in the 2024–25 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. They were led by Mark Madsen in his second season as head coach. The Golden Bears played their home games at Haas Pavilion as first-year members of the Atlantic Coast Conference.

2024–25 California Golden Bears men's basketball
Conference	Atlantic Coast Conference
Record	14–19 (6–14 ACC)
Head coach	Mark Madsen (2nd season)
Associate head coach	Adam Mazarei
Assistant coaches	Amorrow Morgan Matt Scherbenske Jarred Jackson Ken Moses
Home arena	Haas Pavilion (Capacity: 11,858)
Seasons ← 2023–24 2025–26 →

2024–25 ACC men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 3 Duke †	19	–	1		.950			35	–	4		.897
No. 21 Louisville	18	–	2		.900			27	–	8		.771
No. 22 Clemson	18	–	2		.900			27	–	7		.794
Wake Forest	13	–	7		.650			21	–	11		.656
North Carolina	13	–	7		.650			23	–	14		.622
SMU	13	–	7		.650			24	–	11		.686
Stanford	11	–	9		.550			21	–	14		.600
Georgia Tech	10	–	10		.500			17	–	17		.500
Virginia	8	–	12		.400			15	–	17		.469
Virginia Tech	8	–	12		.400			13	–	19		.406
Florida State	8	–	12		.400			17	–	15		.531
Notre Dame	8	–	12		.400			15	–	18		.455
Pittsburgh	8	–	12		.400			17	–	15		.531
Syracuse	7	–	13		.350			14	–	19		.424
California	6	–	14		.300			14	–	19		.424
NC State	5	–	15		.250			12	–	19		.387
Boston College	4	–	16		.200			12	–	19		.387
Miami (FL)	3	–	17		.150			7	–	24		.226
† 2025 ACC tournament winner Rankings from AP poll

The Golden Bears started the season with victories over in-state foes Cal State Bakersfield and Cal Poly before traveling to Nashville, Tennessee to face Vanderbilt. The east coast trip proved to much for the Golden Bears as they lost 85–69. They returned to California to defeat cross-town foe USC 71–66. They hosted the Cal Classic, where they won all three games. They then made another trip to the eastern US where they lost 98–93 to Missouri as part of the ACC–SEC Challenge. They lost their ACC opener 89–81 against rivals Stanford. These two losses were part of a stretch where the team went 1–6. Their only victory was over Northwestern State. Other losses in the stretch included at twenty-third ranked San Diego State, and ACC losses against Pittsburgh and Clemson. The Golden Bears went 4–2 over their next six games, with losses to Virginia Tech and North Carolina. They defeated Miami in overtime, Virginia, NC State, and Florida State. The Golden Bears finished the season with a stretch of games where they went 2–9. Their only two wins were against NC State and Boston College. They lost to just two ranked teams over the stretch, third-ranked Duke and fourteenth-ranked Louisville. They also dropped games to rival Stanford, to Georgia Tech in overtime, and a final day four overtime loss to Notre Dame.

The Golden Bears finished the season 14–19 and 6–14 in ACC play to finish in fifteenth place. As the fifteenth seed in the 2025 ACC tournament they defeated Virginia Tech in double-overtime in the First Round. In the Second Round, they faced rival Stanford for a third time during the season. They lost 78–73 to lose to their rivals three total times during the season. They were not invited to the NCAA tournament or the NIT.

Previous season

Main article: 2023–24 California Golden Bears men's basketball team

The Golden Bears finished 13–19 overall and 9–11 in conference play to finish in a three-way tie for sixth place. As the seventh seed in the Pac-12 tournament they lost in the first round to tenth-seed Stanford. They were not invited to a post-season tournament.

Off-season

Departures

Departures

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Reason for Departure
Fardaws Aimaq	0	F	6'11"	145	Graduate Student	Vancouver, Canada	Graduated
Rodney Brown Jr.	1	G	6'6"	180	Freshman	Perris, California	Transferred to Virginia Tech[1]
Monty Bowser	2	F	6'7"	195	Junior	Oakland, California	Transferred to Northern Arizona[2]
Keonte Kennedy	3	C	6'5"	190	Graduate Student	Austin, Texas	Graduated
Grant Newell	14	F	6'9"	220	Sophomore	Chicago, Illinois	Transferred to North Texas[3]
Jalen Cone	15	G	5'11"	175	Graduate Student	Walkertown, North Carolina	Graduated
Jaylon Tyson	20	G	6'7"	215	Junior	Allen, Texas	Drafted 20th overall in the 2024 NBA draft[4]
ND Okafor	22	F	6'9"	235	Sophomore	Dundalk, Ireland	Transferred to Washington State[5]
Wrenn Robinson	30	G	6'2"	185	Junior	Oakland, California	Entered transfer portal[6]
Jalen Celestine	32	G	6'7"	215	Junior	Ajax, Ontario	Transferred to Baylor[7]
Devin Askew	55	G	6'3"	198	Senior	Sacramento, California	Transferred to Long Beach State[8]

Incoming transfers

Incoming Transfers

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Previous School
Joshua Ola-Joseph	1	F	6'7"	215	Junior	Brooklyn Park, Minnesota	Minnesota[9]
Andrej Stojaković	2	G	6'7"	205	Sophomore	Carmichael, California	Stanford[10]
DeJuan Campbell	3	G	6'2"	205	Junior	Hampton, Virginia	Western Carolina[11]
Spencer Mahoney	7	F	6'9"	230	Freshman	New York, New York	Washington State[12]
Jovan Blacksher Jr.	10	G	5'11"	165	Graduate Student	Oakland, California	Grand Canyon[13]
Mady Sissoko	12	C	6'9"	250	Graduate Student	Bafoulabé, Mali	Michigan State[14]
BJ Omot	20	F	6'8"	185	Junior	Mankato, Minnesota	North Dakota[15]
Christian Tucker	22	G	6'3"	178	Senior	Chandler, Arizona	UTSA[16]
Gus Larson	25	F	6'10"	215	Junior	New Canaan, Connecticut	Penn[17]
Rytis Petraitis	31	F	6'7"	210	Junior	Arlington, Texas	Air Force[18]
Lee Dort	34	F	6'10"	245	Junior	McKinney, Texas	Vanderbilt[19]

2024 recruiting class

College recruiting information

Name	Hometown	School	Height	Weight	Commit date
Kevin Armstrong II F	Minneapolis, Minnesota	Breck School	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	210 lb (95 kg)
	Recruit ratings: No ratings found
Jaden Goodall F	Anaheim, California	Canyon	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	175 lb (79 kg)
	Recruit ratings: ESPN:    (79)
Stephon Marbury II G	Purchase, New York	DME Academy	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	170 lb (77 kg)
	Recruit ratings: No ratings found
Hugh Vandeweghe F	Los Angeles, California	Loyola	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	215 lb (98 kg)
	Recruit ratings: No ratings found
Jeremiah Wilkinson G	Powder Springs, Georgia	McEchern	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	Aug 30, 2023
	Recruit ratings: Rivals:    247Sports:
Overall recruit ranking:
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, On3, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2024 California Commits". Rivals. "2024 Team Ranking". Rivals.

Roster

2024–25 California Golden Bears men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown G 0 Jeremiah Wilkinson 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Fr McEachern High School Powder Springs, GA F 1 Joshua Ola-Joseph 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Jr Compass Prep (AZ) Minnesota Brooklyn Park, MN G 2 Andrej Stojaković 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 205 lb (93 kg) So Jesuit Stanford Carmichael, CA G 3 DeJuan Campbell 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Jr Kecoughtan Western Carolina Hampton, VA F 7 Spencer Mahoney 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 230 lb (104 kg) RS Fr Red Rock Academy Washington State New York, NY F 9 Hugh Vandeweghe 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Fr Loyola Los Angeles, CA G 10 Jovan Blacksher Jr. 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) 165 lb (75 kg) GS Shadow Mountain Grand Canyon Oakland, CA C 12 Mady Sissoko 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 250 lb (113 kg) GS Wasatch Academy Michigan State Bafoulabé, Mali F 13 Devin Curtis 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 210 lb (95 kg) So Heritage Christian School Northridge, CA G 14 Jack McCloskey 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 180 lb (82 kg) So Mater Dei High School Santa Ana, CA G 15 Kevin Armstrong II 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Fr Breck School Minneapolis, MN F 17 Jaden Goodall 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Fr Canyon Anaheim, CA F 20 BJ Omot 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Jr Mankato East North Dakota Mankato, MN G 22 Christian Tucker 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 178 lb (81 kg) Sr Gilbert Perry UTSA Chandler, AZ G 23 Matt Desler (W) 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Sr Bishop O'Dowd Oakland, CA F 25 Gus Larson 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 215 lb (98 kg) RS Jr Northfield Mount Hermon Penn New Canaan, CT G 30 Stephon Marbury II 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 170 lb (77 kg) Fr DME Academy Purchase, NY F 31 Rytis Petraitis 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Jr USAFA Prep School Air Force Arlington, TX G 32 Jayden Karapetian (W) 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 170 lb (77 kg) So Viewpoint School Woodland Hills, CA G 33 Vladimir Pavlovic 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 190 lb (86 kg) So Hoosac School Herceg Novi, Montenegro F 34 Lee Dort 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 245 lb (111 kg) Jr Greenhill School Vanderbilt McKinney, TX	Head coach Mark Madsen (Stanford) Assistant coach(es) Adam Mazarei (Redlands) Amorrow Morgan (Idaho State) Matt Scherbenske (Kentucky) Jarred Jackson (Lander) Ken Moses (CSU Pueblo) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster Last update: August 3, 2024

Schedule and results

Source:^{[20] [21]}

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Site (attendance) city, state
Regular season
November 4, 2024* 8:30 p.m., ACCNX/ESPN+		Cal State Bakersfield	W 86–73	1–0	17 – Blacksher Jr.	6 – Tied	4 – Blacksher Jr.	Haas Pavilion (3,472) Berkeley, CA
November 7, 2024* 7:00 p.m., ACCNX/ESPN+		Cal Poly	W 91–73	2–0	18 – Blacksher Jr.	11 – Dort	3 – Campbell	Haas Pavilion (3,203) Berkeley, CA
November 13, 2024* 5:00 p.m., SECN+/ESPN+		at Vanderbilt	L 69–85	2–1	17 – Stojaković	10 – Dort	4 – Blacksher Jr.	Memorial Gymnasium (5,945) Nashville, TN
November 17, 2024* 6:30 p.m., BTN		at USC	W 71–66	3–1	20 – Stojaković	7 – Tied	2 – Tied	Galen Center (5,466) Los Angeles, CA
November 21, 2024* 7:00 p.m., ACCNX/ESPN+		Air Force Cal Classic	W 78–69	4–1	23 – Wilkinson	6 – Tied	2 – Tied	Haas Pavilion (3,631) Berkeley, CA
November 24, 2024* 1:00 p.m., ACCNX/ESPN+		Sacramento State Cal Classic	W 83–77	5–1	20 – Stojaković	6 – Tied	5 – Petraitis	Haas Pavilion (3,662) Berkeley, CA
November 27, 2024* 7:00 p.m., ACCNX/ESPN+		Mercyhurst Cal Classic	W 81–55	6–1	15 – Stojaković	9 – Sissoko	3 – Tucker	Haas Pavilion (2,093) Berkeley, CA
December 3, 2024* 4:00 p.m., SECN		at Missouri ACC–SEC Challenge	L 93–98	6–2	26 – Stojaković	9 – Sissoko	8 – Blacksher Jr.	Mizzou Arena (9,791) Columbia, MO
December 7, 2024 1:00 p.m., ACCN		Stanford Rivalry	L 81–89	6–3 (0–1)	25 – Stojaković	8 – Tied	2 – Blacksher, Jr.	Haas Pavilion (6,089) Berkeley, CA
December 10, 2024* 7:00 p.m., ACCNX/ESPN+		Cornell	L 80–88	6–4	21 – Ola-Joseph	8 – Tied	7 – Blacksher Jr.	Haas Pavilion (3,035) Berkeley, CA
December 14, 2024* 12:00 p.m., ACCNX/ESPN+		Northwestern State	W 84–66	7–4	31 – Stojaković	8 – Petraitis	4 – Stojaković	Haas Pavilion (2,916) Berkeley, CA
December 21, 2024* 7:30 p.m., ACCN		vs. No. 23 San Diego State San Jose Tip-Off	L 50–71	7–5	13 – Wilkinson	11 – Sissoko	2 – Wilkinson	SAP Center  San Jose, CA
January 1, 2025 11:00 a.m., ACCN		at Pittsburgh	L 74–86	7–6 (0–2)	24 – Wilkinson	6 – Wilkinson	4 – Blacksher Jr.	Petersen Events Center (7,177) Pittsburgh, PA
January 4, 2025 5:30 p.m., ESPN2		at Clemson	L 68–80	7–7 (0–3)	30 – Stojaković	5 – Tied	2 – Petraitis	Littlejohn Coliseum (7,660) Clemson, SC
January 8, 2025 8:00 p.m., ESPN2		Virginia	W 75–61	8–7 (1–3)	23 – Stojaković	11 – Sissoko	3 – Tied	Haas Pavilion (3,696) Berkeley, CA
January 11, 2025 3:00 p.m., ACCN		Virginia Tech	L 68–71	8–8 (1–4)	24 – Stojaković	10 – Petraitis	5 – Campbell	Haas Pavilion (4,003) Berkeley, CA
January 15, 2025 4:00 p.m., ACCN		at North Carolina	L 53–79	8–9 (1–5)	16 – Sissoko	8 – Sissoko	4 – Stojaković	Dean Smith Center (20,031) Chapel Hill, NC
January 18, 2025 3:00 p.m., ACCN		at NC State	W 65–62	9–9 (2–5)	14 – Blacksher Jr.	9 – Petraitis	3 – Petraitis	Lenovo Center (12,881) Raleigh
January 22, 2025 6:00 p.m., ACCN		Florida State	W 77–68	10–9 (3–5)	18 – Wilkinson	13 – Tied	4 – Petraitis	Haas Pavilion (3,082) Berkeley, CA
January 25, 2025 5:30 p.m., ESPNU		Miami	W 98–94 OT	11–9 (4–5)	30 – Wilkinson	10 – Sissoko	4 – Campbell	Haas Pavilion (5,169) Berkeley, CA
January 29, 2025 6:00 p.m., ACCN		at SMU	L 65–76	11–10 (4–6)	18 – Petraitis	10 – Petraitis	4 – Wilkinson	Moody Coliseum (5,602) Dallas, TX
February 1, 2025 7:00 p.m., ESPN2		Syracuse	L 66–75	11–11 (4–7)	20 – Tied	8 – Petraitis	2 – Petraitis	Haas Pavilion (5,203) Berkeley, CA
February 5, 2025 8:00 p.m., ACCN		NC State	W 74–62	12–11 (5–7)	18 – Blackshear Jr.	13 – Sissoko	4 – Wilkinson	Haas Pavilion (3,139) Berkeley, CA
February 8, 2025 2:00 p.m., ACCN		Wake Forest	L 66–76	12–12 (5–8)	21 – Wilkinson	10 – Sissoko	3 – Tied	Haas Pavilion (4,562) Berkeley, CA
February 12, 2025 6:00 p.m., ACCN		at No. 3 Duke	L 57–78	12–13 (5–9)	21 – Wilkinson	7 – Ola-Joseph	3 – Tied	Cameron Indoor Stadium (9,314) Durham, NC
February 15, 2025 1:00 p.m., ACCN		at Georgia Tech	L 88–90 OT	12–14 (5–10)	25 – Wilkinson	11 – Sissoko	4 – Tied	McCamish Pavilion (4,648) Atlanta, GA
February 22, 2025 7:00 p.m., ESPN2		at Stanford Rivalry	L 61–66	12–15 (5–11)	19 – Wilkinson	10 – Tied	1 – Tied	Maples Pavilion (6,510) Stanford, CA
February 26, 2025 8:00 p.m., ESPNU		SMU	L 77–81	12–16 (5–12)	20 – Wilkinson	8 – Sissoko	3 – Campbell	Haas Pavilion (4,133) Berkeley, CA
March 1, 2025 7:00 p.m., ESPNU		Boston College	W 82–71	13–16 (6–12)	21 – Sissoko	15 – Sissoko	4 – Tied	Haas Pavilion (5,020) Berkeley, CA
March 5, 2025 6:00 p.m., ACCN		at No. 14 Louisville	L 68–85	13–17 (6–13)	22 – Blacksher Jr.	13 – Sissoko	3 – Blacksher Jr.	KFC Yum! Center (14,442) Louisville, KY
March 8, 2025 1:00 p.m., ACCN		at Notre Dame	L 110–112 4OT	13–18 (6–14)	36 – Wilkinson	13 – Sissoko	5 – Blacksher Jr.	Joyce Center (5,683) South Bend, IN
ACC tournament
March 11, 2025 1:30 p.m., ACCN	(15)	vs. (10) Virginia Tech First round	W 82–73 2OT	14–18	29 – Stojaković	10 – Tied	2 – Tied	Spectrum Center (5,136) Charlotte, NC
March 12, 2025 4:00 p.m., ESPN2	(15)	vs. (7) Stanford Second round, rivalry	L 73–78	14–19	37 – Stojaković	10 – Campbell	4 – Tucker	Spectrum Center (6,620) Charlotte, NC
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Pacific Time.