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Basketball Season Has Arrived: Cal Men & Women Open Monday at Haas
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- Basketball Season Has Arrived: Cal Men & Women Open Monday at Haas
Cal point guard Jordan Ross | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
The Cal men's and women's basketball teams will open their seasons Monday in a doubleheader at Haas Pavilion.
The men tip off at 5 p.m. against Adams State, a Division II program from Alamosa, Colo., picked to finish ninth in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference.
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The Cal women's game against former Pac-12 rival Washington State is scheduled for 7 p.m., but likely will go off somewhat later than that.
Anyone who purchases a ticket for the women's game will be admitted free to the men's contest.
Mark Madsen's men are coming off a 22-12 season a year ago, the program's highest win total since 2015-16, which was also the most recent year the Bears played in the NCAA tournament.
"We're looking to add to that," Madsen said. "We're going to play faster at times. We're going to play a more exciting brand of basketball. I think this is probably the deepest team we've had."
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The Bears lost their top four scorers from a year ago. And although they return nine players, that group combined to provide less than 15 percent of the team's scoring output.
Senior center Lee Dort, who averaged 8.1 points and 7.8 rebounds last season, is questionable to play Monday while he rehabs a sprained ankle. Madsen called him "day to day."
The Bears brought in nine new players, including five transfers. Point guard Jordan Ross, shooting guard Nojus Indrusaitis and forward Jake Wilkins - the sophomore son of Hall of Famer Dominique Wilkins - are projected starters.
Ross, who played his first two seasons at Saint Mary's College before spending last year at Georgia, likes the Bears' versatility. "I think we've got a lot of different pieces," he said. "You never really know until you roll out the carpet and get playing."
Jake Wilkins dunks last season while playing at Georgia. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Asked which newcomer jumps out, 7-foot junior returnee DK Dut offered, "Jake Wilkins jumps out. Pretty self-explanatory."
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The Bears got little respect in the preseson ACC media poll, landing at No. 15 in the 18-team conference. Madsen, beginning his fourth season as Cal coach, is encouraged by what he's seen from his squad so far.
"I'm really excited about our team. From the time we started in June, we've come a long way," he said. "The players have really started learning how each other plays. We've got good guard play, we've got some really good bigs, we've got shooting, we have a lot of the pieces to be a very, very good team this year."
The Bears were 9-9 in the ACC last season, including a win over North Carolina and a regular-season sweep of Stanford. But Cal missed a possible NCAA bid after losing to Florida State in its conference tournament opener and dropping a second-round NIT game to St. Joseph's at Hass.
"We had a good season last year," Dut said, "but how it ended it's geared to what can we do now to make sure that when we get back to that same position we make sure we win."
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Cal's non-conference schedule includes a matchup next Sunday at Lake Tahoe against preseason No. 10 Houston. The Bears also will face No. 21 USC and No. 24 Vanderbilt, along with Minnesota and Utah.
Lulu Twidale | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Coach Charmin Smith's Cal women put their 19-game home win streak against non-conference opponents on the line against WSU. Cal was 21-15 a year ago and 25-9 in 2024-25, when it most recently qualified for the NCAA tournament.
The Bears return four starters from a year ago, including senior guard Lulu Twidale, a preseason All-ACC selection and one of 50 players named to the Naismith Women's Player of the Year watch list. The Bears are picked 10th in the ACC.
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Washington State was just 9-25 a year ago following three straight seasons of at least 20 victories. This will be the 81st meeting of the programs, but the first as non-conference opponents.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/cal as Basketball Season Has Arrived: Cal Men & Women Open Monday at Haas .
