NCAA Basketball: Top 25 early winners from 2023 offseason moves
By Joey Loose
12. California
The Golden Bears have been one of the nation’s worst power conference programs in recent years and that’s no exaggeration. California has been under .500 in each of the last six seasons and really hit rock bottom last year, finishing just 3-29 and alone at the bottom of the Pac-12 standings. Head coach Mark Fox was cast aside and new head man Mark Madsen has the Golden Bears trending in a good direction again.
Madsen is a Stanford grad with NBA experience who was solid the last four seasons as head coach at Utah Valley. The work ahead in making the Golden Bears competitive will not be easy, but he’s winning the respect early. He’s landed two major pieces in the Transfer Portal in center Fardaws Aimaq of Texas Tech (who starred under him at Utah Valley) and Jalen Cone, a valuable guard from Northern Arizona who was good for 17.6 points a game last year. California also gets a few pieces back from last year’s roster, most notably Devin Askew.
California is not going to turn into a successful program overnight but they are making the right moves to get back on track. The Golden Bears get a couple of vital pieces in the Transfer Portal and also add a few intriguing freshman onto the roster too. Most importantly, Madsen brings a breath of fresh air to a program that’s been abysmal in recent years. Can Madsen be the guy who turns things around in Berkeley?