New-look Cal opens season with optimism against Adams State

California hopes to continue the upward trajectory of the Mark Madsen era when the Golden Bears tip off the 2026-27 basketball season Monday night in Berkeley, Calif., with a nonconference game against Division II Adams State of Colorado.

Cal, a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference, has improved from 13 to 14 to 22 wins since Madsen took over a team that had gone 3-29 in 2022-23.

Most of the heavy lifting in the surge has been done by transfers, and Madsen is counting upon that to occur again this season, when his roster no longer includes last year's four leading scorers.

The top returner is center Lee Dort, who will be playing his third year at Cal after beginning his college career at Vanderbilt. Dort led the Golden Bears in rebounding last season at 7.8 per game to complement 8.1 points, the most among Cal returners.

Nojus Indrusaitis, who played last season at Pittsburgh, was the hero of Cal's exhibition win over Loyola Marymount on Oct. 18 with a game-winning 3-pointer. Sammie Yeanay, formerly of Grand Canyon, and Jordan Ross, imported from Georgia, combined with Indrusaitis for 52 points in an exhibition loss to Oregon State on Oct. 24.

"Our group is going to be strong," Madsen said at ACC media day in early October. "The message to the team is: Yes, we had a good season last year. But we have to take care of all the steps and do all the things that can, hopefully, allow us to surpass that in the coming year."

Adams State is a member of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. The Grizzlies went 18-11 last season. The contest against the Golden Bears is an exhibition game for the Grizzlies.

The Grizzlies played a Division I school last season when they lost 83-72 at New Mexico State. That game also served as an exhibition contest for Adams State.

Adams State lost its top four scorers to graduation, including Wyatt Helming, an RMAC first-team honoree last season. Emilek Jallow, who averaged 9.0 points per game, is the team's top returning scorer.

"He has an unrelenting motor and extraordinary skill set for his frame," Adams State coach Kenny Tripp said of Jallow, a 6-foot-6 junior forward. "Last season, not one student-athlete impacted the game defensively in this conference more than Em."

--Field Level Media