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Chris Meaney
The Pac-12 doesn’t get a whole lot of respect in college basketball lately, but that’s the conference’s own fault, as it’s been a fairly pathetic conference over the last couple of seasons. Many of the teams took advantage of the largest transfer portal ever, and we will see a lot of new faces this season. There will be plenty of hype surrounding the UCLA Bruins after their unlikely final four run last year while teams like Oregon, Arizona and USC try to gain relevance once more. There is plenty of excitement surrounding the WSU Cougars and their juicy roster, but the amount of projected bottom feeders could lead to another disappointing season for the Pac-12.
Nevertheless, there will be firepower on each of these rosters and Pac-12 Thursday DFS slates tend to be some of the most chaotic of the week. Let’s break down each team and identify the players to watch for this upcoming season.
In this one, California.
(Check out our full college basketball season preview!)
California Golden Bears 2021-2022 Season Preview
2020-2021 record: 9-20 (3-17 Pac-12), 12th (last) in Pac-12
Postseason: None
Key Departures | California Golden Bears
- Matt Bradley (transferred to SDSU)
- Ryan Betley (graduated)
Key Additions | California Golden Bears
- Jordan Shepherd (transferred from Charlotte)
Returners | California Golden Bears
- Andre Kelly (10.3 PPG/6.4 RPG)
- Grant Anticevich (8.9 PPG/4.5 RPG)
- Joel Brown (5.2 PPG)
- Jarred Hyder (5.4 PPG)
- Makale Foreman (7.2 PPG)
- Lars Thiemann (2.9 PPG)
- Jalen Celestine (2.8 PPG)
- Kuany Kuany (2.3 PPG)
California Golden Bears Outlook for 2021-2022
This team has been struggling for years since Cuonzo Martin bolted for Missouri and Wyking Jones never found his footing. Mark Fox is trying his best to turn things around but they’re in for another rough year. Do-it-all player Matt Bradley is gone and that’s going to hurt worse than Cal fans would like to admit.
They do bring in Jordan Shepherd who put up a solid 11.9 PPG/3.5 RPG/2.9 APG/1.4 SPG during his last season with Charlotte and will be the prime candidate to step into the high usage role left by Bradley. Your breakout candidate here is sophomore Jalen Celestine who flashed upside a few times last year.
Grant Anticevich and Andre Kelly are really the only other two players worth talking about for fantasy purposes right now, as they will do most of the heavy lifting at the forward positions. Anticevich is at his best as a stretch 4 while Kelly does damage down low. He is a bit undersized at 6-foot-8, but he’s tough as nails.
(Check out our rankings of the top 100 teams and top 100 players for men’s college basketball in 2021-2022.)
Summary
The cupboard has been bare for years, but Mark Fox is hoping to turn things around and get things moving in the right direction again. There isn’t a lot to like for DFS just yet, but Grant Anticevich, Andre Kelly and Jordan Shepherd will be the relevant players on the Bears.
