Cal Basketball: Bears Land Point Guard Christian Tucker From UTSA
Cal landed its likely starting point guard for next season with a commitment from Christian Tucker of Texas-San Antonio.
A 6-foot-3, 178-pound native of Chandler, Arizona, Tucker announced plans to join the Bears on social media on Saturday.
Tucker averaged 11.3 points, 5.4 assists, 2.9 rebounds and 1.1 steals as a junior last season for UTSA. His assist average ranked 34th nationally and second in the American Athletic Conference.
Tucker becomes the fourth scholarship player to commit to Cal coach Mark Madsen, joining guard DJ Campbell of Western Carolina, center Lee Dort of Vanderbilt and forward B.J.Omot of North Dakota.
The Bears went 9-11 in Pac-12 play in Madsen’s debut season, but all five starters from that squad have departed as the team prepares to enter the Atlantic Coast Conference next season.
Leading scorer and all-conference wing Jaylon Tyson entered the NBA draft, Fardaws Aimaq, Jalen Cone and Keonte Kennedy played out their college eligibility and junior wing Jalen Celestine went into the transfer portal.
Also exiting via transfer were Grant Newell, Rodney Brown, Devin Askew and ND Okafor.
Tucker brings experience to the Bears with 87 games played over three seasons, including 44 starts. He averaged 6.8 points and 2.8 assists during his stint at UTSA.
He had 12 points and 14 assists vs. Tulsa this season, 19 points and 12 assists vs. Florida Atlantic and 13 points and 11 assists vs Lamar for an 11-21 team whose coach was dismissed at season’s end.
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