Cal Basketball: Top-100 Recruit Jamal Mashburn Jr. Chooses Minnesota Over Cal

Bears and Mark Fox come in second best on 2020 guard recruit

Jamal Mashburn Jr., a top-100 recruit in the class of 2020, has given a verbal commitment to Minnesota after seriously considering Cal. 

Mashburn, the son of former NBA player Jamal Mashburn Sr., had considered offers from Auburn, Georgetown, Saint Louis and Cal, and he told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune earlier this month, “It’s just down to Cal and Minnesota.”

The addition of Jamal Mashburn Jr means that Richard Pitino has landed a 4-star top 100 level player in each of his last 6 recruiting classes. The addition of Mashburn & Martice Mitchell give Pitno a pair of top 150 rated recruits in 5 of the last 6 recruiting cycles. pic.twitter.com/lxSEXZQwjO

— Ryan James (@RyanJamesMN) October 14, 2019

Minnesota coach Richard Pitino may have had the inside track on the younger Mashburn, because Jamal Mashburn Sr. played for Rick Pitino (Richard’s father) at Kentucky for three years in the early 1990s.

Mashburn Jr. took an official visit to Cal the weekend of Sept. 27 and had an official visit to Minnesota the weekend of Oct. 5. He was scheduled to visit Wake Forest, but he canceled that trip.

“I had a gut feeling that I was supposed to be there, that’s where I wanted to play at and that’s where I wanted to be,” Mashburn Jr. told 247 Sports. “I built a great relationship with Richard [Pitino] and a great relationship with the coaching staff and I fit with what they’re trying to do and I fit in to what I’m trying to do which is trying to be a professional basketball player.”

Had Mashburn Jr. chosen Cal, he would have been the highest rated recruit to commit to the Bears since Mark Fox became head coach.

Mashburn is 6-2 combo guard from Miami who is attending Brewster Academy this year.

He is ranked as the nation’s 88th-best recruit and 10th-best shooting guard prospect in the class by 247 Sports. ESPN ranked Mashburn No. 97 overall among the recruits in that class.

Mashburn’s best sill is outside shooting, something every team needs, especially now that the three-point line will more more than a foot farther from the basket this season.

He averaged more than 20 points per game over his high school career.

Cal will rely heavily on newcomers in Fox’s first season as the Bears’ head coach. Cal opens the regular season Nov. 5 with a home game against Pepperdine.

The Bears have six freshmen as well as graduate transfer Kareem South on the roster this season. The Bears were picked to finish last in the Pac-12 in the preseason coaches poll.