Cal Basketball: Transfer Guard DeJuan Clayton Expects the Bears to Win This Season

Aware of the program's recent record, he says, `Didn't scare me, didn't change anything.'

New Cal guard DeJuan Clayton, joining his third college team in seven seasons at the age of 25, has plans for his one and only season at Berkeley.

“I expect us to win this year,” he said, “and I expect to play a big role, a big part and be a leader of the team.”

Clayton, who spent five years at Coppin State and played two games at Hartford last season before suffering a should injury, was aware of Cal’s recent woes before signing this spring.

“I looked at their record,” he said, referring to the fact that the Bears’ 12-20 record last season was their fifth straight losing season. “Didn’t scare me, didn’t change anything. Just figured we had work to do.”

Clayton, a 6-foot-2 native of Bowie, Maryland, is among what coach Mark Fox hopes is a four-man group of newcomers bolstering the Cal roster this season. Forwards ND Okafor and Grant Newell are freshmen, and the Bears still are waiting for junior guard Devin Askew - a former four-star prospect who spent one season each at Kentucky and Texas — to receive transfer eligibility from the NCAA.

DeJuan Clayton drives to the basket against Virginia Tech / Photo by Michael Shroyer, USA Today

The Bears’ top three scorers from a year ago are gone, and Clayton is the highest-scoring grad transfer the program has landed, a 1,500-point scorer who also dished 425 assists during his time at Coppin.

“I can definitely score the ball, I can playmake,” he said. “Whatever the team needs, I’m happy to provide.”

Returnee Joel Brown, who started 24 games at point guard last season, is a slick ballhandler, a strong defender and a capable passer. But he averaged just 4.8 points a year ago and is not a good shooter from the perimeter or the free-throw line.

Askew, if he becomes eligible as the coaching staff expects, also plays point.

If that means Fox suddenly has too many options at the position, it’s a problem he likely would welcome.

Clayton averaged 14.9 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 5.1 assists in 2020-21, leading Coppin to the MEAC regular-season title.

His role has evolved since his days at St. John’s College High School in Washington D.C. He was among three point guards on that league championship team, taking a backseat to Anthony Cowan and Jeff Dowtin, who went on to play at Maryland and Rhode Island, respectively, and both now are pros.

“For me, it was just finding my niche with those guys. I was primarily a defender back then. Translated my game to catch and shoot,” said Clayton, who averaged just 7.9 points as a high school senior. “Then the I got to Coppin and I translated to a primary point guard, which was tough for me. The ball was in my hands. But being a natural scorer, it was easy for me to playmake and score at the same time.”

So Clayton has become comfortable playing the role of scoring point guard “I think it’s perfect for me,” he said.

Coppin was the only Division I school that offered Clayton a scholarship and he says it helped him that he played at Coppin for Juan Dixon, who led Maryland to the 2002 national championship and later played seven NBA seasons.

“I learned everything. Juan Dixon was more than a coach, he was a mentor for me,” Clayton says in the video above. “He taught me a lot with being a leader, my pace, and how to balance scoring with being a playmaker making teammates happy.”

Coppin struggled outside of MEAC play during those years, going 4-47 in November and December in games Clayton played. The Eagles often were in over their heads in non-conference play against the likes of BYU, Utah, Georgetown, Oregon, Cincinnati, UConn, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Virginia, Miami and Duke.

“It was tough for us playing a lot of high-majors every year,” Clayton said. “As the years went by we definitely got better and got closer and closer.”

Now he’ll get the chance to play against that level opponent on a regular basis. He said he chose Cal because Fox and assistant coach Chris Harriman “treated me like a man and told me they love what I brought to the table. Told me they’d let me be myself and let me play my game.”

Clayton said he likes his new teammates and the work ethic they are showing daily in workouts.

“I definitely feel like we come in with a chip on our shoulder even though it’s the summer,” he said, “knowing we have work to do and knowing we have a possibility to be good this year.”

And if that happens?

“It’d be great for me, because it’s kind of what I expect.”

Cover photo of DeJuan Clayton by Gary Breedlove

Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo