Cal's Mark Madsen Excited to Have Jovan Blacksher Jr. On His Side

The Grand Canyon transfer was a thorn in Madsen's side during their time as WAC rivals

Jovan Blacksher Jr. / Patrick Breen/The Republic / USA TODAY

Cal basketball coach Mark Madsen sounds excited to have Jovan Blacksher Jr. on his side after competing against him for three seasons in the Western Athletic Conference.

Blacksher, who who announced his verbal commitment to Cal early last month, officially signed with the Bears on Monday as a transfer from Grand Canyon University.

Madsen, beginning his second season at Cal, previously competed against Blacksher and GCU in the WAC during his time as coach at Utah Valley.

“I've seen firsthand just how competitive Jovan is and the playmaking abilities that he can bring to a team,” Madsen said.

Blacksher had games of 23 points and six assists and 15 points and five assists in wins over Madsen’s UVU teams during the 2021-22 season.

“Jovan plays winning basketball and will directly impact not just our success on the court, but our program’s culture as a whole,” Madsen said. “He’s unselfish and will create opportunities for his teammates, he’s proven to be a tremendous defender and he shot 41.9% from 3-point range last season.

“We’re excited to have Jovan and his family as Golden Bears.”

In four games against Madsen’s UVU squads in 2020-21 and ’21-22, Blacksher averaged 14.8 points and 6.3 assists, leading GCU to three wins.

A native of Oakland who moved to the Phoenix area before entering high school, has one year of eligibility at Cal as a graduate student. 

The 2022-23 WAC Preseason Player of the Year, Blacksher suffered a knee injury on Jan. 5, 2023 that kept him sidelined for almost a year. He recently was granted a sixth year of eligibility through a medical hardship waiver.

The 5-foot-11, 165-pounder was twice a first-team All-WAC selection. He played on three NCAA tournament teams with the Lopes and averaged 11.0 points, 3.5 assists, 3.2 rebounds and 1.4 steals in 123 career games that included 107 victories.

His best season came in 2021-22, as a junior, when he averaged a career-best 15.8 points and set Grand Canyon’s NCAA Division I single-season steals record (53) while securing All-WAC first team and NABC All-District 6 second-team honors.

In 2019-20, Blacksher was named WAC Freshman of the Year after being the only freshman in the country to total at least 300 points, 150 rebounds and 100 assists.

Blacksher led Shadow Mountain High School to four consecutive Arizona state titles (2016-19) prior to enrolling at Grand Canyon.