Cal Sports Report

Cal's Rytis Petraitis Will Face His Former Team in Cal Classic Basketball Event

Petraitis played last season at Air Force, which is the Bears' first opponent in this four-team event this season

Jake Curtis

Rytis Petraitis
Rytis Petraitis / Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports
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Cal forward Rytis Petraitis will get a chance to play against the team he played for last season when the Golden Bears host Air Force on November 21 in their first game of the Cal Classic.

Cal announced the participants in the four-team Cal Classic on Monday, and Sacramento State and Mercyhurst will join Air Force and Cal in the event, which will take place over the course of 10 days.

The Golden Bears will play all three of the other teams at Haas Pavilion in a span of seven days.

Cal will play Air Force in its first game of the event on Thursday, November 21.  The Falcons went 10-22 overall last season and finished last in the Mountain West Conference in 2023-24. Their leading scorer last season was Petraitis, who averaged 15.7 points and 6.3 rebounds as a sophomore for Air Force in 2023-24. He transferred to Cal in the offseason and is expected to be a major part of the Bears’ rotation.

Cal will then host Sacramento State on Sunday, November 24, and will play Mercyhurst on Wednesday, November 27, at Haas Pavilion.

Sacramento State had a 10-24 record last season and finished last in the Big Sky Conference. Mercyhurst went 15-16 last season as a Division II school, but it is making the transition to Division I in 2024-25. The Lakers will be a member of the Northeast Conference but not eligible for NCAA Division I postseason action for four years as part of the change.

Game times and broadcast information for each game of the Cal Classic will be announced at a later date.

Cal is entering its second season under head coach Mark Madsen, and the 2024-25 season will be Cal’s first in the ACC. The Golden Bears lost all five starters from last year’s team, which went 13-19 overall and 9-11 in Pac-12 play, but Cal has added 10 transfers for this season’s squad.

2024 Cal Classic – Schedule

Thursday, Nov. 21 – Cal vs. Air Force

Sunday, Nov. 24 – Cal vs. Sacramento State / Mercyhurst at Air Force

Wednesday, Nov. 27 – Cal vs. Mercyhurst / Sacramento State at Air Force

Saturday, Nov. 30 – Mercyhurst at Sacramento State

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Jake Curtis
JAKE CURTIS

Jake Curtis worked in the San Francisco Chronicle sports department for 27 years, covering virtually every sport, including numerous Final Fours, several college football national championship games, an NBA Finals, world championship boxing matches and a World Cup. He was a Cal beat writer for many of those years, and won awards for his feature stories.

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