Cal transfer Monty Bowser Signs with North Arizona

Oakland product Bowser moves to Big Sky basketball conference after spending four years at Cal
Cal Golden Bears forward Monty Bowser shoots over an Arizona State defender in 2023
Cal Golden Bears forward Monty Bowser shoots over an Arizona State defender in 2023 / Neville E. Guard-USA TODAY Sports

Monty Bowser, who started 12 games in his four seasons at Cal before entering the transfer portal, has signed with Northern Arizona, according to the Lumberjacks official twitter site.

The 6-foot-6 Bowser is a grad transfer who will join a Northern Arizona team that went 14-19 overall and 7-11 in the Big Sky Conference in 2023-24.

Bowser attended Oakland’s Bishop O’Dowd High School before joining the Cal program for the 2020-21 season. He played in 17 games (no starts) as a freshman, and averaged 0.8 points.  He did not play in any games the next season because of injuries, and he received a medical redshirt.

His playing time increased in 2022-23, when he played in 32 games, including eight starts, and averaged 3.8 points and 1.3 rebounds in Mark Fox’s final season as the Bears head coach.

In 2023-24, in Mark Madsen’s first year as Cal’s head coach, Bowser played in 10 games, including four starts, and took just eight shots from the floor for the season, making one. He was also 1-for-6 on three-point attempts.

Bowser was one of a number of Cal players who entered the transfer portal after the 2023-24 season. Jalen Celestine transferred to Baylor; ND Okafor moved on to Washington State; Grant Newell transferred to North Texas; Devin Askew went to Long Beach State, and Rodney Brown Jr. transferred to Virginia Tech.

Follow Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jakecurtis53

Find Cal Sports Report on Facebook by going to https://www.facebook.com/si.calsportsreport


Published
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.