Cal Basketball: How Do Bears' Transfers Stack Up in the Pac-12?

We rank each conference school's incoming transfers based on ESPN rating

How much will Cal’s two transfers help, and how do they stack up against the other Pac-12 transfers?

Well, we won’t know for sure until the 2020-21 season plays out, assuming there is a 2020-21 basketball season.

However, ESPN.com ranks this year’s top transfers, and both of Cal’s incoming transfers—Jarred Hyder, who played for Fresno State last season, and Ryan Betley, who was a member of Penn’s team this past season—are among the ranked transfers.

Betley is ranked No. 41 among graduate transfers, who are eligible to compete immediately for their new team.

ESPN had this to say about Betley:

Betley made his transfer plans known before the season but didn't enter the portal until the campaign ended. Averaged double figures all three healthy seasons with the Quakers, including 11.6 points and 5.8 rebounds this season.

Hyder, who was a starter at Fresno State as a freshman in 2019-20, is ranked 38th among players who must sit out a season before becoming eligible at their new school. It’s possible Hyder may be eligible for this coming season, though, because the NCAA is expected to vote on a proposal to allow transfer students in football and basketball to play immediately. That vote could come on May 20, although it could be delayed until January, according to Forbes magazine. 

The NCAA report on the April 24 meeting seems ambiguous:

The Council discussed recommendations from the Transfer Waiver Working Group, which has recommended that waiver guidelines be changed to allow first-time four-year transfers in all sports the ability to compete immediately. While the group didn’t take a vote on the recommendations, it provided valuable feedback with regard to timing and uncertainty related to the COVID-19 pandemic and could vote on the guidelines changes next month. It also recommended the Division I Board of Directors lift the moratoriam it placed on transfer legislation last fall in order for the Council to vote on the legislative concept in January 2021.  

If the proposal is approved in May, Hyder could play for Cal in 2020-21. If approval does not come until January, it’s difficult to know what that would mean for Hyder.

ESPN said this about Hyder:

Cut his list to five schools fairly quickly: California, Saint Mary's, Washington State, BYU and Missouri. Averaged 9.1 points and 3.1 assists as a freshman and has three years left

There are four kinds of transfers: grad transfers, who are eligible immediately; transfers who must sit out the coming season (assuming the rule change is not implemented), transfers who are eligible this season after sitting out last season, and mid-year transfers, who become eligible midway through this coming season. 

(A list of players who have transferred away from Pac-12 schools this year is provided at the end of this story.)

So how do Cal’s two incoming transfers measure up relative to the rest of the Pac-12?

Not all the transfers have chosen a new school yet, but of those who have, here is how it breaks down for the Pac-12, with our ranking of the teams that benefited most:

1. Arizona

No. 6 grad transfer Terrell Brown, point guard from Seattle. Averaged 20.7 points, 6.2 rebounds and 4.9 assists.

Terrell Brown - Photo by Neville E Guard, USA TODAY Sports

No. 1 midyear-eligible transfer James Akinjo, point guard from Georgetown. Three years of eligibility left. Big East Freshman of the Year averaged 13.4 points and 4.4 assists

No. 6 sit-out transfer eligible 2020-21 Jordan Brown, forward from Nevada. Three years of eligibility left. McDonald’s high school All-American who averaged 3.0 points and 2.1 rebounds at Nevada.

.

2. Oregon

No. 14 grad transfer Amauri Hardy, guard from UNLV. Averaged 14.5 points, 3.3 rebounds and 3.3 assists

Amauri Hardy - Photo by Kirby Lee, USA TODAY Sports

No. 8 sit-out transfer eligible 2020-21 Erik Williams, forward from Duquesne. Two years of eligibility left. Averaged 14.0 points, 7.6 rebounds.

No. 11 sit-out transfer eligible 2020-21 Eugene Omoruyi, forward from Rutgers. One year of eligibility left. Averaged 13.8 points and 7.2 rebounds

No. 31 one-year sit-out transfer eligible 2021-22 Aaron Estrada, guard from St. Peter’s. Three years of eligibility left. MAAC Rookie of the Year and averaged 8.1 points and 2.5 rebounds.

.

3. USC

No. 23 grad transfer Isaiah White, forward from Utah Valley. Averaged 14.5 points and 8.4 rebounds.

No. 24 grad transfer Chevez Goodwin, forward from Wofford. Averaged 11.9 points, 6.2 rebounds, 1.1 blocks.

Chevez Goodwin - Photo by Rob Kinnan, USA TODAY Sports

No. 29 grad transfer Tahj Eaddy, guard from Santa Clara. Averaged 9.1 points and 2.1 assists this past season, but averaged 15.0 points the previous season.

No. 19 one-year sit-out transfer eligible 2021-22 Joshua Morgan, center from Long Beach State. Three years of eligibility left. Defensive Player of the Year in the Big West, and averaged 8.4 points, 6.1 rebounds and 2.5 blocks

.

4. Arizona State

No. 10 one-year sit-out transfer eligible 2021-22 Luther Muhammad, guard from Ohio State. Two years of eligibility left. Averaged 7.0 points, started 56 games in two seasons.

Luther Muhammad - Photo by Joseph Maiorana, USA TODAY Sports

No. 15 one-year sit-out transfer eligible 2021-22 Holland Woods, guard from Portland State. One year of eligibility left. Averaged 17.7 points and 5.2 assists, first-team all-conference

.

5. UCLA

No. 7 one-year sit-out transfer eligible 2021-22 Johnny Juzang, guard from Kentucky. Three years of eligibility left. Played little at Kentucky and Picked UCLA over Arizona, Notre Dame, Oregon, Texas Tech and Villanova.

Johnny Juzang - Photo by Mark Zerof, USA TODAY Sports

.

6. Colorado

No. 18 grad transfer Jeriah Horne, forward from Tulsa. Averaged 11.1 points and 5.2 rebounds land made 56 3-pointers

Jeriah Horne (41) - Photo by Aaron Doster, USA TODAY Sports

.

7. Washington

No. 12 one-year sit-out transfer eligible 2021-22 Erik Stevenson, guard from Wichita State. Two years of eligibility left. Averaged 11.1 points and 4.7 rebounds

Erik Stevenson - Photo by Rob Ferguson, USA TODAY Sports

No. 33 sit-out transfer eligible 2020-21 J’Raan Brooks, forward from USC. Three years of eligibility left. Averaged 2.0 points and 1.3 rebounds.

.

8. Cal

No. 41 grad transfer Ryan Betley, guard from Penn

No. 38 one-year sit-out transfer eligible 2021-22 Jarred Hyder, guard from Fresno State.

.

9. Oregon State

Outside top 50 one-year sit-out transfer eligible 2021-22 Warith Alatishe, forward from Nichols. Two years of eligibility left. Averaged 10.9 points, 8.3 rebounds

.

10. Stanford

No ranked transfers yet

.

10. Washington State

No ranked transfers yet

.

10. Utah

No ranked transfers yet

.

You will note that all three players who transferred from Cal following the 2018-19 season are eligible to play this coming season: Justice Sueing (Ohio State), Darius McNeill (SMU) and Connor Vanover (Arkansas).

Pac-12 schools lost a lot of transfers too. Here is a list of the players who transferred from Pac-12 schools this year, with the school to which the player transferred in parenthesis, if he has decided.

.

USC

Elijah Weaver (?)

Charles O’Bannon Jr. (TCU)

Kyle Sturdivant (Georgia Tech)

.

Arizona State

Andre Allen (Southern)

Kyle Feit (?)

Khalid Thomas (Portland State)

Elias Valtonen (?)

.

Cal

Juhwan Harris-Dyson )(?)

Jacobi Gordon (?)

.

Arizona

Jake Desjardins (?)

Devonaire Doutrive (Boise State)

.

Washington

Elijah Harkless (Portland State)

Quin Barnard (?)

.

Colorado

Daylen Kountz (Northern Colorado)

Jakub Dombek (?)

Frank Ryder (?)

.

UCLA

Shareef O’Neal (LSU)

.

Oregon

Francis Okoro (Saint Louis)

.

Washington State

Daron Henson (?)

.

Stanford

Kodye Pugh (Loyola Marymount)

Isaac White (California Baptist)

.

Utah

Matthew van Komen (Saint Mary’s)

.

Oregon State

Payton Dastrup (Benedictine)

.

Follow Jake Curtis of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jakecurtis53

Click the "follow" button in the top right corner to join the conversation on Cal Sports Report on SI. Access and comment on featured stories and start your own conversations and post external links on our community page.