Cal Sports Report

Cal Basketball: Penn Grad Transfer Ryan Betley Is Coming to Cal

The Bears have interest in several other players who are transferring

Jake Curtis

Cal Basketball: Penn Grad Transfer Ryan Betley Is Coming to Cal
Cal Basketball: Penn Grad Transfer Ryan Betley Is Coming to Cal /

Cal has added to its backcourt as Ryan Betley, a graduate transfer from Penn who announced on social media that he will transfer to Cal.

As a graduate transfer, the 6-foot-5 Betley will be eligible to play next season. Betley's announcement came the same week that Cal guard Juhwan Harris-Dyson announced that he is entering the transfer portal.

Illinois, Memphis, Hofstra, Vanderbilt and Northeastern were believed to be the other schools Betley was considering before making his transfer choice.

"I wanted to go to a good academic school that had a need for me on the basketball court," Betley said, according to the Daily Pennsylvanian. "Also, I stayed close to home for [my undergraduate studies,] so I wanted to explore a new area of the country in my extra year of eligibility." 

Betley, a resident of Downingtown, Pa., should help Cal's perimeter shooting, but he does not provide the point-guard play Cal coach Mark Fox is hoping to add. Betley even played in the frontcourt when he first came to Penn, so he must be considered a shooting guard or wing player for the Bears.

Betley is No. 00 in these highlights:

,

Betley played three seasons for Penn, but he redshirted his junior year because he sat out that season with an injury. He played in 74 games, including 70 starts, at Penn and averaged 12.8 points and 5.1 rebounds per game for his career. He shot 38.3 percent from three-point range. That is important because Cal made just 160 three-pointers last season, which was the fewest in the Pac-12 and among the fewest in the country.

He made the 10th most three-point baskets in Penn men's basketball history.

This past season, Betley started all 22 games in which he played, missing five games because of injury. He averaged 11.6 points and 5.8 rebounds while making 36.0 percent of his three-point attempts.

His best season was the 2017-18 season, when he was Penn's leading scorer, averaging 14.3 points and hitting 39.1 percent of his shots from beyond the arc. He was named to the second-team All-Ivy League squad that year when the Quakers finished with a 24-9 record, including 12-2 in the Ivy League, and played in the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2007.

The next season he played just one game before suffered a ruptured patellar tendon in his right knee in the season opener against George Mason.

With the addition of Betley, Cal has two scholarships still available for next season. Fox no doubt hopes to add a point guard.

Among the possible transfers who seem to have interest in Cal is Western Michigan guard Michael Flowers, who acknowledged in this story that he is interested in Cal:

Fresno State's Jarred Hyder is also among those Cal is in contact with:

Hawaii transfer Drew Buggs:

And Northeastern transfer Maxime Boursiquot:

Cal also had interest in Georgia Southern's Quan Jackson, but apparently he has committed to UAB:

Content is unavailable

Cal went 14-18 in Fox first season as head coach, but the Bears were 12-5 at home.

If Cal can establish itself as a Pac-12 contender, the crowds at Haas Pavilion will grow, and Mark Fox said last season the crowd plays a big role in Cal's success at home:

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.

Home/Basketball