Cal Basketball: Jerome Randle Happy to End His Playing Days in Africa

The Bears' scoring king says his 2020 knee injury and the Ukraine war changed things.

This was going to be Jerome Randle’s final season as an international professional basketball player, and his options included Spain.

“I had an opportunity to play in the best league in Europe. But I wanted a different type of experience for this last year,” Randle says in the video atop this story. “I’m glad that I decided to come here and not go play in Spain.”

The former Cal star point guard has spent time playing in Turkey, Israel, Ukraine, Belgium, Australia, Lithuania, France, Germany, Russia and Spain. Now, two months shy of his 36th birthday, Randle opted for Africa.

Jerome Randle

He plays for US Monastir of Tunisia in the Basketball Africa League, a joint venture between the NBA and FIBA — the sport’s international body — whose aim is to develop the game on the African continent. This early portion of the season, with five games of pool play, has Randle at Dakar, the coastal city and capital of Senegal.

Asked about the league, Randle said, “I love the route they’re going. This is their third season. I only think it’s going to get better as time goes on.”

Randle averaged 15.5 points and a league-best 8.5 assists through the team’s first two games, both victories. Update: Randle scored 25 points and dished five assists on Friday, but Monastir lost 90-74 to Abidjan Basket Club. Randle is now averaging 18.7 points and 7.3 assists.

After professional stops across the globe, Randle has enjoyed his first-ever trek to Africa.

“Pretty cool, man. It’s the people. They’re nice and they want to do for you,” he said. “Everyone has a positive type of energy around here. The hospitality is really at a high level.

“Africa for me right now, it’s a great experience. I thought about coming over here to see my people and see how they interact with me and everybody else. It’s pretty fun.”

Randle has mixed feelings as he heads toward retirement as a player, as he explains in the video above.

“Of course I’m going to miss it. I’ll miss every bit of it,” he said. “But I got tired of working out. It’s sad that me, Jerome Randle, I’m in that head space that I don’t feel like I have anything to play for, to be honest.”

It’s not the games that have worn down Randle.

“I can just feel that I’m mentally fatigued with everything that comes with basketball. Once I’m on the court, I feel at home, I feel safe,” he explained. “Once I come off the court, man, I’ve got to get up and do the same thing. I’m there. I’m in that space now where I feel like it’s probably time.”

The past several years have thrown major obstacles in Randle’s path. He sustained a torn ACL in 2020 and last spring was forced to come back to the U.S. while playing for Ukraine’s national team in Spain — just as Russia invaded Ukraine.

“Mentally, things I really gone downhill since 2020 when I tore my ACL. Things really haven’t been the same,” he said.

Even coming off the knee injury, Randle said he was optimistic about his career path  before the Ukraine-Russia conflict began.

“For me, the opportunities are not the same as they used to be. Last year was big for me, as far as financially, in Ukraine after the injury,” he said. “Then the war hit. People are not really getting the opportunity to see me play. They keep asking about my knee. It kind of pushes teams away, to see if I’m the same type of player.

“It just kind of put things in perspective that maybe it is time to just walk away from the game. The overseas market is not the same anymore.”

Randle gained dual citizenship in Ukraine in 2014 and developed friends through the national team. But last summer, while going through a divorce at home, Randle was a reluctant to return to Europe.

“They didn’t understand that. They was upset that I didn’t come when they wanted me to come. That put a bad taste in their mouth and that’s why I didn’t compete with the team.” Randle said. “Just looking at the whole dynamics of things and how it’s all starting to unfold, I just don’t have the patience for it anymore.”

Cover photo of Jerome Randle by Julien Bacot, Basketball Africa

Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo