Cal Sports Report

Cal's Grant Newell, ND Okafor Enter Transfer Portal

Neither was a regular starter this season, but Newell was a starter in 2022-23 and he has entered the portal

Jake Curtis

Cal's Grant Newell, ND Okafor Enter Transfer Portal
Cal's Grant Newell, ND Okafor Enter Transfer Portal /
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Two more Cal basketball players -- Grant Newell and ND Okafor -- entered the transfer portal, according to various reports.

Rivals.com confirmed that Newell has entered the transfer portal, but several sites confirmed Okoafor has entered the portal. Devin Askew has also entered the transfer portal, according to virtually every site that tracks the transfer portal.

Newell started 28 games for Cal as a freshman in 2022-23, and he averaged 8.0 points and 3.9 rebounds that season for a Golden Bears squad that went 3-29.

Newell became a key player off the bench for Cal in 2023-24, when the four transfers first-year coach Mark Madsen brought in bumped him out of the starting lineup.

The 6-foot-9 Newell was in Cal's starting lineup for the 2023-24 opener when two of those transfers were unable to play, but he became the Bears' sixth man when all the transfers became eligible and were healthy enough to play.  Newell ended up starting 11 games, and played in all 32 games for the Bears, who finished with a 13-19 mark.  He averaged 5.9 points and 3.2 rebounds this season.

The 6-foot-9 Okafor was penciled in to be Cal's backup at center this season behind Fardaws Aimaq.  Okafor played in nine games this past season, all off the bench, and averaged 1.9 points, 1.7 rebounds and 7.0 minutes of playing time in those nine games.  

His final game was a December 9 game against Butler before he was sidelined for the rest of the season with a knee injury.

As a freshman in 2022-23, Okafor started two games and played off the bench in 28 other games. He averaged 3.7 points and 2.5 rebounds as a freshman.

Cover photo of Grant Newell by Kyle Terada, USA Sports

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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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