Cal Sports Report

Stanford transfer Andrej Stojakovic Commits to Cal

Stojakovic is among the top rated players in the transfer portal and he is coming to Cal

Jake Curtis

Mar 7, 2024; Stanford, California, USA; Stanford Cardinal guard Andrej Stojakovic (2) dribbles the
Mar 7, 2024; Stanford, California, USA; Stanford Cardinal guard Andrej Stojakovic (2) dribbles the / Neville E. Guard-USA TODAY Sports

Stanford transfer Andrej Stojakovic, one of the top rated players available in the transfer portal, has committed to Cal, according to multiple reports. North Carolina, Kentucky, Michigan and Cal were the finalists for Stojakovic's services, and Cal coach Mark Madsen was able to beat out that high-caliber competition to land the 6-foot-7 Stojakovic, who is the son of former NBA standout Peja Stojakovic.

"It was just the overall transparency from Coach Madsen and his staff," Stojakovic said, according to ESPN.com. "We had many conversations about a development plan, what me at Cal could look like. Just overall, the consistency with them recruiting me, spending time with myself and my family."

Madsen met with Stojakovic and his family soon after Stojakovic entered the ransfer portal in mid-March.

"I didn't know him at all. My dad didn't know him personally. He came to the house that same week I entered the portal," Stojakovic told ESPN.com. "The stories and experiences he was able to share with my dad the first time meeting, we kind of bonded over each other's goals. What he wants to accomplish for his team, but his vision for myself. He truly believes in me, the staff truly believes in me. That's all someone like me could ask for."

Stojakovic said he was impressed with what Madsen had done with Jaylon Tyson, who had been a decent player at Texas Tech but is now a possible first-round pick in the upcoming NBA draft after a year under Madsen at Cal.

"What they did with him, if you compare his years at Texas, Texas Tech and Cal, it's a similar vision as to how they could use me," Stojakovic said, according to ESPN.com. "Showcase skills I haven't been able to use in the past and showcase some of my game that I haven't really worked on myself. ... The one thing I asked for from every program was a depth chart. Cal was very transparent with the whole process. Gave me a clear chart of who committed, who they're trying to get. It looked pretty clear to me."

ESPN ranked Stojakovic as the 20th-best player in the transfer portal this year and provided this comment, in italics

20. Andrej Stojakovic , 6-7, SF, Fr., Stanford Cardinal

The son of Peja Stojakovic, he was a McDonald's All American in the 2023 class. Stojakovic had three double-figure-scoring outings in his first four games and scored 20 against USC. Averaged 7.8 points.

Stojakovic is the seventh player Madsen has added since the end of last season, and he is by far the most highly rated of the seven.

Stojakovic started 10 of the 32 games he played for Stanford this past season, and he averaged, 22.3 minutes, 7.8 points, 3.4 rebounds and 0.9 assists. He is an excellent shooter, although his 32.7% shooting on three-pointers in 2023-24 does not reflect his shooting prowess.

Stojakovic's best game was against USC, when he scored 20 points on 8-for-12 shooting, includoing 4-for-7 from three-point range. He also had six rebounds in that game, which Stanford won by 31 points.

Stojakovic faced Cal three times this past season. He scored seven points in the Cardinal's loss at Cal and 10 points in the Cardinal's win at Stanford, and he went scoreless in Stanford's victory over Cal in the Pac-12 tournament.

Stojakovic joins the following transfers who have committed to Cal for next season, which will be the Golden Bears' first season in the ACC:

Texas-San Antonio guard Christian Tucker, Vanderbilt center Lee Dort, North Dakota transfer forward B.J. Omot, Minnesota forward Joshua Ola-Joseph, West Carolina guard DJ Campbell and junior college transfer Jeff Nwankwo

Also, Jeremiah Wilkinson is an incoming freshman from Powder Springs, Georgia, and Kevin Armstrong II is an incoming freshman walk-on.

Madsen has had to remake the roster because all five starters and the top four reserves from the Golden Bears' 2023-24 season will not be with the team next season.

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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.