Cal Basketball: Can Makale Foreman Bring a Touch of Steph to Haas Pavilion?

Grad transfer from Stony Brook can light it up quickly from 3-point range

Makale Foreman, the latest player to join the Cal basketball team, apparently brings a quality that will be familiar to Bay Area hoops fans.

"He's an elite shooter, who can get his own (shot), and he can shoot it deep. He's got kind of Steph Curry range, where he's able to shoot it a couple of steps behind the arc,” Stony Brook coach Geno Ford said back on Dec. 29 after Foreman hit three 3-pointers in a span of 58 seconds against Norfolk State.

“When he gets a hot hand, he can rattle off three or four in a row, as we've seen many times.”

Obviously, no one should expect Foreman — who signed with the Bears this week — to perform at the level of the Warriors’ two-time MVP. But the 6-foot-1 grad transfer could benefit the Bears in a couple ways.

As a combo guard, Foreman (his first name is pronounced muh-KALE) figures to lend a hand at point guard. Sophomore-to-be Joel Brown is the Bears’ only available returnee at the position.

Makale Foreman has shooting range beyond the 3-point arc.

Photo by Jim Harrison, USA Today

Coach Mark Fox also openly stressed the need for the Bears to improve their perimeter shooting after they finished last in the Pac-12 with 160 made 3-pointers — just 5.0 per game.

The Bears previously added shooting guard Ryan Betley, a grad transfer and former second-team All-Ivy League pick from Penn. Betley made 169 career 3-point baskets for the Quakers.

Foreman, who averaged 15.6 points this past season for the 20-13 Seawolves, set a school record with 104 made 3’s. That total ranked eighth in the nation and exceeds the Cal school record of 92, set by Jerome Randle in 2010.

"Makale has really sparked us with his shooting,” Ford said after his quick barrage of 3’s that sparked a 21-3 run against Norfolk State and broke open a close game.

Foreman had his most prolific 3-point shooting performance in Stony Brook’s regular-season finale against Maryland-Baltimore County, shooting 8-for-10 from beyond the arc on the way to a season-high 26 points. His eight 3's tied a school record.

Foreman has made 206 career 3-pointers combined at Stony Brook and Chattanooga, where he spent his first two college seasons. He has scored 618 of his 938 points from behind the 3-point line, and assembled 35 games with at least three 3-pointers.

A native of Kingsport, Tenn., Foreman was a 1,000-point career scored at Dobyns-Bennett High. He then spent one season at Hargrave Military Academy in Chatham, Virginia, where he averaged 16 points for a 47-1 team that sent eight players to Division I programs.

Hargrave has a history of producing high-level talent, including NBA players David West, Jordan Crawford, Montrezl Harrell and Terry Rozier.

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

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.