Introducing Cal Basketball's All-Time Foreign-Born Starting Five
The past two seasons, with little fanfare, Cal has routinely started a lineup with three international players. Last Saturday, against UCLA, coach Mark Fox had Canadians Joel Brown and Jalen Celestine and Australian Grant Anticevich among his starting five.
Those three are likely to get the call again Wednesday night when the Bears face Washington in Seattle.
The game has become global and Cal has recruited from across the planet for several decades now.
By my count, players representing 17 countries beyond our borders on five continents have played for Cal.
Here’s our all-foreign starting five, followed by a complete list of Cal players who came ashore from elsewhere:
Coach Mike Montgomery and Jorge Gutierrez share an intense moment.
Photo by Cary Edmondson, USA Today
MVP: JORGE GUTIERREZ (2009-12) Mexico. Coach Mike Montgomery’s first recruit — and one of his best — Gutierrez is the most impactful international player to represent the Bears. He made himself a Haas Pavilion crowd favorite as a freshman, when he came off the bench to contribute 10 points, eight rebounds and five steals as the Bears rallied from 22 points down to beat Stanford. He was a two-time first-team all-conference selection, a key starter on Cal’s 2010 Pac-10 championship team and in 2011 was named both the Pac-10 Player of the Year and the Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Year. Gutierrez finished his career with 1,232 points — most of any foreign-born player at Cal — along with 423 assists and 148 steals. Gutierrez was a two-time All-Defensive selection in the D-League, saw action in 47 games over three NBA seasons and played professionally in Turkey, Italy, Germany, Greece, Spain and Mexico.
Amit Tamir
Photo courtesy of Cal Athletics
AMIT TAMIR (2002-04), Israel. The 6-foot-11 forward from Jerusalem served three years in the Israeli military before arriving in Berkeley just months shy of his 23rd birthday. A savvy offensive player, Tamir played three seasons for the Bears, averaging 12.7 points and 5.2 rebounds, scoring 1,005 career points. He put up a Cal freshman-record 39 points as the Bears rallied from a 19-point deficit to claim a 107-103 double-overtime victory over Oregon. Tamir averaged a career-best 14.9 points, including nine games of at least 20 points, in 2003 to earn first-team All-Pac-10 honors. He played professionally in Greece, Israel, Belgium and Cypress, and later coached professionally.
Richard Midgley
Photo courtesy of Cal Athletics
RICHARD MIDGLEY (2003-06) England. A native of Burgess Hill, England, Midgley came to Cal from Modesto Christian High School. He started 99 games in Cal’s backcourt, averaging 10.2 points and totaling 1,176 for his career. As a freshman, he nailed a 3-pointer with 3.9 seconds left in overtime to lift the Bears to a 76-74 overtime victory vs. North Carolina State in the 2003 NCAA tournament. His best season was his junior year of 2005, when he averaged 12.9 points. Midgley later coached at his high school alma mater and now is a scout for the Atlanta Hawks.
Sean Marks
Photo courtesy of Cal Athletics
SEAN MARKS (1995-98) New Zealand. The 6-foot-11 forward from Auckland blossomed his final two seasons, starting 33 games and averaging 8.9 points and 6.2 rebounds. He scored 11 points in the Bears’ Sweet 16 loss to North Carolina in 1997, his 12th double-digit scoring game of the season. As a senior, he had four double-doubles, led the team in rebounding and scored a career-best 23 points against UCLA. Marks played 230 games in 11 NBA seasons and currently serves as general manager of the Brooklyn Nets.
Francisco Elson
Photo courtesy of Cal Athletics
FRANCISCO ELSON (1998-99) Netherlands. A 7-footer from Rotterdam who didn’t begin playing basketball until he was 15 years old, Elson arrived from junior college and played two seasons for the Bears. He had 17 rebounds in a win over Virginia Commonwealth in his debut campaign and had 10 double-digit scoring games for the Bears, including a high of 13 points four times. He finished his Cal career averaging 5.5 points and 5.0 rebounds and led the team blocked shots both seasons. He went on to play 472 games over nine seasons in the NBA.
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CAL’S ALL-TIME FOREIGN-BORN BASKETBALL ROSTER
Australia: Grant Anticevich (2018-current); Kuany Kuany (2020-current)
Cameroon: Roger Moute A Bidias (2014-2017)
Canada: Joel Brown (2020-current); Jalen Celestine (2021-current); Brendan Graves (1992-93); Grant Mullins (2017); Emerson Murray (2011-12); Kareem South (2020)
China: Richard Chang (1983-86), Max Zhang (2008-2010)
England: Richard Midgley (2003-2006); Kingsley Okoroh (2015-18)
Finland: Kari Kulonen (1985)
Germany: Hartmut Ortmann (1987-1989); Lars Thiemann (2020-current)
Greece: Dimitrios Klonaras (2020-current)
Ireland: Sam Alajiki (2022-current)
Israel: Shahar Gordon (1999-2000); Amit Tamir (2002-2004)
Lithuania: Saulius Kuzminskas (2001)
Mexico: Jorge Gutierrez (2009-12)
Netherlands: Francisco Elson (1998-99)
New Zealand: Sean Marks (1995-1998)
Serbia: Nikola Knezevich (2006-2010)
Spain: Jordi Geli (2003-04)
Sudan: Bak Bak (2010-13)
Cover photo of Jorge Gutierrez by Kelley L. Cox, USA Today
Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo
