Cal Lands Commitment From Promising Wright State Freshman Guard

Michael Cooper, who played his second college game at Haas Pavilion back in November, will get the chance to compete on a full-time basis in Cal’s home arena.

The 6-foot-3, 185-pound freshman guard will transfer from Wright State of the the Horizon League to Berkeley. Joe Tipton of On3 was first to announce the news.

Cooper, no relation to the Hall of Famer and five-time NBA champion guard of the same name with the Los Angeles Lakers, averaged a team-bet 13.4 points this past season with the Raiders.

He scored 17 points in a 77-67 loss at Cal on Nov. 6, apparently impressive Bears coach Mark Madsen enough that he pursued him when Cooper entered the transfer portal.

Some Michael Cooper highlights through mid-December, including some against Cal:

Wright State’s Micheal Cooper continues to control games as a true freshman at the mid major level

The freshman from Jeffersonville Indiana, is averaging 16 PPG, 3.1 RPG, 2.9 APG with very minimal turnovers and shooting both 55.4% on twos and 41.3% from 3

What’s been most… pic.twitter.com/nlBMwIbm9t
— Arman Jovic (@PDTScouting) December 17, 2025

Cooper is the second player to commit to Cal out of the transfer portal in recent days. The Bears also landed Georgia transfer Jake Wilkins, a 6-foot-9, freshman forward and the son of Hall of Famer Dominique Wilkins.

The need reinforcements in the backcourt after the exit to the transfer portal of two of their best players, sophomore guard Justin Pippen (to Ohio State) and junior guard Dai Dai Ames (to Tennessee).

Recruiting sites suggest that Wright State was the only Division I program to offer Cooper a scholarship out of Jefferson High School in Indiana.

Cooper responded by helping Wright State to a 23-12 overall record, the Horizon regular-season title at 15-5 and a three-game sweep of the conference tournament, which earned the Raiders their first NCAA tournament bid since 2022.

Cooper scored a season-high 25 points in the team’s 103-90 win over Northern Kentucky in the Horizon tourney semifinals. He posted 13 points in the Raiders’ 82-73 loss to Virginia in their NCAA matchup.

Listed as a combo guard, Cooper started the first 14 games of his college career, averaging 15.4 points in that role. Curiously, he started just once the remainder of the season.

In addition to his scoring, Cooper contributed 2.7 rebounds per game and 2.2 assists per game. He had just 37 turnovers all season, giving the ball away once every 22 minutes on the floor.

Cooper shot 44.3 percent from the field, 35.6 percent on 3’s and 80.5 percent at the free throw line.

He led Jefferson High to the 2025 Indiana Class 4A state title, averaging 18.7 points, 3.8 rebounds and 2.4 assists. As a junior, he scored 16.4 points per game. Cooper shot 41 percent from 3-point distance both seasons, according to his Wright State bio.

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