Cal Point Guard Justin Pippen Plans to Enter Transfer Portal

Cal basketball took a wicked one-two punch to the gut on Monday when it was reported that its two best players, Dai Dai Ames and Justin Pippen, both plan to enter the transfer portal.

The report on Ames came early Monday, and Joe Tipton of On3 reported early Monday evening that Pippen also plans to enter the transfer portal.

NEWS: Cal guard Justin Pippen, the son of NBA Hall of Famer Scottie Pippen, plans to enter the @TransferPortal, his representatives at WME told @On3.

The 6-4 sophomore averaged 14.2 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 4.6 assists per game this season. Began his career at Michigan.… pic.twitter.com/z9isyeyRAu
— Joe Tipton (@JoeTipton) April 7, 2026

Pippen, a sophomore this past season, averaged 14.2 points, virtually tied with Chris Bell for second on the team in scoring behind Ames' 16.9 points per contest. Pippen was the team's point guard and chief ballhandler and led the team in assists and 4.6 per contest.

Pippen received honorable mention on the All-ACC team this season, and he and Ames, who was a third-team all-conference pick, were the only Cal players that received all-ACC recognition.

Pippen is the son of former NBA star Scottie Pippen, and Justin Pippen showed remarkable improvement in his one season at Cal. He barely played in his one season at Michigan, where he averaged 6.7 minutes and 1.6 points as a freshman in 2024-25. He became an immediate starter at Cal this season and flourished.

Theoretically, Pippen could withdraw is name from the portal and return to Cal for the 2026-27 season, but that seldom happens.

Cal head coach Mark Madsen expressed optimism late this season that he'd be able to retain the key players from this season's team, which finished with a 22-12 record. He also seemed pleased with the recent fund-raising campaign meant to improve the Bears' NIL account. But a number of elite basketball programs have a lot of money to spend on players who wish to transfer, and both Pippen and Ames should be able to command quite a bit of money on the transfer market.

With the likely loss of both Ames and Pippen, Cal will have no starters returning from this season's team, which got a postseason berth for the first time since 2017. The Bears reached the second round of the National Invitation tournament, losing to Saint Joseph's.

The probable loss of Pippen and Ames adds a chapter to Cal's story of being unable to hang on to its best players.

Cal's best two players from the 2024-25 season, Andrej Stojakovic and Jeremiah Wilkinson, both transferred out after one season with the Bears -- Stojakovic to Illinois, where he helped the Illini reach the Final Four, and Wilkinson to Georgia, where he was the leading scorer on a Georgia team that reached th NCAA tournament.

The transfer portal portal for men's basketball officially opens on Tuesday (April 7) and ends on April 21. It will be up to Madsen to fill the gaps with another load of transfers. Four of the Bears five starters this past season were transfers who arrived at Cal following the 2024-25 season.