Cal Basketball: Can Matt Bradley Become One of the Nation's Top-50 Players?

Two other Bay Area players are ranked among SI's best for 2019-20

Sports Illustrated has unveiled its list of the top-50 players in college basketball.

There are two Bay Area players on the list.

Neither of them plays for Cal.

Senior guard Jordan Ford of Saint Mary’s checks in at No. 27 -- I probably would have rated him a little higher.

Freshman guard Tyrell Terry of Stanford is ranked No. 40 -- a nice young player, but I definitely would have rated him lower.

I won’t spoil the fun and tell you landed the No. 1 spot, but you can find out by clicking here.

Let’s fast forward to this time next year and, assuming we have sports again, ponder the question of whether Matt Bradley could possibly make this list.

I believe it’s possible.

Bradley earned second-team All-Pac-12 honors this season, averaging 17.5 points, 4.9 rebounds and 1.5 assists.

His scoring and rebounding numbers are way up from 10.8 and 3.6, respectively, as a freshman. His assists dipped from 2.0 the year before.

There is a good explanation for why his scoring soared and his assists slipped, and it’s the same reason I believe the two categories could do a flip-flop a year from now.

Bradley scored more this season not simply because he became a more comfortable and confident player, but because the Bears needed him to shoulder that load. There was really no other dependable scorer on the roster, so it fell to Bradley, and he delivered.

That’s the same reason his assists dipped. Bradley looked for teammates routinely this season and I believe he’s a capable and willing passer. But with no other legitimate scoring threat, his feeds often failed to net points. Also, he will become a more efficient playmaker when he figures out how to penetrate and dish without being whistled for charging fouls.

Bradley talked after a game late this season about drawing charge calls at both ends of the floor:

Next season, as a generally young Cal team matures, Bradley may not have to score as much. Certainly, I don't expect his numbers to dramatically increase again. If they do, that’s a bad sign because it suggests no one else is sharing the scoring responsibility.

If others become more capable scorers, Bradley can produce at more or less the same level he did this year, while also improving his assist numbers.

At 6-foot-4, 220 pounds, Bradley added the ability to attack the rim to his perimeter shooting skills this season. Coach Mark Fox believes he can be even more efficient is younger players step in at small forward, allowing Bradley to settle in exclusively at the shooting guard spot.

All that has to happen if the Bears want to improve on their 14-18 overall record and their eighth-place tie in the Pac-12 standings. It remains to be seen now much better Cal will be next season, but that also is the key to Bradley gaining more individual attention.

No one gets excited about a player scoring a lot of points on a bad team. Someone has to score the points every team puts on the board.

But those same contributions to a winning team can turn heads in a way players on losing teams can never achieve.