Predicting Cal Basketball Starting Lineup for 2026-27

Cal coach Mark Madsen is looking at different combinations during the current summer workouts

Amier Ali could be a starter or a sixth man for Cal | Photo by Jake Curtis

Cal coach Mark Madsen is looking at different player combinations in scrimmages during the Bears' current summer workouts and has not determined a starting lineup or a player rotation for the 2026-27 season,.

However, that does not prevent us from speculating what the starting lineup will look like. We will get to our prediction of the starting lineup at the end of this report. But first we will consider what Madsen has to work with.

He has a lot of options, and he will need to find pieces that fit together to match or exceed last season's 22-win team. To do that Cal must surpass predictions from multiple sites that the Bears will finish near the bottom of the ACC standings in 2026-27, .

Last season, Madsen used the same starting lineup throughout the season, putting four transfers (Chris Bell, John Camden, Dai Dai Ames and Justin Pippen) and one returning player (Lee Dort) on the floor to start games, with injuries causing the only deviation.

It's a good bet that four transfers and one returning player will form the starting lineup for Cal's 2026-27 opener.

All five transfers figure to play a lot next season, and four of them will likely be in the starting lineup. A freshman or two are likely to see playing time as well.

Here is what Madsen said about his five new transfers. (Keep in mind Madsen always provides glowing assessments of his players):

Amier Ali, 6-foot-8 junior guard/forward (from Mississippi State, previously at Arizona State)

"Amier Ali, great shooter., excellent basketball skills. He can pass. He can rebound. He crashes the glass incredibly hard. He has experience. He has high-level experience from Arizona State. He has high-level experience from Mississippi State also."

Jake Wilkins, 6-foot-9 sophomore forward (from Georgia)

"Jake Wilkins, unbelievable defender, blocks, deflections, rebounds. Beautiful outside shot. He's a guy that can impact the game in a lot of different ways. Transition finisher. Skilled."

Jordan Ross, 6-foot-3 senior guard (from Georgia, previously at Saint Mary's)

"Jordan Ross, steady as can be. Dynamic point guard. Scores the ball in the paint. Shoots the three. Never gets fazed. Jordan Ross is someone who can control the tempo of a game. He just has a really strong presence on the court, and you can feel that."

Michael Cooper, 6-foot-3 junior guard (from Wright State)

"Michael is just getting back from a very slight injury. Lights-out shooter. Can make the three. Can make the mid-range. Excellent locker room presence. He's a guy the minute he steps on the court he makes an impact.

"Excellent player. He can play a lot of different positions. He can play the two (shooting guard); he can play the one (point guard); you can even slide him to the three (small forward) because he has good size. He played the one last year at times for Pitt. Nojo is truly a player who can pass, dribble and shoot. Amazing basketball IQ. He can change a game with his shooting. Makes everyone around him better with his passing."

Indrusaitis, Wilkins, Ali and Ross were all four-star prospects coming out of high school, although Wilkins and Ali did not get a lot of opportunities at their former schools.

Jovani Ruff, a redshirt freshman guard who was a four-star recruit but missed all of last season, and sophomore TT Carr are likely to be part of the rotation, and three freshmen -- guard Gabe Sularski Dominykas Daubaris and Nicolas Mitrovic -- might see playing time as well. Mitrovic is a fascinating case because he is a 7-footer who is listed as a center by some sites and guard by others. He reclassified from the class of 2027 to the class of 2026, so 2026-27 may be too soon for him to see much playing time.

Our projected Cal starting lineup for 2026-27:

Jordan Ross, point guard -- He was a starter at Georgia last year and a starter at Saint Mary's the year before, and you don't bring in a senior unless you expect him to start.

Michael Cooper, shooting guard -- He started half the games for Wright State as a freshman in 2025-26, but led the team in scoring at 13.4 points per game, and shot 35.6 percent on threes. He often was a point guard at Wright State, so he could move over to that spot. I know it was only the Horizon League, but John Camden did pretty well at Cal after lighting it up at Delaware in the Colonial Athletic Association. Cooper score 17 points and was 3-for-8 on three-pointers in the loss to Cal last season.

Nojus Indrusaitis, wing-- He started just six games last season at Pitt, but was the Panthers' best three-point shooter (38.7 percent). He had 16 points and hit 4-of-6 three-point shots in Pitt's win over Cal this past season.

Jake Wilkins, forward -- He averaged only 10 minutes a game last season as a freshman at Georgia, but his ceiling is high. If his shot has improved as much as people claim -- just 21.1 percent on threes last season -- he could be special, because his athleticism is elite.

Lee Dolt, center -- The returning starter at center, Dort provides muscle inside and is a rim protector (25 blocks).

That's my projected starting five, with several caveats:

--- Amier Ali could grab one of the starting spots, probably at a wing position, either in place of Indrusaitis, or replacing Cooper while moving Indrusaitis to a shooting guard spot.

--- Michael Cooper is a combo guard, but is best suited to play point guard. My projected starting lineup would essentially have two point guards, which may or may not be what Madsen wants.

--- Jovani Ruff figures into the rotation somehow with an outside chance to start. However, he has never played in a college game, so we don't know what to expect from him after he sat out his freshman season.

--- TT Carr, the Golden Bears' sixth man last season, is unlikely to be a starter but he will find a way to get significant playing time. He entered the transfer portal in April but is back at Cal and is participating in summer practices.

---Guard Gabe Sularski, who has impressed some people during summer workouts, and 7-foot center-forward-guard Nicolas Mitrovic are the two freshmen who could earn significant court time. Cal needs a quality big man to back up Dort, and Mitrovic could be the guy.

The starting lineup to begin the season might not be the starting five at the end. You may remember that Jeremiah Wilkinson was merely an afterthought as a Cal freshman when the 2024-25 season began, but he might have been the Bears' best player by the end of the season. He transferred to Georgia after that season and led the Bulldogs in scoring this past season. He has transferred again and will play for John Calipari at Arkansas in 2025-26.

Significant improvement in the offseason could give junior Sammie Yeanay, junior DK Dut or junior Mantas Kocanas increased playing time in the post, and Lithuanian freshman Daubaris is a mystery who could develop into something.