Counting Down Cal's Top-50 Transfer Athletes: No. 15 Justin Cobbs

We rank the mid-career arrivals in Berkeley who have had the greatest impact on the Golden Bears

Justin Cobbs talks with Cal coach Mike Montgomery | Cary Edmondson-Imagn Images

The transfer portal era in college athletics seems like it’s been with us forever. Likewise, most fans can recall less turbulent times when transfers happened, they simply didn’t look like a stampede to the 1849 California Gold Rush.

We thought it was time to rank the best transfers Cal teams have attracted, most of them in recent seasons but also including a few OGs from yesteryear. 

We limited our ranking to transfers from four-year colleges.

Here is the next athlete in our countdown: 

15. Justin Cobbs

Sport: Basketball 

Arrival year at Cal: 2010-11

Previous school: Minnesota (Averaged 2.1 points for the Golden Gophers in 2009-10)

Contributions at Cal: 

—  After sitting out a year as a transfer, the 6-foot-3 native of Los Angeles averaged 11 points and 4.1 assists off the bench in his first seven games in 2011-12 to earn the starting point guard assignment he held the remainder of his three seasons with the Bears.

— Cobbs averaged 13.0 points, 5.2 assists and 3.4 rebounds over the final 27 games that season, helping the Bears to an 18-9 record over that span and into the NCAA tournament.

— He averaged 15.1 points, 4.8 assists and 3.5 assists as a junior for a Cal team that went 21-12 and reached the second round of the NCAA tournament.

— As a senior, he shot 12 for 20 from the field and scored a career-high 31 points in an 82-64 neutral-site loss to Dayton. He also fueled a 96-83 win over Oregon by scoring 20 points and dishing a career-best 11 assists.

— Over that final season, Cobbs produced 15.6 points and 5.8 assists, both career highs, but the Bears came up short in their bid for three consecutive NCAA berths. Instead, they advanced to the third round of the NIT before finishing the season at 21-14. 

Justin Cobbs takes the game winning shot over Arizona center Kaleb Tarczewski | Kelley L Cox-Imagn Images

Standout performance: Cobbs owns a special place in Cal lore for his heroics on Feb. 1, 2014. On that night, Cobbs scored 19 points, had seven assists and made the game-winning shot from the left wing with 1 second remaining in a 60-58 victory over unbeaten No. 1 Arizona in front of a sellout crowd of 11,877 fans at Haas Pavilion.

Impact on his team: Cobbs is one of the most accomplished players in Cal history who began his career elsewhere. His 1,469 points in three seasons are the most by any player who transferred into the program. Playing for Mike Montgomery’s final three Cal teams, he dished 531 career assists (No. 2 all-time), helping the Bears to a combined record of 66-36.

Previously on our list: 

No. 16: Rowan Hamilton

No. 17: Jamal Boykin

No. 18: Andrej Stojakovic

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