Counting Down Cal's Top-50 Transfer Athletes: No. 24 Dai Dai Ames

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:

24. Dai Dai Ames

Sport: Basketball

Arrival year at Cal: 2025-26

Previous schools: Played at Kansas State in 2023-24 (5.2 points per game) and Virginia in 2024-25 (8.7 points)

Contributions at Cal:

— Ames averaged 16.9 points to lead the Bears in scoring on his way to third-team All-ACC honors. He became Cal’s third straight first-year transfer player to top the team in scoring.

— The 6-foot-1, 185-pound guard had 12 games of at least 20 points, including a career-high 31 points in an 80-73 loss to Wake Forest to close the regular season.

— In his best early-season game of the year, Ames scored 25 points, including 5 of 6 from the 3-point arc, and dished a career-high seven assists in the Bears’ 99-96 loss at Kansas State, where he began his college career two years earlier.

— Ames celebrated the New Year by converting a game-winning four-point play in the waning moments of Cal’s 72-71 victory over Notre Dame at Haas Pavilion. Ames hit two 3-pointers in the final 11 seconds, including a game-tying shot with 5 seconds to play. His ensuing free throw capped a 23-point performance and gave Cal the victory.

— Ames started every game, scored double digits in all but five of the Bears’ 34 outings and shot 85 percent from the free throw line, including 10 for 10 in a game at Wake Forest.

— Still seeking his first NCAA tournament experience, Ames transferred after this season to Tennessee.

Standout performance: Ames scored 29 points in Cal’s 90-85 victory over Georgia Tech on Feb. 4. He shot 9 for 13 from the field, including 3 for 4 on 3-pointers. All five starters scored double digits as the Bears improved their season record to 17-6.

Impact on his team: Ames was the leading scorer on Cal’s first postseason team since 2016 and the first Bears’ squad to finish with a winning record (22-13) since 2017. The Bears’ victory total was their highest in a decade and more than Ames was part of during either of his seasons at Kansas State or Virginia.

Previously on our list:

No. 25: Julia Leontini

No. 26: Recee' Caldwell

No. 27: Jacob French

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