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Cal Golden Bears (2001: 20-11)

The following team preview is provided by Blue Ribbon. For the nation's most comprehensive look at this and all Division I teams, be sure to order the 2001-02 Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook, on sale now at 1-800-775-2518.

Program overview

The hard reality is that the most significant day of Cal's 2001-02 basketball season may have been Aug. 30 -- 2 1/2 months before the start of the Golden Bears' season. That's when the NCAA turned down an appeal by Cal on the initial eligibility of incoming star freshman forward Julian Sensley.

Sensley is a 6-8, 230-pound native of Kailua, Hawaii, who spent the last two years at St. Thomas More School in Oakdale, Conn., polishing his basketball and academic skills. There is no doubting his hoops acumen. Sensley has been rated among the top half-dozen forward prospects in the nation.

He averaged 21 points and nine rebounds last season on a team with six college-bound prospects, and led St. Thomas More to a 59-7 record and a pair of championships in the tough New England Prep School League.

Said UCLA coach Steve Lavin of Sensley and Cal's other big-name frontcourt recruit, center Jamal Sampson, "If they have Sensley and Sampson healthy, and those guys play to their ability, they're a potential monster. They're two of the top 10 [incoming] frontline players in the entire country."

But academics are difficult for Sensley, who has a diagnosed learning disability. Cal coach Ben Braun said Sensley compiled a grade-point average of better than 2.5 at St. Thomas More, but test-taking has been a problem. Sensley did not have the required SAT score to be fully academically qualified.

Cal -- hoping that Sensley might help fill the void of graduated senior Sean Lampley, the reigning Pac-10 Player of the Year and the school's career scoring leader -- filed an appeal to the NCAA on the basis of Sensley's learning disability. The NCAA said no.

Sensley responded to the NCAA's decision by vowing to continue pursuing his eligibility for this season. He planned to file a personal appeal to the NCAA which, if approved, could make him eligible to play after the conclusion of the fall semester at Cal. In that case, Sensley would be allowed to make his debut Dec. 21 when the Bears play at home against Mount St. Mary's.

Sensley's loss for the season would be a significant blow to the Bears. He committed to Cal in the summer of 1999, before leaving for prep school, and is regarded as a player able to dominate from the perimeter or near the basket. Without much argument, he was the highest-rated recruit Braun has landed for Cal.

Even without Sensley, the Bears have plenty of personnel options. Lampley was the only significant player lost from last year's squad, and the Bears feature seven juniors and seniors with extensive experience among their scholarship players.

Backcourt

The most obvious choice as the club's leader is 5-10 junior point guard Shantay Legans (9.5 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 4.8 apg, 1.4 spg, 30.0 minutes, .429 FG, .382 3PT, .785 FT). Legans is an excellent shooter whom the Bears will encourage to shoot more, and a selfless playmaker. Braun wants to see Legans become a more aggressive player.

Junior Brian Wethers (8.5 ppg, 2.3 rpg, 21.5 minutes, .517 FG, .439 3PT, .727 FT) figures to maintain the shooting-guard assignment after starting 23 times last season. The 6-5 Wethers has shown flashes of great potential, such as when he erupted for a career-high 27 points against Arizona State last year. What he needs is confidence he can do it on a nightly basis.

On the other wing, the Bears will go with 6-5 senior Ryan Forehan-Kelly (7.2 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 26.2 minutes, .464 FG, .418 3PT, .784 FT), a steady, well-rounded player. A one-time walk-on, Forehan-Kelly scored 18 points against Arizona State, notched 17 against Yale and had 16-point performances against UCLA, Arizona and Albany.

The most versatile of Cal's remaining wing players is 6-5 junior Joe Shipp (8.4 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 23.8 minutes, .440 FG, .315 3PT, .700 FT), who has played shooting guard and small forward. Shipp's perimeter shooting accuracy slipped a bit last year, and it's important he continues to work on taking the ball to the basket as a counter to his outside shot.

Also available at shooting guard is fiery 6-3 senior Dennis Gates (3.4 ppg, 0.9 rpg, 11.3 minutes, .366 FG, .293 3PT, .903 FT), an erratic shooter but an aggressive defender.

The Bears also expect a boost from 6-7 freshman wing Erik Bond, who averaged 20.8 points, 7.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists last season at Seattle Prep High School. Bond, a 46-percent shooter from three-point range, has a 37-inch vertical leap and placed second in the Washington state track meet, scaling 6-8 in the high jump.

Frontcourt

The likely absence of Sensley leaves a hole up front that Braun might decide to fill by going with two true post players. Certainly one of the starters will be 6-11 senior Solomon Hughes (8.2 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 1.0 bpg, 18.3 minutes, .629 FG, .426 FT), who made marked improvement last season and has improved both his strength and stamina.

The primary challenge will come from Sampson, the 6-11, 225-pound cousin of former Virginia All-America and NBA All-Star Ralph Sampson. Sampson averaged 15.5 points, 10.0 rebounds and 2.4 blocks last year at Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana, Calif., teaming with UCLA freshman Cedric Bozeman to lift the club to a 33-2 record, the California large-school state title.

Sampson underwent surgery in July to remove bone spurs in his ankle that prevented him from practicing much between games his senior season. He was expected to be fully recovered well in advance of the start of practice.

The Bears also will need a contribution from 6-10 sophomore Gabriel Hughes, Solomon's younger brother. As a freshman last season, Hughes (0.4 ppg, 0.6 rpg) played just 53 minutes spread over 19 games. But he has a natural assertiveness on the floor the Bears hope to harness.

The Bears anxiously were awaiting final word on the eligibility status of 6-11, 250-pound freshman Amit Tamir, a native of Israel who committed during the summer. Tamir played last year on an Israeli professional team and, despite the fact that Braun said he was not paid anything more than allowable expenses, a new NCAA crackdown on foreign professionals may sideline him.

The Bears also welcome back 6-6 walk-on power forward Conor Famulener (0.6 ppg, 0.3 rpg), who saw action in 10 games last season.

Bottom line

Cal is a team with lots of experience and perimeter depth, but also lots of questions. Will the Bears ever see Sensley in a Cal uniform? Is there enough depth in the frontcourt? Can a leader emerge in the wake of Lampley's departure? Are there go-to players ready to step forward?

"I like our potential," Braun said before the NCAA's ruling on Sensley. "There are some question marks we're going to have to answer [including] can we step up collectively? Is there a steady place we're going to get points? We'd like to establish that consistency. We want aggressiveness to be out there this year."

Sensley might have helped answer a few of those questions, certainly providing a potential go-to scorer. Now that assignment likely falls in the laps of players such as Legans, Wethers and Hughes, who didn't need to carry a heavy load last year, when Lampley led the team in scoring 23 times. Now they assume prime-time roles.

If Sampson emerges quickly and meshes well with Hughes, and the Bears' perimeter players show maturity, the Bears might be able to battle for an NCAA tournament bid. Without question, however, there is more guesswork to this team now.