Head coach Jones retools Cal basketball roster
In a little more than a year since his promotion from assistant to head coach of the Cal men’s basketball team, Wyking Jones has almost completely remade the roster — using an assortment of moves that have triggered a varied responses from fans.
“Ultimately, I’m just trying to figure out what works best, what players to have on the court and what players to have in practice,” Jones said. “There is some turnover as you go through that process. It’s my job as head coach to make those decisions.
“It’s not always going to be the popular decision, but for me, it’s the decision that is best for our program, for our team and for us to improve.”
Cal is coming off the worst statistical season in school histo-
ry to continue a five-year depression. During the span, the Bears went 91-77 (.542), finished in the bottom half of the conference more than the top half and made only one NCAA Tournament appearance (a 77-66 loss to Hawaii in 2016).
With the type of overhaul needed come starkly conflicting opinions about how the culture should be changed. Despite an 8-24 record as a first-time head coach that didn’t buy much credibility, Jones seems to be doubling-down on himself while many fans are questioning everything he’s doing.
Sixteen of the 17 players on the 2016-17 roster are gone and two players — Austin McCullough and Deschon Winston — who were brought in under Jones are headed for similar fates. That’s part of what prompted former Cal guard Brandon Chauca to publish his version of a tell-all piece with a blog post and then reach out to The Chronicle this month.
Chauca was one of two players dismissed when Jones replaced Cuonzo Martin in March 2017. Walk-on Koko Kurdoghlian was considered a low-energy player who wasn’t adding anything to practice. Chauca was said to have violated “team and university policies,” according to Cal.
Chauca, who was cut via a one-time amnesty granted new coaches, kept his academic scholarship and just graduated. He admits to missing a shootaround and inviting female friends to a family-only event because his Virginiabased family couldn’t attend, but he denied anything more untoward.
“I was never told anything in writing or anything by Cal athletics,” Chauca said. “It was just Coach saying: ‘We’re going in a different direction.’ That’s why I feel for Austin McCullough and Deschon Winston. I know how it feels to get hit by it, without seeing it coming . ...
“How are people going to play hard for you, if they don’t know if you’re being real, telling the truth or setting a good example?”
McCullough and Winston were deemed inadequate for the Pac-12 level of competition and were added to the list of former players from 2016-17 that includes nine graduates, three transfers and two NBA players.
The difference is that McCullough and Winston were given scholarships by Jones, who admits that he made hasty offers after Calsignee Jemarl Baker opted for Kentucky and Charlie Moore transferred to Kansas last summer.
McCullough, touted as a sharpshooter coming out of high school, went 0-for-10 from three-point range during his freshman season, and Winston had more than twice as many turnovers (18) as assists (7) in his first year.
The roster shakeup isn’t unique to Cal.
In 2015, every Power 5 conference mandated multiyear scholarships for athletes, a landmark change from the year-to-year commitments that previously existed. That has done little to slow the annual avalanche of men’s basketball transfers — by the NCAA’s count, 689 players changed schools in 2017.
Though they won’t be allowed to practice with the team, Jones has promised to honor the legally binding scholarships given to McCullough and Winston if they choose to stay at Cal. He said he has even worked with his video department to create highlight reels and talked to coaches of lower-level programs in an effort to find transfer possibilities.
Jones has tried to take the high road publicly during the roster shakeup, and there’s only so much he can say because of student-privacy laws, but that hasn’t stopped the scuttlebutt. Along with Chauca’s publishing, the families of McCullough and Winston reached out to the UC Board of Regents, and social media has had its share of fits.
Jones recently was trying to enjoy the NBA playoffs, a Boston Celtics game that showcased two of his former players — Terry Rozier III (who was at Louisville when Jones was an assistant there) and Jaylen Brown — and included another ( Jabari Bird). Instead, he was shown a series of Twitter messages questioning his roster-management skills.
“Somebody’s always going to raise a stink,” Jones said. “I feel really good about the energy that’s being shared among all of us, and it’s going to be a different season next year.”