Cal won a game of NCAA roulette on Thursday and immediately became a better team.
The Golden Bears found out that Texas Tech transfer Jaylon Tyson won his eligibility appeal and will be able to play, starting Friday night when they host Pacific in Berkeley, Calif.
The 6-foot-7 Tyson averaged 10.7 points and 6.1 rebounds for the Red Raiders last season, connecting on 40.2 percent of his 3-point shots. He will offer another weapon to go along with fellow Texas Tech transfer Fardaws Aimaq as well as perimeter threats Jalen Cone and Jalen Celestine.
“We are very thankful that the NCAA has approved Jaylon Tyson’s waiver for immediate eligibility,” first-year Cal coach Mark Madsen said. “We are excited that he will be back on the court Friday night, playing the game he loves.”
The NCAA initially denied Tyson’s waiver for immediate eligibility despite being a two-time undergraduate transfer. (Tyson started his college career at Texas.) Tyson stated that former Texas Tech coach Mark Adams used racial slurs toward him and referred to him as a slave.
The Golden Bears nipped St. Thomas (Minn.) 71-66 in on Monday in the season opener as Celestine scored 21 points and Aimaq chipped in 16 points and 11 rebounds.
Meanwhile, Pacific (0-1) opened its season on Monday with a sloppy 64-57 home loss to Sam Houston State. The Tigers made just 37.5 percent of their field-goal attempts and were outscored 23-5 at the foul line. Pacific committed 22 turnovers.
Pacific also struggled from the 3-point arc, hitting just 4 of 24 attempts, but third-year coach Leonard Perry isn’t backing away from his team’s commitment to the arc. The Tigers canned 39 percent from long distance last season, the fourth-best mark in Division I.
“We shot the 3 as well as anyone in our conference,” Perry said, “and we want to space the floor and continually put pressure on the rim and hopefully get to the foul line more.”
Cal has won both previous matchups with Pacific, including a 73-53 decision two years ago in Berkeley.
–Field Level Media