2021 guard Marsalis Roberson commits to Cal
Cal men’s basketball finally has their first commit in the 2021 class in Bishop O’Dowd shooting guard Marsalis Roberson, who was named Bay Area Preps HQ’s player of the year back in March. Roberson will be joining his former Bishop O’Dowd teammate Monty Bowser on the court in Berkeley when he arrives on campus in the fall of 2021. Roberson committed on this date to commemorate the passing of his father, who died on this date in 2017. Roberson chose Cal over Stanford, UC-Santa Barbara, and Cincinnati, who rounded out his top four.
As for what Roberson promises to bring to Cal, he should give the Bears a scoring punch from the wing position. He particularly excels scoring off the dribble and getting to the rim, so he should complement Bowser nicely, who is more of a catch and shoot scorer.
“Coach Fox always talks about offense,” Roberson said. “He wants me to bring scoring to the team along with my competitive nature and energy on the court.”
Touching more on his relationship with Bowser, Roberson is looking forward to reuniting with his former O’Dowd teammate. They both played really well together in high school and look to build on that now that they’ll be teammates once again at Cal.
“That would be an amazing opportunity,” Roberson said when discussing the possibility of reuniting with Bowser. “I look at Monty as a big brother and he brings a competitive edge to any team he is on.”
Cal is the right place for Roberson both on and off the court. He has a great relationship with the coaching staff and the chance to stay close to home really appeals to him. The added bonus of having a mother who is an Academic Advisor at Cal should make his transition even smoother.
“I have a great relationship with Coach Fox and the coaching staff,” Roberson said. “I feel like they can take my game to the next level. Also, I have a chance to play in front of my family at home…The education piece is also a big factor. With my mom being an Academic Advisor at Cal, she pushes me to get the best education I can.”
Roberson joins a long legacy of Bishop O’Dowd basketball players who have gone on to Cal. Most recently, Ivan Rabb, Asha Thomas, Paris Austin, and Monty Bowser. O’Dowd has been a pretty consistent source of talent for Cal, so there’s no reason to doubt Roberson’s abilities to make an impact on those grounds alone.
As far as what’s next for Cal, they need to add more pieces to round out this class. They’ve made the final four for DaRon Holmes, Jr. and are pursuing a few other guys as well. More work still needs to be done, but landing Marsalis Roberson is certainly a nice start.
