Cal MBB secures commitment from UNC-Charlotte grad transfer Jordan Shepherd
On Sunday, Cal men’s basketball secured a commitment from a grad transfer of their own in 6’4”, 190-pound guard Jordan Shepherd. Shepherd played the last two years at UNC-Charlotte after playing his first two years at Oklahoma. After averaging less than 3.2 points per game in his two years at Oklahoma, Shepherd blossomed into a much better player at Charlotte, averaging 13.0 points, 3.3 rebounds, 3.5 assists, and 1.1 steals per game on 45.3% shooting from the field, 29.4% shooting from 3-point range, and 72.7% shooting from the foul line. As a result of his improved play, Shepherd will be getting another shot to play at the high major level, this time at Cal.
With Matt Bradley transferring out to San Diego State, Cal was in desperate need of finding a guard who can score. While he’s not at the level of Bradley, Shepherd is certainly a welcomed addition and should be able to take some pressure off the other guards on the roster. When looking at his stats a bit closer, it’s clear that Shepherd is much more of a slashing guard as he averaged only 0.7 3-pointers made per game on 2.4 attempts during his time in Charlotte. He does most of his scoring inside the 3-point line and does a nice job of getting to the foul line, averaging 3.2 free throws made per game on 4.4 attempts.
In addition to his ability to score, Shepherd also can defend. His 1.1 steals per game is not something that should be overlooked. One of the areas that Cal really needs to improve in is defense, especially on the perimeter. By adding Shepherd, Cal gets a guy who can help them out in this department.
In terms of how he projects to factor into the rotation, Shepherd certainly has a great opportunity to start. Like last season, Mark Fox will likely be using a variety of lineups throughout the season, some of which will likely feature Shepherd as a starter. More importantly, Shepherd absolutely projects to get a lot of minutes regardless of whether he’s coming off the bench.
The present backcourt rotation projects to be composed of junior Joel Brown, 6th year senior Makale Foreman, junior Jarred Hyder, sophomore Jalen Celestine, and freshman Marsalis Roberson in addition to Shepherd. Brown is the only true point guard out of that bunch with Foreman, Hyder, Roberson, and Shepherd all having the ability to run the point guard position if needed. It will certainly be interesting to see who will get the most time at point guard outside of Brown.
When considering what Cal needed to pick up via the transfer portal this spring, Jordan Shepherd seems to be a solid get. He can score, he can facilitate, he can rebound, and he can defend. While he’s certainly not an adequate replacement for Matt Bradley, he does check off a lot of the boxes of what they’re looking for and should be an immediate contributor from day one.
