California men's basketball head coach Mark Madsen announced that Portland transfer Mike Meadows has signed to play for the Golden Bears for the 2023-24 season.
Meadows, a 6-foot-2 guard with one year of eligibility remaining, averaged 10.6 points, 3.0 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game the past two seasons for Portland under former Cal guard Shantay Legans. Meadows also played for Legans at Eastern Washington from 2018-21, including a 2020-21 season in which he averaged 10.5 PPG while helping lead the Eagles to a Big Sky Conference title and NCAA Tournament berth.
"Mike is a great addition to our program who will bring poise, maturity and skill to the backcourt," Madsen said. "He'll fit naturally in our system and is a proven winner who has played for quality programs throughout his college career. Mike averaged double-figure points in each of the past three seasons but will bring much more than scoring to the table; Mike has a knack to make everyone around him better while doing so with incredible leadership. We are excited to welcome Mike and his family to Berkeley."
Since redshirting as a freshman in 2018-19 and averaging 1.8 PPG in a reserve role in 2019-20 for Eastern Washington, Meadows has averaged 10.5 PPG over the past three seasons for the Eagles and Pilots while owning career shooting percentages of 42.8% from the floor and 35% from 3-point range. He averaged a career-best 11.0 PPG in 21 games played for the Pilots last season and scored in double figures nine times – including a career-high 39 points against Santa Clara and 29 against Loyola Marymount – despite missing a portion of the year with an injury.
Meadows started 25 of 26 games played and logged 35.6 minutes per game in his first season at Portland in 2021-22 and steered the Pilots to 19 wins and a quarterfinal appearance in The Basketball Classic. Meadows was a critical piece of Eastern Washington's NCAA Tournament berth in 2020-21 as he eclipsed double-figure points in 12 of the team's final 13 games and averaged 14.3 PPG during a nine-game winning streak. He notched 12 points and eight assists in the Eagles' NCAA first-round loss to third-seeded Kansas.
A native of Henderson, Kentucky, Meadows and his family moved to Southern California where he grew up in Hollywood and was a four-year all-league player at Campbell High School.
Meadows is the third transfer to join the Bears under Madsen, joining Fardaws Aimaq and Jalen Cone.