BERKELEY – Jovan Blacksher Jr., a former All-Western Athletic Conference first-team selection, has signed to play for the California men's basketball program, head coach Mark Madsen announced Monday. Blacksher spent the past five seasons at Grand Canyon and will join the Golden Bears as a graduate student for his final year of collegiate eligibility in 2024-25.
 
Blacksher, the 2022-23 WAC Preseason Player of the Year and a two-time All-WAC selection, was recently granted a medical hardship waiver from the NCAA, making him eligible for a sixth season of college basketball. The 5-foot-11, 165-pound guard started all 97 possible games through his first three-plus seasons at Grand Canyon before suffering a knee injury on Jan. 5, 2023, that sidelined him for the next 11 months.
 
Blacksher was a member of three NCAA Tournament teams at Grand Canyon and averaged 11.0 points, 3.5 assists, 3.2 rebounds and 1.4 steals in 123 career games played for the Lopes. In his five seasons with the program, Grand Canyon won 107 total games, two WAC titles and one NCAA Tournament contest.
 
"Jovan plays winning basketball and will directly impact not just our success on the court, but our program's culture as a whole," Madsen said. "He's unselfish and will create opportunities for his teammates, he's proven to be a tremendous defender and he shot 41.9% from 3-point range last season. I've seen firsthand just how competitive Jovan is and the playmaking abilities that he can bring to a team. We're excited to have Jovan and his family as Golden Bears."
 
Blacksher was a dominant presence in his first three seasons at Grand Canyon, averaging 13.0 points, 4.3 assists and 4.1 rebounds while playing more than 32 minutes per game. As a junior in 2021-22, Blacksher averaged a career-best 15.8 points and set Grand Canyon's NCAA Division I single-season steals record (53) on the way to earning All-WAC first team and NABC All-District 6 second team honors. He was an All-WAC second team pick as a sophomore after ranking 31st nationally with 5.4 assists per game and was the WAC Tournament's most valuable player, averaging 17 points, 6.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists as he guided the Lopes to a championship. He was the 2019-20 WAC Freshman of the Year after being the only rookie in the country to total at least 300 points, 150 rebounds and 100 assists that season.
 
Blacksher took on a sixth-man role for the Lopes last season, averaging 15.4 minutes across 26 games played after returning to the court following his knee injury. He averaged 4.8 points and 1.5 assists and scored in double figures four times, including a 14-point effort in the WAC Tournament title game to help the Lopes advance to their third NCAA Tournament in four years.
 
Blacksher was born and raised in Oakland before relocating to Phoenix prior to high school. He led Shadow Mountain High School to four consecutive state championships (2016-19) prior to enrolling at Grand Canyon.
 
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