Virginia Transfer Guard Dai Dai Ames Commits to Cal

Virginia transfer point guard Darrin "Dai Dai" Ames, who was a starter for the Cavaliers this past season, committed to Cal on Monday, according to On3.

The 6-foot-1 Ames becomes the second transfer to commit to Cal, joining Campbell transfer guard Nolan Dorsey.

Cal will be the third college stop for Ames, who spent his freshman season at Kansas State before moving on to Virginia this past season.

Ames was a four-star recruit coming out of Kenwood Academy in Chicago and was ranked as the nation’s 58th-best prospect in the class of 2023 by ESPN.

He started 16 of the 31 games he played as a freshman at Kansas State in 2023-24, averaging 5.2 points, 2.0 assists, 1.1 rebounds and 20.6 minutes. Ames shot 35.3% from the field that season and 32.9% from three-point range.

Ames transferred to Virginia for the 2024-25 season, and he started 26 of the 31 games in which he played, averaging 8.7 points, 2.0 assists and 2.0 rebounds. He made 46% of his shots from the floor and made 39.7% of his three-point attempts.

Ames played just four minutes against Cal this past season and did not score in the Bears’ 75-61 victory over the Cavaliers in Berkeley.

However, he scored 10 points or more in 10 of Virginia’s final games 11 games in 2025-25.  That included a season-high 27-point effort in a victory over Pittsburgh when he went 11-for-16 from the floor, including 3-for-6 from long range.

Ames committed to Virginia in April 2024, six months before Tony Bennett resigned as the Cavaliers’ head coach.

Ames visited Cal on Monday, and made his commitment after the visit. 

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