California Golden Bears Men's Basketball
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The California Golden Bears men's basketball team is the men's
college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...
team representing the
University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...
, in
NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest division of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athlet ...
, currently playing in the
Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, the ACC's eighteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athlet ...
(ACC). The program has seen success throughout the years, culminating in a national championship in 1959 under coach Pete Newell, and the team has reached the final four two other times, in 1946 and 1960. The team plays its home games at Haas Pavilion, which was long known as Harmon Gym before being heavily renovated with money donated in part by the owners of Levi Strauss & Co. The arena was originally known as Men's Gymnasium and then later Harmon Gymnasium until the late 1990s when it went through renovations which displaced the team for two seasons.


History

The Golden Bears first played basketball intercollegiate in 1907 and began full conference play in 1915. The 1920s was the dominant decade for Cal basketball, as the Bears won 6 conference titles under coaches E.H. Wright and Nibs Price. Cal was retroactively recognized as the pre- NCAA tournament national champion for the 1926–27 season by the
Premo-Porretta Power Poll The Premo-Porretta Power Poll is a retroactive end-of-year ranking for American college basketball teams competing in the 1895–96 through the 1947–48 seasons. The Premo-Porretta Polls are intended to serve collectively as a source of informa ...
. Nibs Price coached Cal with great success for 30 years from 1924 to 1954, earning a 449–294 total record, many single season winning records, and an additional 3 conference titles in the 1930s and 1940s. Cal reached the pinnacle of the sport during the tenure of Pete Newell, who was head coach from 1955 to 1960. The Golden Bears earned the conference title four out of his five years and in 1959, won the NCAA title. In Newell's last year, Cal came close to another NCAA title, but lost to
Ohio State The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one of the largest universities by enrollme ...
in the final. The fortunes of Cal men's basketball would never be the same after 1960. Newell retired after the national title win, touching off what would be a mostly dreary quarter-century for the program. From 1960 to 1985, the Bears tallied only two winning seasons in conference play. This was despite having players such as Butch Hays (1981–1984) and Kevin Johnson (1983–1987) who both set school records for assists. Lou Campanelli served as head coach from 1986 to 1993. The highlight of this era was a 75–67 victory over UCLA in 1986 that ended a 25-year, 52 game losing streak to the Bruins. Also in that first season, Campanelli took the Golden Bears to the 1986 National Invitation Tournament, the first post season appearance of any sort since 1960. In 1990, Campanelli led the Golden Bears to their first NCAA Tournament in 30 years. Cal achieved much better success in the 1990s, qualifying for the NCAA tournament five times with future NBA players
Jason Kidd Jason Frederick Kidd (born March 23, 1973) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is the List of current NBA head coaches, head coach for the Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Widely regar ...
(the Golden Bears all-time assists leader) and Lamond Murray, as well as future perennial All-Pro NFL tight end Tony Gonzalez in the early and mid 1990s and Sean Lampley and Shareef Abdur-Rahim in the late 1990s. Cal also won the 1999
National Invitation Tournament The National Invitation Tournament (NIT) is an annual men's college basketball tournament operated by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Since 2023, all rounds of the tournament are played at various sites across the country whi ...
, with a thrilling 61–60 victory over Clemson in the title game. This success came amid a brief period of turmoil in the mid-1990s. Campanelli was fired midway through the 1992–93 season after athletic director Bob Bockrath heard Campanelli berate his players with obscenity-laden tirades following two losses. Assistant Todd Bozeman finished out the season, and was named permanent head coach after leading the Bears to an upset of two-time defending champion Duke in the NCAA Tournament. Bozeman himself was pushed out two months before the 1996–97 season after it emerged that he'd funneled $30,000 over two years to the parents of star recruit Jelani Gardner so they could make the drive to see their son play. Ultimately, the Bears were docked four scholarships over two years and forfeited the entire 1994–95 season and all but one game of the 1995–96 season.
Ben Braun Benjamin Abraham Braun (born November 25, 1953) is an American former men's college basketball coach and college basketball analyst. He served as the head men's basketball coach at Siena Heights University (1977–1985), Eastern Michigan Unive ...
took over for Bozeman just before the 1996–97 season. Inheriting a team expected to be barely competitive in the Pac-10, Braun led the Bears to a second-place finish and took them all the way to the Sweet 16. During Braun's 12-year tenure, Cal qualified for the NCAA tournament three straight times in the 2000s and six times overall. However, after finishing near the bottom of the Pac-10 for the second straight year, Braun was dismissed in late March 2008. The former coach of rival Stanford, Mike Montgomery, succeeded Braun. In his first year the Bears finished tied for third in the Pac-10 and made it to the NCAA tournament, where they were eliminated in the first round to the
Maryland Terrapins The Maryland Terrapins, commonly referred to as the Terps, consist of 19 men's and women's college sports in the United States, varsity intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Maryland, College Park in National Collegiate ...
. In 2006, the Golden Bears reached their first
Pacific Life Pacific Life Insurance Company is an American insurance company. History Pacific Mutual Life was founded in 1868 by former California Governor, Leland Stanford in Sacramento, California. Stanford also was the first policy holder of the company. ...
Pac-10 Men's Basketball Tournament championship game. Power forward Leon Powe grabbed a tournament-record 20 rebounds against USC in the first round and then scored a tournament-record 41 points in a double-overtime victory versus Oregon in the semi-finals. Despite California's 71–52 loss to UCLA in the final game, Powe was named Most Valuable Player for the tournament. In Montgomery's second season, the Bears won their first conference title in 50 years. The team, featuring four seniors as starters, only lost one game at Haas Pavilion but had a rough non-conference schedule featuring losses to elite teams such as
Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...
,
Ohio State The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one of the largest universities by enrollme ...
, and Syracuse, which quickly knocked them out of the national rankings after being ranked #13 in the pre-season. Despite losing the Pac-10 tournament, and questions on whether even the conference champion of a down Pac-10 conference would receive an at-large bid to the tournament, the Bears qualified for their second straight NCAA bid as a #8 seed. They one-upped their previous season by winning their first round matchup against the
Louisville Cardinals The Louisville Cardinals (also known as the Cards) are the NCAA athletic teams representing the University of Louisville. The Cardinals teams play in the Atlantic Coast Conference, beginning in the 2014 season. While playing in the Big East Co ...
but fell to the eventual national champions,
Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of Royal family, royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobi ...
, in the second round. Senior Jerome Randle finished the season and his career as Cal's all-time leading scorer. The highlight of Montgomery's last season as the head coach for Cal was the signature win at home against then undefeated, No. 1
Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...
. In thrilling fashion, senior guar
Justin Cobbs
hits the game-winning jumper with 0.9 on the clock for a 60–58 victory. Mike Montgomery announced his retirement shortly after the 2013–14 season's culmination, resulting in the hiring of Cuonzo Martin. The Bears went 18–15 in Martin's first season as head coach. On April 13, 2015, 5-star
power forward The power forward (PF), also known as the four, is one of the five traditional Basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game. Traditionally, power forwards have played a role similar to center (basketball), centers and are typi ...
Ivan Rabb of Bishop O'Dowd High School announced he would attend Cal. A little more than 2 weeks later, 5-star
small forward The small forward (SF), also known as the three, is one of the five Basketball position, positions in a regulation basketball game. Small forwards are typically shorter, quicker, and leaner than Power forward (basketball), power forwards and Cent ...
Jaylen Brown Jaylen Marselles Brown (born October 24, 1996) is an American professional basketball player for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played one year of college basketball for the California Golden Bears and wa ...
announced he too would attend Cal, making this recruiting class the best in Cal history. While the team had a solid regular season, earning a #4 seed in the NCAA tournament, they were upset in the first round by Hawaii. After three seasons, Martin announced his resignation to become the head coach at
Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...
. Shortly thereafter, Martin's assistant coach Wyking Jones became Cal's 17th head basketball coach. Jones coached for only two years, with the team finishing in the last place of the Pac-12 during both seasons. Former Georgia head coach Mark Fox was named Cal's 18th head basketball coach in 2019. Fox continued the Bears' inferiority, with a 38–87 record and 17–61 in conference play. His last season produced a 3–29 record, the worst winning percentage (.093) in Cal history. Attendance plunged from 5,627 in Fox's first year to 2,155, the lowest attendance of any power conference school. Former Stanford forward and Los Angeles Laker Mark Madsen became the head coach in 2023. Madsen improved the Bears to a 13–19 record and signed an extension to the 2029–30 season.


Coaches


Postseason


NCAA tournament results

The Golden Bears have appeared in 19 NCAA Tournaments. They were national champions in 1959 and their combined record is 20–19.


NIT results

The Golden Bears have appeared in nine
National Invitation Tournament The National Invitation Tournament (NIT) is an annual men's college basketball tournament operated by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Since 2023, all rounds of the tournament are played at various sites across the country whi ...
s (NIT). Their combined record is 14–8. They were NIT champions in 1999. * Conference rules ( PCC/ Pac-8) disallowed participation until
1973 Events January * January 1 – The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 14 - The 16-0 19 ...
.


Notable players


Retired numbers


All-Americans


Golden Bears in international leagues

* Butch Hays, after being drafted by the
Chicago Bulls The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Bulls compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division of the Eastern Conference. The team was founded on January 16 ...
of the
NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...
played in the
National Basketball League (Australia) The National Basketball League (NBL) is a men's Professional sports#Basketball, professional basketball list of basketball leagues, league in Australasia, currently composed of ten teams: nine in Australia and one in New Zealand. It is the pr ...
from 1991 to 2003 * Shahar Gordon, Played in the
Israel Basketball Premier League Ligat HaAl (, lit., ''Supreme League or Premier League''), or the Israeli Basketball Premier League, is a professional basketball league in Israel and the highest level of basketball in the country. The league's name is abbreviated as either BSL ...
and for the Israeli national basketball team


Golden Bears notable in other fields

* Tony Gonzalez,
Pro Football Hall of Fame The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for professional football (gridiron), professional American football, located in Canton, Ohio. Opened on September 7, 1963, the Hall of Fame enshrines exceptional figures in the sport of profes ...
tight end The tight end (TE) is an offense (sports), offensive position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football. It is a hybrid that combines the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a receiver (football), receiv ...
for the
Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division. Established in 1959 ...
and
Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The Falcons were founded o ...
, played forward from 1994 to 1997


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:California Golden Bears Men's Basketball Basketball teams established in 1920 1920 establishments in California