April 4, 2008
By Patrick Fitzgerald
It’s been a bad week for Stanford men’s basketball. On the heels of the Lopez twins declaring for the NBA draft on Monday, former Stanford coach Mike Montgomery is reportedly heading across the Bay to coach Cal. According to ESPN.com, a source with knowledge of the negotiations said Montgomery has agreed in principle to replace Ben Braun, who was fired Wednesday after 12 years at the helm in Berkeley.
Montgomery, who led the Cardinal to a 393-167 record and 12 NCAA Tournament berths in 18 seasons, had returned to the Farm in September in a part time position as assistant to Athletic Director Bob Bowlsby. He also did broadcast work for Fox Sports Net, Comcast and CBS radio. In an interview with The Daily earlier this year, the 61-year old Montgomery expressed a desire to return to the sidelines. He had been in a state of semi-retirement since August 2006, when he was released as head coach of the NBA’s Golden State Warriors after two seasons and a 68-96 record.
“[T]here’s still a lot of basketball in my blood, just because you do something for that long,” he told The Daily in February. “We’ll have to wait and see if anything develops there . . . You’ve done something for 37 years, and it’s just what you do.” The winningest coach in school history, Montgomery helped usher in Stanford basketball’s rise to national prominence. He led the Cardinal to four regular season Pac-10 championships, an NCAA Final Four appearance in 1998 and a Pac-10 Tournament title in 2004.
Read and make comments on the Stanford Daily’s website here.
1 comment:
I can't believe they brought in Montgomery. Sure, he'll take Cal to the tourney, but at what cost? He's a Stanfurd guy, pure and simple. I never felt Braun had to be fired in the first place, but at least we knew he was a Bear. There had to be other options. I have yet to talk to any Cal alums happy with this decision. There had to have been a second option to hiring a guy who will wear red at the press conference.
Montgomery gets Cal to the Sweet Sixteen once and bolts for another job, guarantee. Unless he brings the tree into press conference and delivers a beat down along side Tedford and Oski, I'll never trust this guy.
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