Yup, he never was a committed Golden Bear, nor was he a top-elite coach. Winning record yes, but didn't win a lot of meaningful games, bailed when the walls started to close in, didn't recruit well, and begat Wyking Jones
Yup, he never was a committed Golden Bear, nor was he a top-elite coach. Winning record yes, but didn't win a lot of meaningful games, bailed when the walls started to close in, didn't recruit well, and begat Wyking Jones
Strong disagree. We had multiple POY players under Monty. We went to the NCAA tournament 4 times. We had multiple top 10 victories under him. He did exactly what he was supposed to do. Came in for 6 years, did very well during that time, and left the program in good shape going forward. He actively campaigned for Asst Coach DeCuire to take his place when he left. Instead, we went with Cuonzo, which led to Wyking....and here we are.
Yes, Monty's undoing was that he had major surgery for pancreatic cancer but came back to work waaay too soon, before he was fully recovered. Thank god that he survived, but he admitted this a couple of years afterwards. In fact, he said he would've wanted to stay at Cal or come back, if given the chance.
Still don't get how Cuonzo was responsible for Wyking. He was an assistant on his staff and not even his primary one. Mike Williams pulled Wyking from total obscurity. Musselman wanted the job before Williams gave him the creeps. I'm sure Cuonzo would have taken a bag from us had we been willing to match Mizzou, but we didn't.
Yup, he never was a committed Golden Bear, nor was he a top-elite coach. Winning record yes, but didn't win a lot of meaningful games, bailed when the walls started to close in, didn't recruit well, and begat Wyking Jones
Strong disagree. We had multiple POY players under Monty. We went to the NCAA tournament 4 times. We had multiple top 10 victories under him. He did exactly what he was supposed to do. Came in for 6 years, did very well during that time, and left the program in good shape going forward. He actively campaigned for Asst Coach DeCuire to take his place when he left. Instead, we went with Cuonzo, which led to Wyking....and here we are.
Yes, Monty's undoing was that he had major surgery for pancreatic cancer but came back to work waaay too soon, before he was fully recovered. Thank god that he survived, but he admitted this a couple of years afterwards. In fact, he said he would've wanted to stay at Cal or come back, if given the chance.
Still don't get how Cuonzo was responsible for Wyking. He was an assistant on his staff and not even his primary one. Mike Williams pulled Wyking from total obscurity. Musselman wanted the job before Williams gave him the creeps. I'm sure Cuonzo would have taken a bag from us had we been willing to match Mizzou, but we didn't.