Michelle Onyiah delivers a Senior Day throwback

Reflecting on the joy and meaning of a five year journey at Cal

photo via Rob Hwang

One of the under the radar sad details of the last six years of Cal basketball struggles has been the near extinction of the single school full career college journey at Cal.

It used to be that I looked forward to Senior Day each year with a combination of excitement and nostalgia. It was the chance to reflect upon 4+ years in blue and gold for a handful of players, and to celebrate their development as basketball players and human beings.

They could be big days of celebration that acted as the crescendo of an entire era, like in 2013 when we celebrated Talia Caldwell, Layshia Clarendon, Eliza Pierre, and Tierra Rogers before a crazy comeback win over Oregon State that clinched Cal a share of a Pac-12 title (and would finish with a trip to the Final Four). They could be a ray of sunshine in a tough season, like when Justin Cobbs and Richard Solomon combined to score 35 points in an OT win over Colorado in 2014. They could be joyful surprises, like when walk-on Steve Panawek stole the show with a breakaway dunk against USC. Win or lose, good season or bad, you could expect to be able to celebrate a player who you had been able to watch and get to know across 4+ seasons say goodbye to college basketball.

Cal has still had seniors over the last few years, but it hasn’t quite been the same. Since 2018, Cal men’s basketball has had exactly one player arrive at Cal as a freshman and leave Cal having exhausted his eligibility: Grant Anticevich. The WBB program hasn’t been quite as barren, but since 2020 only Evelien Lutje Schipholt and Leilani Macintosh have completed the full freshman-to-senior journey.

On Sunday, we got to watch as Michelle Onyiah headlined a truly special group of seniors as they said goodbye to Haas Pavilion in raucous fashion. Onyiah was the star, scoring 26 points on just 14 shots, and thanks to the ACC network you can enjoy every single bucket:

I was in the building, so I have no idea if the broadcast portrayed just how animated Michelle Onyiah was all game long. For five seasons, I’ve watched her play stoic basketball. She (outwardly, at least) didn’t allow herself to get too high or too low. When she made a key play, I didn’t see her get particularly hyped. When the refs made a terrible call that forced her to the bench, I never saw her argue or express anger.

But in her final game at Haas she allowed herself to have the time of her life. Almost every basket elicited a celebration of some kind - a fist pump or a confident shrug. And toward the end of the game, she spent multiple possessions in a row, jumping up and down, raising her arms and calling for more noise from the crowd. And when she was finally pulled from the game, she pivoted and bowed to the crowd as we roared in appreciation.

Cal’s dominance over Miami meant that the entire 4th quarter was one rolling celebration, as Charmin Smith was able to pull Cal’s seniors from the game, one-by-one, so that each got their own curtain call. And all of Cal’s seniors deserved their moment. Natalie Ackerman brought solid reserve forward minutes in her one year in Berkeley. Ioanna Krimili and Marta Suarez brought three point assassin swagger that transformed Cal basketball. Kayla Williams and Jayda Noble transformed Cal defensively this year. All of them were key ingredients in this shockingly fun season.

But Michelle Onyiah was the only one of Cal’s seven seniors who spent her entire career in Berkeley. When Cal could barely field a full lineup in the nightmare COVID season of 2020-21, she decided to stay at Cal. When she could barely stay on the court because of constant foul trouble, she decided to stay. When so many other teammates decided to transfer away, she decided to stay. When Cal didn’t make the NCAA tournament across her first four seasons, she decided to stay.

And every year, she got better.

Like so many post players, she started out raw on both ends of the floor. On offense, her sense of spacing and touch around the basket were iffy. On defense, her physicality was equally her super power and her Achilles’ Heel. Cal needed her on the court for rim protection and rebounding. She fouled too much to stay on the court for long.

There were times when I never thought she would be able to put it all together. There was an early season game last year when she fouled out against Gonzaga in just 16 minutes, scoring only 2 points. But each year she did get a little bit better about playing defense without fouling, a little bit better at spacing herself to create scoring angles, a little bit better at ball control.

And finally, as a 5th year senior, she put everything together. She was able to avoid fouls juuuuust enough to play major minutes. Her finishing took a massive leap forward. Her rebounding remained excellent. In her final season, Michelle Onyiah became arguably the best post player and one of the best all-around players in the entire ACC.

Consider: Here is a list of every player in the ACC who has made more than 125 two-point baskets while maintaining high rebounding numbers on both ends of the floor:

If you’re trying to pick a player who best combines efficiency, usage rate, rebounding, and defensive impact, it’s either going to be Onyiah, or UNC’s Maria Gakdeng. There’s a compelling argument that Michelle Onyiah should be first team all ACC as a center.

And this weekend, we got to see her at her absolute peak. We saw Michelle go 23-30 from the field for 50 points and 20 rebounds in one dominant weekend against Georgia Tech and Miami, in a weekend that guaranteed Cal a spot in the NCAA tournament.

You hope that when senior day rolls around, you get to express your appreciation for a player who achieved something impressive on the court, who left the program better than how they found it as a freshman. Five years ago, Michelle Onyiah arrived to a one win season. With basketball left to play, Michelle Onyiah said goodbye to Haas Pavilion with Cal’s 24th win of the year. Few players have ever put on the blue and gold and seen more improvement individually and as a team.

Thank you seniors, and thank you Michelle, for a hell of a season and a hell of a journey.