Great article with great analysis. No arguing the lack of recruiting. Facing the prospect of another year of this is the worst. Watching the Pac12 championships was such an example of the talent gap we have. Granted, our top teams are legit competitors for either the Natty or a elite 8 finish, but why would great players choose UW or Oregon over Cal? Fox is either needs to hire much better assistants, or we are doomed. I've said many times that I believe Fox gets as much from his players as most other coaches, but that doesn't excuse the lack of talent.
Perfect, Nick! No one was expecting even close to a full turnaround by this point, but you should be starting to feel some buzz. The Wyking and Williams excuses have reached past their expiration dates.
Brutal, but accurate assessment. I know saying "what have we got to lose?" usually turns out poorly but we may be at that point. We already hit the worst possible scenario when giving an assistant their first HC gig (Jones), leaving the cupboard so bare that we can't afford an experienced coach capable of fixing it. Probably will have to gamble on an another assistant.
Say what you will about Wyking, but he wasn't a bad recruiter. He left Bradley, Vanover, and Sueing. Anyone who witnessed Fox's cringeworthy speech to the team when he took over couldn't have been surprised by the defections. Without a doubt Wyking was a legendarily bad coach, but it's not like he got us on probation or burned our arena down. We make it out as if the program was unrecoverable, but that just wasn't the case. The death blow was really following up with Fox.
There's a lot of truth in this article. The title is 100% true. But you didn't define what rebuilding means at Cal. We know, for example, what rebuilding means at the aforementioned Arizona & UCLA, as they are currently enjoying the results of successful rebuilds. But looking back at the good 'ol days for Cal (pre-Wyking, post-PAC8 being formed), Cal has had exactly one conference championship and no conference tournament championships in those 48 years. We had 14 NCAA appearances, which means we visited the tournament ~30% of the time. But we lost in the first or second round in 10 of those 14, meaning we had no realistic chance of doing any real damage in all but 4 seasons out of 48. We obviously want more, but let's be realistic. Cal is not a basketball school, top recruits rarely ever come here. Cal offers one of the top degrees in the nation, but how many 4/5* high school kids are attracted to rigorous academics and lackluster facilities and little winning tradition? Short of a miracle hire, or someone in Haas (the business school, not the pavilion) coming up with a killer NIL program, Cal really can't be anything more than a 3*, get 'em in & coach 'em up school. I believe that the results in our next 5 years will be the same whether we extend Fox (for stability/consistency/competency which has it's own attraction) or bring in the next bright young coach for 'energy' and 'buzz' (who would also need to bring a couple of 4*'s with him for things to turn around). Change for change's sake is not rebuilding.
Musselman should have got the nod after Monty. Was an easy call. The other problem besides Knowlton is Christ. She knows absolutely nothing about sports, doesn't really care, and wants to hire and maintain "nice people" per folks from Boston Market that know her well.
Fox lacks any creativity and can not adjust to the majority of in game situations. I am shocked more teams didn't play zone against Cal as they showed no ability to score consistently against one. Every day Fox remains the coach is a waisted day. I don't know how well he would do on the west coast but Shaheen Holloway from Saint Peters would be a good hire
Great article with great analysis. No arguing the lack of recruiting. Facing the prospect of another year of this is the worst. Watching the Pac12 championships was such an example of the talent gap we have. Granted, our top teams are legit competitors for either the Natty or a elite 8 finish, but why would great players choose UW or Oregon over Cal? Fox is either needs to hire much better assistants, or we are doomed. I've said many times that I believe Fox gets as much from his players as most other coaches, but that doesn't excuse the lack of talent.
Perfect, Nick! No one was expecting even close to a full turnaround by this point, but you should be starting to feel some buzz. The Wyking and Williams excuses have reached past their expiration dates.
Brutal, but accurate assessment. I know saying "what have we got to lose?" usually turns out poorly but we may be at that point. We already hit the worst possible scenario when giving an assistant their first HC gig (Jones), leaving the cupboard so bare that we can't afford an experienced coach capable of fixing it. Probably will have to gamble on an another assistant.
The article is dead on. There is just no energy or buzz around the program right now. It is bleak.
Great article, Nick. Thank you !
How was Bowser a 4*? Hope we see some of that next year, because sure didn’t see flashes of that from him as a FR last year.
Say what you will about Wyking, but he wasn't a bad recruiter. He left Bradley, Vanover, and Sueing. Anyone who witnessed Fox's cringeworthy speech to the team when he took over couldn't have been surprised by the defections. Without a doubt Wyking was a legendarily bad coach, but it's not like he got us on probation or burned our arena down. We make it out as if the program was unrecoverable, but that just wasn't the case. The death blow was really following up with Fox.
Hmm The Buffs are #4 in the league. And #8 in recruits. Why did we Fox an extension?
There's a lot of truth in this article. The title is 100% true. But you didn't define what rebuilding means at Cal. We know, for example, what rebuilding means at the aforementioned Arizona & UCLA, as they are currently enjoying the results of successful rebuilds. But looking back at the good 'ol days for Cal (pre-Wyking, post-PAC8 being formed), Cal has had exactly one conference championship and no conference tournament championships in those 48 years. We had 14 NCAA appearances, which means we visited the tournament ~30% of the time. But we lost in the first or second round in 10 of those 14, meaning we had no realistic chance of doing any real damage in all but 4 seasons out of 48. We obviously want more, but let's be realistic. Cal is not a basketball school, top recruits rarely ever come here. Cal offers one of the top degrees in the nation, but how many 4/5* high school kids are attracted to rigorous academics and lackluster facilities and little winning tradition? Short of a miracle hire, or someone in Haas (the business school, not the pavilion) coming up with a killer NIL program, Cal really can't be anything more than a 3*, get 'em in & coach 'em up school. I believe that the results in our next 5 years will be the same whether we extend Fox (for stability/consistency/competency which has it's own attraction) or bring in the next bright young coach for 'energy' and 'buzz' (who would also need to bring a couple of 4*'s with him for things to turn around). Change for change's sake is not rebuilding.
How can there be such a drop off in recruiting from the level of Mike Montgomery? It is the same school.
Musselman should have got the nod after Monty. Was an easy call. The other problem besides Knowlton is Christ. She knows absolutely nothing about sports, doesn't really care, and wants to hire and maintain "nice people" per folks from Boston Market that know her well.
We need to get rid of Knowlton or nothing will change.
a very thoughtful and balanced article. thank you
Truly the program is entirely moribund. Drastic action needs to be taken to right the ship.
Cuonzo is back on the market...LOL
Fox lacks any creativity and can not adjust to the majority of in game situations. I am shocked more teams didn't play zone against Cal as they showed no ability to score consistently against one. Every day Fox remains the coach is a waisted day. I don't know how well he would do on the west coast but Shaheen Holloway from Saint Peters would be a good hire