It may seem too early to take a gander over to the hardwood, what with the Golden Bear football squad only 2 weeks into their regular season, but as the dog days of August are now securely in the rear view mirror, the tip-off of the college basketball season will be upon the Cal campus sooner the later. Entering his 3rd year as the Golden Bears basketball coach, Mike Montgomery will face his most daunting coaching challenge thus far in his short stay in Berkeley. After taking the team to the NCAA Tournament in each of his first 2 seasons, Montgomery will try to make a gourmet meal out of mostly leftovers, with all four of 2009-10′s top scorers no longer on the roster. The team does boast the luxury of top billed incoming talent, via the high school recruiting ranks. Guards Allen Crabbe and Gary Franklin, both rising freshmen, will have to make an immediate impression and play key roles for the Bears to rival the success of seasons past.Not to say that an improbably run is out of the cards for the Naismith College Coach of the Year in 2000, 4-time Pac-10 Coach of the year and John R. Wooden “Legends of Coaching” Lifetime achievement award. After all, legends are formed out of bouts with adversity. While Montgomery filled out his resume and expanded his trophy case during his 18-year coaching stop at Stanford, his first year at Cal saw a small scale miracle in its own right. Just a year after stumbling to a 6-12 division mark, running the basketball Bears to 17-16 on the season, the Montgomery led Bears clawed their way to a 22-10 record and a Big Dance berth. A year later, the Bears once again improved under their new coach’s direction, winning 24 games before capturing the school’s first Pac-10 conference title in basketball since 1960.
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