Cal Bears Men’s Hoops History Update

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In this series of updates on the history of each Pac-12 men’s hoops program, we provide a brief coaching summary, list of the current coaches, along with postseason results, conference titles, award winners, and all-time coaching records.

The Golden Bears first played basketball intercollegiately in 1907 and began full conference play in 1915.d

The 1920s was the dominant decade for Cal basketball, as the Bears won six conference titles.

Cal was retroactively recognized as the pre-NCAA Tournament national champion for the 1926–27 season by the Premo-Porretta Power Poll.

Nibs Price coached the Bears from 1924 to 1954, and was the dominant force in Cal athletics for 30 years, coaching football for fives seasons and taking the Bears to the Rose bowl in addition to coaching basketball.

Price won seven conference titles and led Cal to the NCAA Tournament in 1946, guiding his team to the Final Four, and finished with an overall record of 453-294.

Pete Newell was hired at the end of Price’s tenure in 1954, leading the Bears to four consecutive conference titles and four NCAA Tournaments, including two straight title appearances, winning it all in 1959.

Former Cal coach Pete Newell with two of his players | Bill Crouch / Oakland Tribune

Newell won three National Coach of the Year awards in 1960, including the Henry Iba, the NABC, and UPI honors. He retired that year, becoming Cal’s Athletic Director, and serving in that role until 1968.

After a string of unremarkable hires and the scandalous Todd Bozeman era, Ben Braun was hired in 1996, leading the Bears to the Sweet 16 in his first season, while setting a school record for wins by a debut coach.

He was named Pac-10 Coach of the Year, becoming the first Cal coach to win that honor, and would take the Bears to the Big Dance four more times.

Former Cal coach Ben Braun | East Bay Times

During his tenure, the second-longest behind Price, Braun directed Cal to more postseason appearances and postseason wins than any other men’s basketball coach in school history.

Mike Montgomery took the reins after Braun in 2008, coming to Berkeley after coaching cross-Bay rival Stanford and serving a stint in the NBA and as an assistant to the Athletic Director at Stanford.

In his first season, the Bears went 22-10 and earned an NCAA Tournament bid. In 2010, Cal defeated the Cardinal to clinch an outright Conference title, the Bears’ first since 1960.

Montgomery directed the Bears to three more NCAA Tournaments before retiring in 2014 with a record of 130-73.

Mark Fox was hired away from Georgia in 2019, signing a five-year contract worth $8.2 million. He guided Cal to a 14-18 record in his first season but has yet to improve on that mark in subsequent years.

University of California, Berkeley (Berkeley, CA)

Walter A. Hass, Jr. Pavilion

Current Coaching Staff

Current Head Coach: Mark Fox (2019-present)
Assistant: Andrew Francis (2019-present)
Assistant: Chris Harriman (2019-present)
Assistant: Marty Wilson (2018-present)
Scouting: Austin Chambers (2021-present)
Director of Basketball Operations: David Ford (2019-present)

Postseason Results

National Championships: 1 (1959)
Final Four Appearances: 3 (1946, 1959, 1960)
Sweet Sixteen Appearances: 4 (1959, 1960, 1993, 1997)
NCAA Tournament Appearances: 18 (1946, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1970, 1990, 1993, 1994, 1997, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2016) **
NCAA Tournament Overall Record: 20-18 **
NIT Championships: 1 (1999)
NIT Appearances: 9 (1986, 1987, 1989, 1999, 2000, 2008, 2011, 2014, 2017)
NIT Overall Record: 14-8
Premo-Porretta National Championships: 1 (1927)
Helms Foundation National Championships: 1 (1959)

Conference Titles (PCC / Pac-12)

Pac-12 Regular Season Championships: 15 (1916, 1921, 1924, 1925, 1926, 1927, 1929, 1932, 1944, 1946, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 2010)
Pac-12 Tournament Championships: 0

Award Winners

Naismith Player of the Year: 0
John R. Wooden Award: 0
Oscar Robertson Trophy: 0
AP All-Americans: 7 (Leon Powe, 2006; Ed Gray, 1997; Sharif Abdur-Rahim, 1996; Jason Kidd, 1994; Lamond Murray, 1994; Darral Imhoff, 1960; Larry Friend, 1957)
Pac-12 Player of the Year: 7 (Allen Crabbe, 2013; orge Gutierrez, 2012; Jerome Randle, 2010; Sean Lampley, 2001; Ed Gray, 1997; Shareef Abdur-Rahim, 1996; Jason Kidd, 1994)

California Head Coach Records

Coach	Tenure	Record	Conf Titles	NCAA Trips	NCAA Titles
Mark Fox	2019-Present	35-58	0	0	0
Wyking Jones	2017-2019	16-47	0	0	0
Cuonzo Martin	2014-2017	62-39	0	1	0
Mike Montgomery	2008-2014	130-73	1	4	0
Ben Braun	1996-2008	219-154	0	5	0
Todd Bozeman**	1993-1996	35-62	0	1	0
Lou Campanelli	1985-1993	123-108	0	2	0
Dick Kuchen	1978-1985	80-112	0	0	0
Dick Edwards	1972-1978	73-85	0	0	0
Jim Padgett	1968-1972	52-53	0	0	0
Rene Herrerias	1960-1968	92-100	0	0	0
Pete Newell	1954-1960	119-44	4	4	1
Nibs Price	1924-1954	453-294	7	1	0
E.H. Wright	1920-1924	60-20	2	-	-
William Hollender	1918-1920	14-8	0	-	-
Walter Christie	1917-1918	8-2	0	-	-
Ben Cherrington	1916-1917	15-1	0	-	-
Patrick Kilduff	1915-1916	11-5	1	-	-