The California Golden Bears men's basketball team is the men's college basketball team representing the University of California, Berkeley, in NCAA Division I, currently playing in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). The program has seen success throughout the years, culminating in a national championship in 1959 under coach Pete Newell, and the team has reached the final four two other times, in 1946 and 1960.
The team plays its home games at Haas Pavilion, which was long known as Harmon Gym before being heavily renovated with money donated in part by the owners of Levi Strauss & Co. The arena was originally known as Men's Gymnasium, then as Harmon Gymnasium until the late 1990s, when it went through renovations which displaced the team for two seasons.
History
The Golden Bears first played basketball intercollegiate in 1907 and began full conference play in 1915. The 1920s was the dominant decade for Cal basketball, as the Bears won six conference titles under coaches E.H. Wright and Nibs Price. Cal was retroactively ranked as the nation's top college team for the 1926–27 season by the Premo-Porretta Power Poll; however, this retroactive poll is not recognized by the NCAA.
Nibs Price coached Cal with great success for 30 years from 1924 to 1954, earning a 449–294 total record, many single season winning records, and an additional three conference titles in the 1930s and 1940s.
Cal reached the pinnacle of the sport during the tenure of Pete Newell, who was head coach from 1955 to 1960. The Golden Bears earned the conference title four out of his five years and in 1959, won the NCAA title. In Newell's last year, Cal came close to another NCAA title, but lost to Ohio State in the final.
The fortunes of Cal men's basketball would never be the same after 1960. Newell retired after the national title win, touching off what would be a mostly dreary quarter-century for the program. From 1960 to 1985, the Bears tallied only two winning seasons in conference play. This was despite having players such as Butch Hays (1981–1984) and Kevin Johnson (1983–1987) who both set school records for assists, with Johnson also setting the school's all-time scoring record at the time of his graduation.
Lou Campanelli served as head coach from 1986 to 1993. The highlight of this era was a 75–67 victory over UCLA in 1986 that ended a 25-year, 52 game losing streak to the Bruins. Also in that first season, Campanelli took the Golden Bears to the 1986 National Invitation Tournament, the first post-season appearance of any sort since 1960. In 1990, Campanelli led the Golden Bears to their first NCAA Tournament in 30 years.
Cal achieved much better success in the 1990s, qualifying for the NCAA tournament five times with future NBA players Jason Kidd (the Golden Bears all-time assists leader) and Lamond Murray, as well as future perennial All-Pro NFL tight end Tony Gonzalez in the early and mid 1990s and Sean Lampley and Shareef Abdur-Rahim in the late 1990s. Cal also won the 1999 National Invitation Tournament, with a thrilling 61–60 victory over Clemson in the title game.
This success came amid a brief period of turmoil in the mid-1990s. Campanelli was fired midway through the 1992–93 season after athletic director Bob Bockrath heard Campanelli berate his players with obscenity-laden tirades following two losses. Assistant Todd Bozeman finished out the season, and was named permanent head coach after leading the Bears to an upset of two-time defending champion Duke in the NCAA Tournament. Bozeman himself was pushed out two months before the 1996–97 season after it emerged that he'd funneled $30,000 over two years to the parents of star recruit Jelani Gardner so they could make the drive to see their son play. Ultimately, the Bears were docked four scholarships over two years and forfeited the entire 1994–95 season and all but one game of the 1995–96 season.
Ben Braun took over for Bozeman just before the 1996–97 season. Inheriting a team expected to be barely competitive in the Pac-10, Braun led the Bears to a second-place finish and took them all the way to the Sweet 16. During Braun's 12-year tenure, Cal qualified for the NCAA tournament three straight times in the 2000s and six times overall. However, after finishing near the bottom of the Pac-10 for the second straight year, Braun was dismissed in late March 2008. The former coach of rival Stanford, Mike Montgomery, succeeded Braun. In his first year the Bears finished tied for third in the Pac-10 and made it to the NCAA tournament, where they were eliminated in the first round to the Maryland Terrapins. In 2006, the Golden Bears reached their first Pacific Life Pac-10 Men's Basketball Tournament championship game. Power forward Leon Powe grabbed a tournament-record 20 rebounds against USC in the first round and then scored a tournament-record 41 points in a double-overtime victory versus Oregon in the semi-finals. Despite California's 71–52 loss to UCLA in the final game, Powe was named Most Valuable Player for the tournament.
In Montgomery's second season, the Bears won their first conference title in 50 years. The team, featuring four seniors as starters, only lost one game at Haas Pavilion but had a rough non-conference schedule featuring losses to elite teams such as Kansas, Ohio State, and Syracuse, which quickly knocked them out of the national rankings after being ranked #13 in the pre-season. Despite losing the Pac-10 tournament, and questions on whether even the conference champion of a down Pac-10 conference would receive an at-large bid to the tournament, the Bears qualified for their second straight NCAA bid as a #8 seed. They one-upped their previous season by winning their first round matchup against the Louisville Cardinals but fell to the eventual national champions, Duke, in the second round. Senior Jerome Randle finished the season and his career as Cal's all-time leading scorer. The highlight of Montgomery's last season as the head coach for Cal was the signature win at home against then undefeated, No. 1 Arizona. In thrilling fashion, senior guard Justin Cobbs hits the game-winning jumper with 0.9 on the clock for a 60–58 victory.
Mike Montgomery announced his retirement shortly after the 2013–14 season's culmination, resulting in the hiring of Cuonzo Martin. The Bears went 18–15 in Martin's first season as head coach. On April 13, 2015, 5-star power forward Ivan Rabb of Bishop O'Dowd High School announced he would attend Cal. A little more than 2 weeks later, 5-star small forward Jaylen Brown announced he too would attend Cal, making this recruiting class the best in Cal history. While the team had a solid regular season, earning a #4 seed in the NCAA tournament, they were upset in the first round by Hawaii. After three seasons, Martin announced his resignation to become the head coach at Missouri. Shortly thereafter, Martin's assistant coach Wyking Jones became Cal's 17th head basketball coach. Jones coached for only two years, with the team finishing in the last place of the Pac-12 during both seasons.
Former Georgia head coach Mark Fox was named Cal's 18th head basketball coach in 2019. Fox continued the Bears' inferiority, with a 38–87 record and 17–61 in conference play. His last season produced a 3–29 record, the worst winning percentage (.093) in Cal history. Attendance plunged from 5,627 in Fox's first year to 2,155, the lowest attendance of any power conference school. Former Stanford forward and Los Angeles Laker Mark Madsen became the head coach in 2023. Madsen improved the Bears to a 13–19 record and signed an extension to the 2029–30 season.
Coaches No.Head coach YearsWin–lossPct.1Patrick Kilduff1915–191611–5.6882Ben Cherrington1916–191715–1.9383Walter Christie1917–19188–2.8004William Hollender1918–192014–8.6365E. H. Wright1920–192460–20.7506Nibs Price1924–1954449–294.6047Pete Newell1954–1960119–44.7308Rene Herrerias1960–196892–100.4799Jim Padgett1968–197252–53.49510Dick Edwards1972–197873–85.46211Dick Kuchen1978–198580–112.41712Lou Campanelli1985–1993123–108.53213Todd Bozeman1993–199663–35.64314Ben Braun1996–2008219–154.57815Mike Montgomery2008–2014130–73.64016Cuonzo Martin2014–201762–39.61417Wyking Jones2017–201916–47.25418Mark Fox2019–202338–87.30419Mark Madsen2023–present49–50.495
Postseason
NCAA tournament results The Golden Bears have appeared in 19 NCAA tournaments. They were national champions in 1959 and their combined record is 20–19. 1946 Elite EightFinal FourNational 3rd Place ColoradoOklahoma A&MOhio State W 50–44L 35–52L 45–63 1957 Round of 23Sweet SixteenElite Eight ByeBYUSan Francisco —W 86–59L 46–50 1958 Round of 24Sweet SixteenElite Eight ByeIdaho State#18 Seattle —W 54–43L 62–66 OT 1959 Round of 23Sweet SixteenElite EightFinal FourChampionship Bye#18 UtahSaint Mary's#5 Cincinnati#10 West Virginia —W 71–53W 66–46W 64–58W 71–70 1960 Round of 25Sweet SixteenElite EightFinal FourChampionship Idaho StateSanta ClaraOregon#1 Cincinnati#3 Ohio State W 71–44W 69–49W 70–49W 77–69L 55–75 1990 9 E Round of 64Round of 32 (8) Indiana(1) #4 Connecticut W 65–63L 54–74 1993 6 M Round of 64Round of 32Sweet Sixteen (11) LSU(3) #10 Duke(2) #9 Kansas W 66–64W 82–77L 76–93 1994 5 W Round of 64 (12) Green Bay L 57–61 1996 12 M Round of 64 (5) #17 Iowa State L 64–74 1997 5 E Round of 64Round of 32Sweet Sixteen (12) Princeton(4) #20 Villanova(1) #4 North Carolina W 55–52W 75–68L 57–63 2001 8 S Round of 64 (9) Fresno State L 70–82 2002 6 S Round of 64Round of 32 (11) Penn(3) #9 Pittsburgh W 82–75L 50–63 2003 8 E Round of 64Round of 32 (9) NC State(1) #3 Oklahoma W 76–74 OTL 65–74 2006 7 S Round of 64 (10) NC State L 52–58 2009 7 W Round of 64 (10) Maryland L 71–84 2010 8 S Round of 64Round of 32 (9) Louisville(1) #3 Duke W 77–62L 53–68 2012 12 M First Four (12) South Florida L 54–65 2013 12 E Round of 64Round of 32 (5) UNLV(4) #16 Syracuse W 64–61L 60–66 2016 4 S Round of 64 (13) Hawaii L 66–77
NIT results The Golden Bears have appeared in nine National Invitation Tournaments (NIT). Their combined record is 15–9. They were NIT champions in 1999. 1986 First Round Loyola Marymount L 75–80 1987 First RoundSecond RoundQuarterfinals Cal State FullertonOregon StateArkansas–Little Rock W 72–68W 65–62L 73–80 1989 First RoundSecond Round HawaiiConnecticut W 73–57L 72–73 1999 First RoundSecond RoundQuarterfinalsSemifinalsChampionship Fresno StateDePaulColorado StateOregonClemson W 79–71W 58–57W 71–62W 85–69W 61–60 2000 First RoundSecond RoundQuarterfinals Long Beach StateGeorgetownWake Forest W 70–66W 60–49L 59–76 2008 First RoundSecond Round New MexicoOhio State W 68–66L 56–73 2011 First RoundSecond Round Ole MissColorado W 77–74L 72–89 2014 First RoundSecond RoundQuarterfinals Utah ValleyArkansasSMU W 70–52W 75–64L 65–67 2017 First Round Cal State Bakersfield L 66–73 2026 First RoundSecond Round UICSaint Joseph's W 91–73L 75–76 Conference rules (PCC/Pac-8) disallowed participation until 1973.
Notable players
Retired numbers
California Golden Bears retired numbers No.PlayerPositionCareerNo. retiredRefs.4 Alfred Grigsby F 1991–971997 Al Grigsby Roundtable: Recalling The Career Of One Of Cal's Hardest Working Players, 9 Feb 20115 Jason Kidd G 1992–94 2004 Like Kidd, retiring his Cal jersey a bad example by Glenn Dickey on SFGate, Feb. 12, 200411 Kevin Johnson G 1983–871992 40 Darrall Imhoff C 1957–602009
All-Americans