I dont need no Stinkin Badges!

There was commentary during the game about Mr. Kuchen - mostly positive

He was after my time at Cal. I heard he was a nice guy, but based on, was it eight years at Cal (?) not a very good coach. Still, apparently good enough for Yale.

Looks like you have a nice turntable, BTW.

Dick Kutchen is a good guy and I think it's cool that he has regularly attended Cal games over the years.

Okay, he did not get it done as coach here, but I believe the program was in incrementally better shape when he left than when he arrived, and Campanelli was able to take what was here and make that next step right away.

Paging Cal8285 who, with his amazing recall, is the only person I have ever run across who seems to remember more about the Kuchen Era than I do. (I'm telling you though, if I hit the Daily Double and the category is "The Kuchen Years", I'm making it a "true daily double" without even hesitating.)

Big C said:

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Dick Kutchen is a good guy and I think it's cool that he has regularly attended Cal games over the years.

Okay, he did not get it done as coach here, but I believe the program was in incrementally better shape when he left than when he arrived, and Campanelli was able to take what was here and make that next step right away.

---

Kuchen and his staff recruited Dave Butler, Kevin Johnson, and Leonard Taylor, who were the key players on Campanelli's first two Cal teams, which won 19 games his first season and 20 his second season.

BearSD said:

---

Big C said:

---

Dick Kutchen is a good guy and I think it's cool that he has regularly attended Cal games over the years.

Okay, he did not get it done as coach here, but I believe the program was in incrementally better shape when he left than when he arrived, and Campanelli was able to take what was here and make that next step right away.

---

Kuchen and his staff recruited Dave Butler, Kevin Johnson, and Leonard Taylor, who were the key players on Campanelli's first two Cal teams, which won 19 games his first season and 20 his second season.

---

Chris Washington was another good player recruited by Kuchen, although his minutes and scoring dropped some under Campanelli.

My memory is that Lou broke the spirit of both Chris Washington and Bryant Walton…and that it really pi$$ed me off.

Thank God Lou loved Keith Smith, because I did too. Keith may be one of the most underrated PG's in Cal hoop history. When you look up the term "stop and pop," a picture of Keith Smith is there.

Bryant Walton was not without his brief moment in the sun, however.

Walton Helps Cure the Bears' Pauley Woes : College basketball: California senior, former Saddleback High School standout and county player of the year, scored to help clinch streak-ending victory at UCLA. - Los Angeles Times


https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-02-17-sp-775-story.html

Keith got props in this article:

"Guards Keith Smith, a 6-4 senior, and Ryan Drew, a 6-3 junior, have developed into exceptional three-point shooters. Smith averaged a team-high 16.7 points and 6.7 assists a game to set a school record."

They Are Warriors, Poets--and Winners : College basketball: With Campanelli's leadership and Colson's offense, Cal turns the clock back to the glory days. - Los Angeles Times


https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-03-08-sp-2845-story.html

time flies. we were among a dozen or so g)alums who met kuchen when he spoke at a south bay dinner ahead of his first season. clueless we went to harmon for his team's first game or two, and ended up season tickets holders ever since.
sooo, dunno, thanks coach?

in recent years (pre-covid) he's been spotted in haas, low down on the west side.

bearister said:

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My memory is that Lou broke the spirit of both Chris Washington and Bryant Walton…and that it really pi$$ed me off.

Thank God Lou loved Keith Smith, because I did too. Keith may be one of the most underrated PG's in Call hoop history. When you look up the term "stop and pop," a picture of Keith Smith is there.

Bryant Walton was not without his brief moment in the Sun, however.

Walton Helps Cure the Bears' Pauley Woes : College basketball: California senior, former Saddleback High School standout and county player of the year, scored to help clinch streak-ending victory at UCLA. - Los Angeles Times


https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-02-17-sp-775-story.html

---

Kutchen and the rest of the team used to go to Evan's to root for KJ at shortstop. The 80's were an amazing time for PAC-10 baseball: Elway in right field and pitching for Stanford, McGuire hitting monster shots with aluminum bats for USC, Barry Bonds at ASU, etc.

Washington and KJ were a great backcourt, but Campanelli was brutal on them. I remember the score tied (I believe) and KJ getting a steal and taking it the length of the court for the easy layup to give us the lead only to have Lou roughly pull him to the bench screaming at him.

As a KALX reporter described the pre-Campanelli years: too much Dick (Edwards and Kuchen).
Kuchen was not a bad recruiter - besides the people he left for Campanelli (KJ, Butler, Washington, Keith Smith), he also got Mark McNamara to transfer from Santa Clara
And we were very excited by the Michaels (Pitts and Chavez) - but injuries and other woes just left Cal with few wins.
Kuchen was a Digger Phelps assistant at Notre Dame - so there were high expectations even after a disastrous first year - where he reportedly sent a telegram to Digger about how Kuchen matched Digger's first year record at Notre Dame (I think 8 wins?).

But, there were fun times at Harmon.

Does anyone remember the Warrior exhibition game at Harmon that became part of a TV show?

Names In The Game | AP News


https://apnews.com/article/86c14fd5ad83881d0b56b63e9636fff0

*I missed the game but my memory of it is tied to my buddy, who went to the game, telling me that on his way home he tried to help a guy on Prince Street that had just been shot in the face by a high caliber hand gun (victim died).

Lou Campanelli..Poor leader. Poor coach. Poor Supervisor of Pac-10 referees. Nice last name, though.

bearister said:

---

Does anyone remember the Warrior exhibition game at Harmon that became part of a TV show?

Names In The Game | AP News


https://apnews.com/article/86c14fd5ad83881d0b56b63e9636fff0

*I missed the game but my memory of it is tied to my buddy, who went to the game, telling me that on his way home he tried to help a guy on Prince Street that had just been shot in the face by a high caliber hand gun (victim died).

---

I was at that exhibition game.

ncbears said:

---

As a KALX reporter described the pre-Campanelli years: too much Dick (Edwards and Kuchen).
Kuchen was not a bad recruiter - besides the people he left for Campanelli (KJ, Butler, Washington, Keith Smith), he also got Mark McNamara to transfer from Santa Clara
And we were very excited by the Michaels (Pitts and Chavez) - but injuries and other woes just left Cal with few wins.
Kuchen was a Digger Phelps assistant at Notre Dame - so there were high expectations even after a disastrous first year - where he reportedly sent a telegram to Digger about how Kuchen matched Digger's first year record at Notre Dame (I think 8 wins?).

But, there were fun times at Harmon.

---

Great recollections (pretty sure Keith Smith was a Campanelli recruit, though). Two other pretty decent players he recruited (year 3?) were Butch Hayes and Sam Potter. I happened to be watching a practice one day when Kuchen kicked out Potter (either for loafing or being a smart ass) and so I wasn't surprised a couple of months later when he transferred. Kuchen's problem as a recruiter was there were years that he basically struck out and had to go down to his "Plan C"s.

One thing Kuchen knew, which our latest coaches can't seem to figure out, was where most of our recruits can be coming from: SoCal.

Can we talk about the vinyl records?

Big C said:

---

ncbears said:

---

As a KALX reporter described the pre-Campanelli years: too much Dick (Edwards and Kuchen).
Kuchen was not a bad recruiter - besides the people he left for Campanelli (KJ, Butler, Washington, Keith Smith), he also got Mark McNamara to transfer from Santa Clara
And we were very excited by the Michaels (Pitts and Chavez) - but injuries and other woes just left Cal with few wins.
Kuchen was a Digger Phelps assistant at Notre Dame - so there were high expectations even after a disastrous first year - where he reportedly sent a telegram to Digger about how Kuchen matched Digger's first year record at Notre Dame (I think 8 wins?).

But, there were fun times at Harmon.

---

Great recollections (pretty sure Keith Smith was a Campanelli recruit, though). Two other pretty decent players he recruited (year 3?) were Butch Hayes and Sam Potter. I happened to be watching a practice one day when Kuchen kicked out Potter (either for loafing or being a smart ass) and so I wasn't surprised a couple of months later when he transferred. Kuchen's problem as a recruiter was there were years that he basically struck out and had to go down to his "Plan C"s.

One thing Kuchen knew, which our latest coaches can't seem to figure out, was where most of our recruits can be coming from: SoCal.

---

Kuchen, and to some degree Bozeman, were examples of good recruiters, and questionable X and O guys....that's been rare for Cal basketball, as well as football....

LateHit said:

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Can we talk about the vinyl records?

---

Thats an AR turntable I bought in 1970. Abut a year ago I had it repaired so it works now. Very hard to find needles. I had gotten rid of a lot of my records so I had to rebuy them. There is a vinyl shop in San Mateo that is very helpful.the turntable goes remotely through sonos connected to tv. I liked it better when it was connected to an amp with tuner . It seemed easier to use. Now I have to remember how to use it. I may play some records today. I mainly had broadway musicals, Dean Martin , Tijuana Brass. I bought a few new records, including an Italian Symphonic record that is very good. I get lazy and just play music through DirectTv, mostly jazz.

helltopay1 said:

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Lou Campanelli..Poor leader. Poor coach. Poor Supervisor of Pac-10 referees. Nice last name, though.

---

And nice black velvet jacket...

Big C said:

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ncbears said:

---

As a KALX reporter described the pre-Campanelli years: too much Dick (Edwards and Kuchen).
Kuchen was not a bad recruiter - besides the people he left for Campanelli (KJ, Butler, Washington, Keith Smith), he also got Mark McNamara to transfer from Santa Clara
And we were very excited by the Michaels (Pitts and Chavez) - but injuries and other woes just left Cal with few wins.
Kuchen was a Digger Phelps assistant at Notre Dame - so there were high expectations even after a disastrous first year - where he reportedly sent a telegram to Digger about how Kuchen matched Digger's first year record at Notre Dame (I think 8 wins?).

But, there were fun times at Harmon.

---

Great recollections (pretty sure Keith Smith was a Campanelli recruit, though). Two other pretty decent players he recruited (year 3?) were Butch Hayes and Sam Potter. I happened to be watching a practice one day when Kuchen kicked out Potter (either for loafing or being a smart ass) and so I wasn't surprised a couple of months later when he transferred. Kuchen's problem as a recruiter was there were years that he basically struck out and had to go down to his "Plan C"s.

One thing Kuchen knew, which our latest coaches can't seem to figure out, was where most of our recruits can be coming from: SoCal.

---

Dick Kuchen, very cool, even though not great success on the court, was a classy guy.
Butch Hays, in my opinion, one of the top 5 defensive guards ever to play at Cal. I still think A.J. Diggs was the best.
Sam Potter, no better than a streaky jump shooter. Other than that, not much of a player.

mbBear said:

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Big C said:

---

ncbears said:

---

As a KALX reporter described the pre-Campanelli years: too much Dick (Edwards and Kuchen).
Kuchen was not a bad recruiter - besides the people he left for Campanelli (KJ, Butler, Washington, Keith Smith), he also got Mark McNamara to transfer from Santa Clara
And we were very excited by the Michaels (Pitts and Chavez) - but injuries and other woes just left Cal with few wins.
Kuchen was a Digger Phelps assistant at Notre Dame - so there were high expectations even after a disastrous first year - where he reportedly sent a telegram to Digger about how Kuchen matched Digger's first year record at Notre Dame (I think 8 wins?).

But, there were fun times at Harmon.

---

Great recollections (pretty sure Keith Smith was a Campanelli recruit, though). Two other pretty decent players he recruited (year 3?) were Butch Hayes and Sam Potter. I happened to be watching a practice one day when Kuchen kicked out Potter (either for loafing or being a smart ass) and so I wasn't surprised a couple of months later when he transferred. Kuchen's problem as a recruiter was there were years that he basically struck out and had to go down to his "Plan C"s.

One thing Kuchen knew, which our latest coaches can't seem to figure out, was where most of our recruits can be coming from: SoCal.

---

Kuchen, and to some degree Bozeman, were examples of good recruiters, and questionable X and O guys....that's been rare for Cal basketball, as well as football....

---

Having talked coaching and bball with both of those guys, I would say that Kuchen was actually pretty good with X's and O's, but not good at translating to players (articulating, teaching, practicing - Monty was probably the best at that). When Bozeman was at Cal, his X's and O's were VERY simple, but he had horses (and J Kidd, so it worked for a while). But coaching is much more than X's and O's or recruiting. It's about putting it all together in a package that is successful.

helltopay1 said:

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Lou Campanelli..Poor leader. Poor coach. Poor Supervisor of Pac-10 referees. Nice last name, though.

---

Campy's problem was that he'd outstayed his "sell-by date" and his dictatorial approach didn't play well in a players' era.

mbBear said:

---

Big C said:

---

ncbears said:

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As a KALX reporter described the pre-Campanelli years: too much Dick (Edwards and Kuchen).
Kuchen was not a bad recruiter - besides the people he left for Campanelli (KJ, Butler, Washington, Keith Smith), he also got Mark McNamara to transfer from Santa Clara
And we were very excited by the Michaels (Pitts and Chavez) - but injuries and other woes just left Cal with few wins.
Kuchen was a Digger Phelps assistant at Notre Dame - so there were high expectations even after a disastrous first year - where he reportedly sent a telegram to Digger about how Kuchen matched Digger's first year record at Notre Dame (I think 8 wins?).

But, there were fun times at Harmon.

---

Great recollections (pretty sure Keith Smith was a Campanelli recruit, though). Two other pretty decent players he recruited (year 3?) were Butch Hayes and Sam Potter. I happened to be watching a practice one day when Kuchen kicked out Potter (either for loafing or being a smart ass) and so I wasn't surprised a couple of months later when he transferred. Kuchen's problem as a recruiter was there were years that he basically struck out and had to go down to his "Plan C"s.

One thing Kuchen knew, which our latest coaches can't seem to figure out, was where most of our recruits can be coming from: SoCal.

---

Kuchen, and to some degree Bozeman, were examples of good recruiters, and questionable X and O guys....that's been rare for Cal basketball, as well as football....

---

Dare we mention Jim Padgett? My vote for Cal's all-time best recruiter. No concept whatsoever of the X or the O.

Kutchens wife looks like Martha Stewart.

SFCityBear said:

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mbBear said:

---

Big C said:

---

ncbears said:

---

As a KALX reporter described the pre-Campanelli years: too much Dick (Edwards and Kuchen).
Kuchen was not a bad recruiter - besides the people he left for Campanelli (KJ, Butler, Washington, Keith Smith), he also got Mark McNamara to transfer from Santa Clara
And we were very excited by the Michaels (Pitts and Chavez) - but injuries and other woes just left Cal with few wins.
Kuchen was a Digger Phelps assistant at Notre Dame - so there were high expectations even after a disastrous first year - where he reportedly sent a telegram to Digger about how Kuchen matched Digger's first year record at Notre Dame (I think 8 wins?).

But, there were fun times at Harmon.

---

Great recollections (pretty sure Keith Smith was a Campanelli recruit, though). Two other pretty decent players he recruited (year 3?) were Butch Hayes and Sam Potter. I happened to be watching a practice one day when Kuchen kicked out Potter (either for loafing or being a smart ass) and so I wasn't surprised a couple of months later when he transferred. Kuchen's problem as a recruiter was there were years that he basically struck out and had to go down to his "Plan C"s.

One thing Kuchen knew, which our latest coaches can't seem to figure out, was where most of our recruits can be coming from: SoCal.

---

Kuchen, and to some degree Bozeman, were examples of good recruiters, and questionable X and O guys....that's been rare for Cal basketball, as well as football....

---

Dare we mention Jim Padgett? My vote for Cal's all-time best recruiter. No concept whatsoever of the X or the O.

---

He always wore that wind breaker.

oskidunker said:

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LateHit said:

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Can we talk about the vinyl records?

---

Thats an AR turntable I bought in 1970. Abut a year ago I had it repaired so it works now. Very hard to find needles. I had gotten rid of a lot of my records so I had to rebuy them. There is a vinyl shop in San Mateo that is very helpful.the turntable goes remotely through sonos connected to tv. I liked it better when it was connected to an amp with tuner . It seemed easier to use. Now I have to remember how to use it. I may play some records today. I mainly had broadway musicals, Dean Martin , Tijuana Brass. I bought a few new records, including an Italian Symphonic record that is very good. I get lazy and just play music through DirectTv, mostly jazz.

---

I've got a Thorens turntable, and my stylus was damaged during a move. I just bought a Shure stylus online from a company in Japan. Works perfectly. Lots of styli being made in Japan now. If you can't find info online, let me know, and I'll try and find it for you.

59bear said:

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helltopay1 said:

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Lou Campanelli..Poor leader. Poor coach. Poor Supervisor of Pac-10 referees. Nice last name, though.

---

Campy's problem was that he'd outstayed his "sell-by date" and his dictatorial approach didn't play well in a players' era.

---

And that was last century, decades ago. The problem is we as fans know that, we have extensive experience with what works, doesn't work at Cal (most places really, but Cal especially) but Knowlton and the search firm do not.

The other issue with Campy is someone at the PAC-10 thought it would be a good idea to make the guy we fired mid-season the head of PAC-10 refs.

RedlessWardrobe said:

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Big C said:

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ncbears said:

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As a KALX reporter described the pre-Campanelli years: too much Dick (Edwards and Kuchen).
Kuchen was not a bad recruiter - besides the people he left for Campanelli (KJ, Butler, Washington, Keith Smith), he also got Mark McNamara to transfer from Santa Clara
And we were very excited by the Michaels (Pitts and Chavez) - but injuries and other woes just left Cal with few wins.
Kuchen was a Digger Phelps assistant at Notre Dame - so there were high expectations even after a disastrous first year - where he reportedly sent a telegram to Digger about how Kuchen matched Digger's first year record at Notre Dame (I think 8 wins?).

But, there were fun times at Harmon.

---

Great recollections (pretty sure Keith Smith was a Campanelli recruit, though). Two other pretty decent players he recruited (year 3?) were Butch Hayes and Sam Potter. I happened to be watching a practice one day when Kuchen kicked out Potter (either for loafing or being a smart ass) and so I wasn't surprised a couple of months later when he transferred. Kuchen's problem as a recruiter was there were years that he basically struck out and had to go down to his "Plan C"s.

One thing Kuchen knew, which our latest coaches can't seem to figure out, was where most of our recruits can be coming from: SoCal.

---

Dick Kuchen, very cool, even though not great success on the court, was a classy guy.
Butch Hays, in my opinion, one of the top 5 defensive guards ever to play at Cal. I still think A.J. Diggs was the best.
Sam Potter, no better than a streaky jump shooter. Other than that, not much of a player.

---

Sam Potter ended up transferring to Oral Roberts, where he averaged 15+ ppg, 4.5 rpg and 3 apg over two seasons.

He scored in double figures at Cal as both a freshman and sophomore. Didn't get along too well with Kooch.


I still can't believe this thread has gotten this long w/o Cal8285 having weighed in yet.

Disagree. Campanelli resurrected Cal basketball. Great defensive coach, poor offensive coach. Got us into post season play for the first time in 30 years. Nit, ncaa.

Big C said:

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oskidunker said:

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Disagree. Campanelli resurrected Cal basketball. Great defensive coach, poor offensive coach. Got us into post season play for the first time in 30 years. Nit, ncaa.

---

And Campanelli hired Bozeman, who recruited Jason Kidd to Cal. That whole thing eventually blew up in Lou's face, but we got two amazing years out of it. Campanelli also "broke the streak" and got us back in post-season play, so despite his shortcomings, he did do some good stuff while he was here.

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Thank you. I was not a Lou Capanelli hater. 1986 started season tickets and attended first post season game, nit atHarmon. Defense was smothering. Very exciting times.

oskidunker said:

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Disagree. Campanelli resurrected Cal basketball. Great defensive coach, poor offensive coach. Got us into post season play for the first time in 30 years. Nit, ncaa.

---

The pattern of a tough, defensive minded authoritarian coach following a player friendly coach who attracted good talent to the roster and having temporary success getting them to play defense has been repeated over and over. Campy following Kutchen was one. Howland following Lavin is another example. Fox following Trent Johnson in Nevada is another. Fox following Jones at Cal got us a bump. The issue is that authoritarian style cannot be sustained. Word gets out. Kids don't want to be subjected to it. It is doubly true now, with Gen Z and the transfer portal, but especially is a bad "fit" for Cal and Berkeley in the 21st century.

Big C said:

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RedlessWardrobe said:

---

Big C said:

---

ncbears said:

---

As a KALX reporter described the pre-Campanelli years: too much Dick (Edwards and Kuchen).
Kuchen was not a bad recruiter - besides the people he left for Campanelli (KJ, Butler, Washington, Keith Smith), he also got Mark McNamara to transfer from Santa Clara
And we were very excited by the Michaels (Pitts and Chavez) - but injuries and other woes just left Cal with few wins.
Kuchen was a Digger Phelps assistant at Notre Dame - so there were high expectations even after a disastrous first year - where he reportedly sent a telegram to Digger about how Kuchen matched Digger's first year record at Notre Dame (I think 8 wins?).

But, there were fun times at Harmon.

---

Great recollections (pretty sure Keith Smith was a Campanelli recruit, though). Two other pretty decent players he recruited (year 3?) were Butch Hayes and Sam Potter. I happened to be watching a practice one day when Kuchen kicked out Potter (either for loafing or being a smart ass) and so I wasn't surprised a couple of months later when he transferred. Kuchen's problem as a recruiter was there were years that he basically struck out and had to go down to his "Plan C"s.

One thing Kuchen knew, which our latest coaches can't seem to figure out, was where most of our recruits can be coming from: SoCal.

---

Dick Kuchen, very cool, even though not great success on the court, was a classy guy.
Butch Hays, in my opinion, one of the top 5 defensive guards ever to play at Cal. I still think A.J. Diggs was the best.
Sam Potter, no better than a streaky jump shooter. Other than that, not much of a player.

---

Sam Potter ended up transferring to Oral Roberts, where he averaged 15+ ppg, 4.5 rpg and 3 apg over two seasons.

He scored in double figures at Cal as both a freshman and sophomore. Didn't get along too well with Kooch.

---

Potter didn't get along with Kooch because he didn't play a stitch of defense. Stats can sometimes be deceiving.

There are plenty of Authoritarian-Screamer Head Coaches out there; Coach K, Izzo, Huggins, Frank Martin, Cronin.

You can pull it off if you win.

mbBear said:

---

Big C said:

---

ncbears said:

---

As a KALX reporter described the pre-Campanelli years: too much Dick (Edwards and Kuchen).
Kuchen was not a bad recruiter - besides the people he left for Campanelli (KJ, Butler, Washington, Keith Smith), he also got Mark McNamara to transfer from Santa Clara
And we were very excited by the Michaels (Pitts and Chavez) - but injuries and other woes just left Cal with few wins.
Kuchen was a Digger Phelps assistant at Notre Dame - so there were high expectations even after a disastrous first year - where he reportedly sent a telegram to Digger about how Kuchen matched Digger's first year record at Notre Dame (I think 8 wins?).

But, there were fun times at Harmon.

---

Great recollections (pretty sure Keith Smith was a Campanelli recruit, though). Two other pretty decent players he recruited (year 3?) were Butch Hayes and Sam Potter. I happened to be watching a practice one day when Kuchen kicked out Potter (either for loafing or being a smart ass) and so I wasn't surprised a couple of months later when he transferred. Kuchen's problem as a recruiter was there were years that he basically struck out and had to go down to his "Plan C"s.

One thing Kuchen knew, which our latest coaches can't seem to figure out, was where most of our recruits can be coming from: SoCal.

---

Kuchen, and to some degree Bozeman, were examples of good recruiters, and questionable X and O guys....that's been rare for Cal basketball, as well as football....

---

Bozeman was also questionable for thinking a PG that dribbled the ball at chest level was worth a $30K bribe and a 10 year banishment.

oskidunker said:

---

LateHit said:

---

Can we talk about the vinyl records?

---

Thats an AR turntable I bought in 1970. Abut a year ago I had it repaired so it works now. Very hard to find needles. I had gotten rid of a lot of my records so I had to rebuy them. There is a vinyl shop in San Mateo that is very helpful.the turntable goes remotely through sonos connected to tv. I liked it better when it was connected to an amp with tuner . It seemed easier to use. Now I have to remember how to use it. I may play some records today. I mainly had broadway musicals, Dean Martin , Tijuana Brass. I bought a few new records, including an Italian Symphonic record that is very good. I get lazy and just play music through DirectTv, mostly jazz.

---

Are you telling us that it is not much of a stretch for us to assume that these albums were absent from your collection: