Here is what I took out of that article and then thinking about the "big picture" of our revenue sports (as well as those non-revenues at which we are successful).
1) Sucessful coaches at Cal don't ***** they hustle. From Ben Braun to Tedford getting the SHPC to Monty laying the ground work for Masters program transfers you CAN get it done but you have to work it. Cal doesn't NEED revenue sports. So unlike other places where the coach gets things given to them at Cal you gotta hustle.
1.1) Coaches that don't want to do that fail. See Sonny. He is happier (and more successful) in a place where all he has to do is football. That ain't Cal.
2) It isn't about brainy basketball players. Rather when we have been successful it is about relentlessly (hat tip to Shocky) working things to find the kid that wants to be at Cal for a host of reasons. Maybe it is because his dad is an alumni (Jabari - hoping he is doing well and getting his life back on track), SAR for islmic studies, Jalen Brown for wanting his one year of college to be intellectually meaningful, Big Ivee to be close to his mom. Crabbe to show the *******s at UCLA that they were idiots. Jermone to escape from Southside and put his life on a new trajectory. Jorge to show the world and become a superstar from Mexico. You can find analogous stories among the students that thrive at Cal.
3) If a student wants to play BB to be on a charter jet that probably isn't going to be a good fit. Cal doesn't coddle ANY student. Its sink or swim attitude is hard baked into TONS of the campus culture - from weed out classes to the need to hustle for housing. Honestly I think this breeds FANTASTIC human beings and why I always laugh about the Farm and what sort of self entitled twits they turn out that have been told every day of their lives they are special. Cal students quickly find out they are not - that 40K of them are gifted and they are a cog in the machine. Better take responsibility for making your mark, it won't be given to you.
4) Depressingly JK is doing his job - manging costs. But lets find a hustler. THings can be good again.
PS. One of my pet peeves on #2 is that there are guys we have missed on which also would have fit into that narrative. Aaron Gordon who was interested in Venture and Tech and wasn't EVER going to get that at UoA. Gary Payton and GP 2 for their East Bay Roots. Damian Lillard who I always thought should have been a Bear. Indeed, one of the things that drives me Batty is how many GREAT players have come out of the East Bay - specifically Oakland - and whereas a place like Michigan State literally has built a dynasty out of owning Detroit Cal will not embrace its local next door to a hoop meca like O Town.
Take care of your Chicken