The Cal Men's Basketball Head Coaching Search

When the past six years mark the absolute nadir for not only your basketball program but arguably any Power 5 basketball program in history, the search for new leadership takes on extra weight.

When Mark Fox was let go on March  9^th, it wasn’t a surprise for anyone and Cal’s Athletic Department was prepared to kick off a very different search process than what brought Fox to Berkeley back in 2019.   That was a quick process, in which Athletic Director Jim Knowlton operated in an autonomous fashion, aided by Collegiate Sports Associates (CSA), an executive search firm that specializes in AD, Football, and Basketball head coaching searches.

While CSA is again involved in this search (and that is surprising given the last result with their involvement), Knowlton took a very different approach to replace Fox.  This time, he was prepared with a list of targets, a list that grew with input from CSA as well as from prominent basketball experts close to Cal.   He fielded calls and sat down with a large number of donors who were galvanized to put the program on a stronger footing both to help attract a top-tier coach as well as to support that individual once they were in place.   

Knowlton further reached out to former players to let them know that he wanted a more inclusive program going forward and that their involvement was critical to get the Bears back to the level of solid though not spectacular success they had enjoyed for over thirty years.  

Before kicking off the search, Knowlton wanted to make sure that he had both internal and external support for more funding and resources to support a program that had struggled in part due to below-market salaries for its coaches, recruiting, team travel to go along with a lack of a dedicated practice facility (all of which are table stakes in today's Power 5 basketball world).   Reports suggest that significant University support is now in place to go along with potential donor pledges for both NIL and a dedicated discretionary fund (the equivalent of Cal’s Caliber fund for Football).    Cal’s notorious challenging admissions were reminded of the academic success currently being enjoyed throughout the Athletic Department and especially in football and basketball with an eye towards creating more flexibility.  While the practice facility remains a question mark, the other necessary ingredients had been brought together in advance of the search for a new leader.  

Much of that support hinged on hiring a head coach that would be able to cement donor interest and rejuvenate fan support for a team that had seen attendance fall to the very bottom of Power 5 programs.

Cal is in desperate need of a hoops leader who can invigorate the key constituencies from NIL donors to traditional boosters to former players and the fan base.   This is a turnaround and will require boundless energy, resilience and an ability to marshall support from every corner of Cal’s basketball ecosystem.   Winning is generally the fastest way to make that happen and in college hoops, the fastest way to win is to find talent.   Beyond the innate desire and talent to recruit top-tier players, NIL donations are an absolute prerequisite to creating the type of talent infusion so desperately needed at Haas Pavilion.

The criteria for the new Head Coach became obvious and clear:

• A top-flight recruiter who had done it successfully at the P5 level AND who both embraced and could navigate today's NIL world
• A proven head coach who had won consistently, competing and winning for conference titles and earning bids to the NCAA tournament
• Someone who had the personality and make-up to both energize the fanbase and overcome some of Cal’s inherent challenges (admissions, facilities, a notoriously recalcitrant bureaucracy)
• Ideally, someone with West Coast ties and an understanding of both Cal’s potential and challenges 

Armed with the momentum around increased resources and improved circumstances, Cal wanted to reach for the stars.   While Dennis Gates’ recently signed extension with Missouri took him out of the running (An $11M+ buyout), that didn’t mean the Chris Beards, Jamie Dixons, Randy Bennetts couldn’t be considered.   There are rumors from multiple sources that a potential grand slam home run was briefly intrigued though apparently, that flirtation did not result in any material conversations.  

Randy Bennett did emerge as a possibility and became a favorite, perhaps the favorite.   The allure was understandable.  He had built a top 20 program from a tiny school only 25 minutes from Cal’s campus.   Bennett’s a future HOF coach whose resume as a winner is unimpeachable.   However, one can’t help but wonder at how well he lined up against the remainder of Cal’s criteria.   At 61, did he have the energy or appetite for a turnaround?   Could his style of recruiting and roster building translate to the Pac-12?   Would his laconic and reserved personality be able to successfully engage donors and fans?   Did he have any interest in delving into the world of raising money for NIL, much less navigating recruiting with this as the central theme?

Still, it appears he was the front-runner and likely received an offer last week.   An offer that he ostensibly turned down.   While Bennett represented the obvious, there was also the possibility Cal would look beyond the world of college basketball to find its new leader.  NBA assistants such as Damon Stoudamire and Jason Terry were rumored to have been involved.   Stoudamire had a history in college basketball, yet only four days after Mark Fox was terminated he decided to take the Georgia Tech head job.   Terry may have had some appeal as a former Pac-12 and NBA star though his college resume was empty.   And the track record of former NBA players and assistants in the NBA coming to college as a head coach is not confidence inspiring.  

That left a group of up-and-coming college coaches.  Younger, with the energy and ambition likely required to clean up the current mess at Cal.  These were led by UCSBs head man, Joe Pasternack, who had a proven ability to land top-tier Power 5 talent as an assistant coach at both Cal and Arizona.   Pasternack reportedly coveted the job and had the support of several large Cal donors, including a large pledge for NIL if he were to get the role.   Amir Abdur-Rahim, fresh off an NCAA berth at Kenesaw State and a former ace recruiter at Texas A&M and Georgia was available and his family ties to the Bears were clearly compelling to fans and potential donors.   Stan Johnson at LMU had found more success in Westchester than any coach since Paul Westhead left in 1990 including big wins this season over St. Mary’s and Gonzaga.  He has the youth and charisma that had to figure prominently in Knowlton’s mind.  However, neither Abdur-Rahim nor Johnson have much of a track record as head coaches and had not come close to proving they could be consistent winners as head coaches (an important element given the impact a single player can have on a program for a season).   Mark Madsen was another obvious candidate.   A former college and NBA star that had sustained success (he inherited a strong program) at Utah Valley including two conference championships in the past three years.   He was unable to bring them to the NCAA tournament but is currently competing for an NIT title.   Madsen’s young, high energy, and charismatic.   Unfortunately, he doesn’t have much of a track record as a Power 5 recruiter with only one year at Stanford (a school that has historically recruited well without much impact from their coaching staff).   NIT experience?   

All four appeared to be finalists, given at least one and likely two interviews.   The interview process this time around was essential.   Without it, it’s very difficult to assess the candidate's ability to galvanize donors, navigate NIL, and what their approach would be to staff building, recruiting, and the overall turnaround process.   

According to our sources, in the end, Pasternack pulled out, and Abdur-Rahim and Johnson were not offered the job.   While the exclusion of Abdur-Rahim and Johnson is not surprising given their limited HC resumes and lack of consistent winning success, what happened to Pasternack’s candidacy?   

Jim Knowlton, despite the outreach and gathering of input from experts and donors in the process, is almost certainly making this decision an internal one.   He and his team within the AD are the ones choosing Cal’s next head coach and to our knowledge did not reach out to any donors or external advisors before making their decision.  That said, one has to wonder how much influence former Cal head coach Mike Montgomery and current Cal Assoc AD Jay John had on the final choice.   John, because he’s the only true Basketball person residing within Cal’s Athletic Department and Montgomery because the thesis on finalists laid out above leads to the conclusion that Mark Madsen will be Cal’s next head coach.   What’s notable is neither has any experience with the transfer portal and recruiting in the NIL era.

Montgomery coached Mark Madsen and is undoubtedly close to his former star.   Further, it’s been suggested that both he and Jay John were not fans of Pasternack’s, having had to compete with him at both Cal and Arizona as recruiters and on the court.   Pasternack is known for his fiery intensity and passion and clearly has the ability to get under the skin of his competitors.   And his association with Sean Miller at Arizona may further have fueled the animosity of the former Cal head coach who was known to be outspoken about anyone operating in the gray areas of recruiting.   

Interestingly, in today's college basketball, what was once considered “shady” is now business as usual with NIL.   It’s also not clear that a turnaround of the proportions that currently exist at Cal doesn’t automatically require a coach with a certain extra edginess and competitive fire.   While the above is speculation, it’s hard to find another rationale for why Cal may have passed on Joe Pasternack.   His recruiting resume, his on-the-court success, his knowledge of Cal, and the support he had within the Cal donor base all made him objectively a stronger candidate than Madsen.

In the end, it’s important that we all support Cal’s new head coach and it’s essential to be reminded that Knowlton’s job isn’t to win the process or the press conference announcing the new head coach, it’s about what the new coach does after he arrives in Berkeley that matters.  Whether it’s Madsen or someone else, we will have early feedback on donor (particularly NIL) support and recruiting.   That will be a non-trivial task as Madsen will not arrive with built-in support and the juxtaposition of his qualifications relative to Pasternack is almost certain to create disquiet and unhappiness among the donor base.  One of the further challenges in the desire to have a more considered and thoughtful search process is that the transfer portal is already open and Cal is not able to capitalize.   If the choice is Madsen and he cannot start until after the NIT, the Bears are further penalized.  

One thing to watch is if, in fact, the hire is Madsen is who he adds to his staff.  Will it include former Cal assistant John Montgomery?   Former coaches who advise on coaching searches are notoriously loyal to their former players and assistants.  Could Cal’s process have been derailed by a former great having his views pervade to the benefit of those he knows and loves best?   What’s painful here is of all the folks providing input to Knowlton on this process, the one whose least likely to write a donation or NIL check is in fact, Mike Montgomery.   Time will tell.