This is intended to be a companion thread to the "biggest miss" thread, which sought to identify the best local recruits that got away. Here, we can provide our "biggest get" of local recruits. There have been many over the years, and I hope SFBear, Hell and other knowledgeable posters can weigh in on earlier eras.

There are many to choose from, but I would vote for Jason Kidd. (Note that I am biased because Mrs. MSaviolives was Jason's elementary school teacher, and beginning when he was in 6th grade began telling him that he should consider going to Cal.)

". . . 'biggest get' of local recruits" is the key phrase.
That means only players who actually played at Cal? Those from the greater Bay Area. . . Eastbay, SF, SJ, Peninsula, Marin and Tri-Valley?

No players from Sacramento, Central Valley, North Coast, Southern California.

There were players who committed to Cal but then opted to MLB.

Kidd
Chenier
Charlie Johnson
Ainsley Truitt
Gene Ransom
John Coughran

joe amos yaks said:

---

". . . 'biggest get' of local recruits" is the key phrase.
That means only players who actually played at Cal? Those from the greater Bay Area. . . Eastbay, SF, SJ, Peninsula, Marin and Tri-Valley?

No players from Sacramento, Central Valley, North Coast, Southern California.

There were players who committed to Cal but then opted to MLB.

Kidd

---

Yes to all of your qualifiers

The one slight problem with this thread is that it asks for one and one only... and as the OP wrote, it is Jason Kidd. The list begins and ends there. Semi-consensus that he was the #1 prep player in the nation, his senior year. Often acclaimed as the most storied high school athlete in Bay Area history. Greatest Cal athlete I ever saw, any sport.

Oh, can we include runners up?
2. Ivan Rabb
3. Leon Powe
4. Jabari Bird

All East Bay guys who, when they committed to Cal, made the basketball world sit up and take notice.

Big C said:

---

The one slight problem with this thread is that it asks for one and one only... and as the OP wrote, it is Jason Kidd. The list begins and ends there.

---

Fair enough. Thank you for at least not calling me Captain Obvious . I suppose I was hoping for some discussion of honorable mentions as well. Mine:

Leon Powe
Lamond Murray
Gene Ransom
CJ
Phil Chenier

I'd never be name-calling on anybody who writes about Jason Kidd playing basketball.

Big C said:

---

The one slight problem with this thread is that it asks for one and one only... and as the OP wrote, it is Jason Kidd. The list begins and ends there. Semi-consensus that he was the #1 prep player in the nation, his senior year. Often acclaimed as the most storied high school athlete in Bay Area history. Greatest Cal athlete I ever saw, any sport.

Oh, can we include runners up?
2. Ivan Rabb
3. Leon Powe
4. Jabari Bird

All East Bay guys who, when they committed to Cal, made the basketball world sit up and take notice.

---

Powe
Murray
Rabb
Bird

I think CJ only one with 2 NBA rings.

Mild correction: Greater Bay Area includes Sonoma and Solano counties as well as the ones you named. If it didn't, Jabari Bird wouldn't count (he went to Salesian in Richmond, but lived in Vallejo).

Steve Panawek!!!




https://www.sfgate.com/sports/article/CAL-S-BIG-FINISH-Forget-the-game-remember-the-2540365.php

CAL'S BIG FINISH / Forget the game; remember the slam
Ray Ratto
Published 4:00 am PST, Sunday, March 5, 2006

On a largely unpleasant afternoon for basketball aesthetes, there was still Steve Panawek, and you take those moments where you can get them.

......

Thus, having neither advanced nor damaged their case, the Golden Bears could lean back for a moment, relax, and let Steve Panawek begin the lifelong task of embellishing his breakaway dunk into something truly spectacular.

"Oh, yeah, it'll grow," he laughed. "It'll grow. It'll get to be a two-hander, then it'll be to win the game."
Panawek is technically a junior, but is on time to graduate this year (he did not play in 2004) and is also out of eligibility. His career at Cal is largely that of the devoted practice player who hopes for blowouts so he can sneak in a minute here and there. Thus, when he started Saturday's game as a pro forma thank you from head coach Ben Braun for the general thanklessness of his tasks, it was sentimentality tinged with a fervent hope that he wouldn't harm the team's early start.

He didn't. He missed an open 3, he kept his man from getting a decent look at the basket, and when he was replaced at the first TV time out, he'd done as well as he, or anyone else, could have expected.
But as the game wore (and we do mean "wore") on, the possibility that Panawek would get in one more minute or two grew. It grew more when fellow back-bencher Alex Pribble started coaxing the crowd in the final two minutes with the standard "We Want Steve" chant.

But every time it seemed to get legs, either Gabe Pruitt or Lodrick Stewart would hit a long 3 to keep USC within cab-hailing distance, and Braun didn't decide it was safe until there were 43.9 seconds left and the Bears were 11 points clear.

Panawek was fouled with 14.6 seconds left and made the back end of two free throws, and then stole a pass from Dwayne Shackleford with eight seconds left, and suddenly before him, the floor, the gym, and a lifetime of stories opened wide and beckoned him.

"It was like the quickest three seconds in my life," he said. "I don't even remember it all, I was so excited, and I was just focused on dunking the ball. I just wanted to put it down."

And he did. Chocolate Thunder it wasn't, but it did bring the often torpor-stricken house down with five seconds left in the game. In fact, with the student section of the crowd howling loudest, he managed just enough authority to look like he'd done it before, even if it was just in the layup line.

When the horn went off, the best part of the day happened for Panawek. His teammates mobbed him, forming a mosh-pit within which he got the ride of his life, grinning all the way as he bounced from Rod Benson to Leon Powe to Ayinde Ubaka to Richard Midgley. It is a memory that will sustain long after the brackish taste of this game is rinsed clean, and he will only tell the story to every living man, woman, child and house pet he sees over the next 60 years or so.

In the bigger picture, it is nothing. But college sports is supposed to have room for the little snapshots as well. Cal got its victory and can prep in earnest for USC again, although Braun ducked discussing the conference tournament Saturday for reasons that frankly evade us.

But Steve Panawek got his moment, too. He set a career high in points with three, a career high in minutes played with five, his name appeared above that of departed Cal player Marquise Kately in the original boxscore, and he threw down the greatest dunk in the history of college basketball.

Have him buy you a beer and let him tell you all about it. Block out about a half-hour, just to be on the safe side.

MSaviolives said:

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This is intended to be a companion thread to the "biggest miss" thread, which sought to identify the best local recruits that got away. Here, we can provide our "biggest get" of local recruits. There have been many over the years, and I hope SFBear, Hell and other knowledgeable posters can weigh in on earlier eras.

There are many to choose from, but I would vote for Jason Kidd. (Note that I am biased because Mrs. MSaviolives was Jason's elementary school teacher, and beginning when he was in 6th grade began telling him that he should consider going to Cal.)

---

J. Kidd. The End. I'm a graduate of St. Paschal's too.

Me:

Honorable mentions:
Colleen Galloway
Brittany Boyd
Devanei Hampton
Alexis Gray-Lawson

One that got away:
Sabrina Ionescu

stu said:

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Honorable mentions:
Colleen Galloway
Brittany Boyd
Devanei Hampton
Alexis Gray-Lawson

One that got away:
Sabrina Ionescu

---

Sabrina hurt bad.

You forgot Theo.

Ryan Anderson

I don't know how to define the best recruits. If it is recruit ranking, then that leaves out all the great Cal players who played before recruit rankings were made, or made public. That leaves out about 70 years of Cal basketball players. It should be based on success. Some fans believe it might be individual success, some might believe it is team success, and others might believe it is both individual and team success. I happen to value team success more than individual success, so here is my list of the best Bay Area Cal players I could find. Reference to All-Conference or All-Coast is to the first team awards only.

Bay Area Cal players who won championships, ranked by the championship and their contribution:

Bob Dalton, San Leandro, 2 x PCC Champion, NCAA Champion, NCAA Elite 8
Dick Doughty, Oakland, 2x PCC Champion, NCAA Champion, NCAA Final Four
Bernie Simpson, St Ignatius, PCC Champion, NCAA Champion, NCAA Elite 8
Jim Langley, Salinas High, PCC Champion, NCAA Champion, NCAA Elite 8
Bobby Wendell, Menlo, PCC Champion, NCAA Champion, NCAA Runner Up
Jerry Mann, Washington of SF, 2x PCC Champion, NCAA Champion, NCAA Runner up
Andy Wolfe, Richmond, 1st team All-American 1948, PCC Champion, NCAA Final Four
Bob Hogeboom, Oakland, PCC Champion, NCAA Final Four
Earl Robinson, Berkeley, 2x All-Coast, 2x PCC Champions, 2x NCAA Elite 8, MLB (Historic-first African-American player to start for Cal)
George Sterling, Oakland, PCC Champion, NCAA Elite 8
Ev McKeen, Piedmont, PCC Champion, NCAA Elite 8
Vern Corbin, Piedmont, 1st team All-American 1929, All-PCC, 3x PCC Champions
Theo Robertson, De La Salle, Concord, PAC10 Champion

Other great Bay Area Cal players ranked by the highest individual awards won:

Jason Kidd, Oakland, 1st team All-American, 1994, PAC10 Player of the Year, NBA
Rusty Critchfield, Salinas, 1st team All-American, 1968, 2nd team AA 1967, 2x All-PCC
Bob McKeen, Piedmont, 2nd team All-American, 1953, 3rd team 1954, 1955, All-Coast
Leon Powe, 2nd team All-American, 2006, 2x All-PAC10, NBA
Ryan Anderson, 2nd team All-American, All-PAC10, 2008
Lamond Murray, Fremont, 3rd team All-American 1994, 2x All-PAC10, NBA
Bob Matheny, Lowell of SF, 3rd team All-American, 1954
Kevin Johnson, Sacramento, All-Conference 1986, 1987, NBA
Charles Johnson, Redwood City, All-Conference 1969, NBA
Phil Chenier, Berkeley, All-Conference 1971, NBA
Mark McNamara, Del Ray of San Jose, All-PAC10 Conference 1982, NBA
Ansley Truitt, Wilson of SF, All-Conference, 1972, ABA
Ivan Rabb, Oakland, All-PAC12, 2017, NBA
Doug True, Concord, All-Conference 1980
John Ricksen, Berkeley High, All-PCC Conference, 1953
Ayinde Ubaka, Oakland, All-PAC10, 2006

Some more good to very good Bay Area Cal players, listed alphabetically:

Bob Albo, Berkeley
Jabari Bird, Vallejo
Monty Buckley, Sacramento
John Caselli, South San Francisco
John Coughran, San Jose, NBA
Mike Diaz, Armijo High, Fairfield, (set single season NorCal HS scoring record)
Bill Hagler, SF
Chuck Hanger, Berkeley
Devon Hardin, Fremont
Marquise Kately, Riordan of SF
Grover Klemmer, Galileo
Don Lauer, Berkeley
Denny Lewis, Lincoln of SF
Eric Long, Stockton
Dan Lufkin, Alameda
Ted Ohashi, Stockton (Historic first Japanese-American to start for Cal)
Robby Olson, El Camino
Charlie Perkins, Alameda
Gene Ransom, Berkeley
Rupe Ricksen, Berkeley High
Kevin Singleton, Oakland
Dick Smith, Gilroy
Jim Smith, Santa Cruz
Michael Stewart, Sacramento, NBA
Dick Tamberg, San Francisco
Camden Wall, Los Gatos

There were a lot of good or great Bay Area Cal players from earlier eras which are left out of this list because I could not find either the name of their high school or their town to prove they were Bay Area boys. The list is only a starting point. I probably let out some others by mistake.

Only two of Cal's Bay Area Players who won high individual awards, Vern Corbin and Andy Wolfe, won a conference championship. And Cal's greatest team player, Jason Kidd, IMO, did not win a championship at Cal. He had won consecutive state high school championships before coming to Cal, and won only one championship in his long NBA career. He was seldom blessed with either the coaching and/or the teammates to enable him to win championships, and that was tragic in a basketball sense. Have fun with the list.

SFCityBear said:

---

I don't know how to define the best recruits. If it is recruit ranking, then that leaves out all the great Cal players who played before recruit rankings were made, or made public. That leaves out about 70 years of Cal basketball players. It should be based on success. Some fans believe it might be individual success, some might believe it is team success, and others might believe it is both individual and team success. I happen to value team success more than individual success, so here is my list of the best Bay Area Cal players I could find. Reference to All-Conference or All-Coast is to the first team awards only.

Bay Area Cal players who won championships, ranked by the championship and their contribution:

Bob Dalton, San Leandro, 2 x PCC Champion, NCAA Champion, NCAA Elite 8
Dick Doughty, Oakland, 2x PCC Champion, NCAA Champion, NCAA Final Four
Bernie Simpson, St Ignatius, PCC Champion, NCAA Champion, NCAA Elite 8
Jim Langley, Salinas High, PCC Champion, NCAA Champion, NCAA Elite 8
Bobby Wendell, Menlo, PCC Champion, NCAA Champion, NCAA Runner Up
Jerry Mann, Washington of SF, 2x PCC Champion, NCAA Champion, NCAA Runner up
Andy Wolfe, Richmond, 1st team All-American 1948, PCC Champion, NCAA Final Four
Bob Hogeboom, Oakland, PCC Champion, NCAA Final Four
Earl Robinson, Berkeley, 2x All-Coast, 2x PCC Champions, 2x NCAA Elite 8, MLB (Historic-first African-American player to start for Cal)
George Sterling, Oakland, PCC Champion, NCAA Elite 8
Ev McKeen, Piedmont, PCC Champion, NCAA Elite 8
Vern Corbin, Piedmont, 1st team All-American 1929, All-PCC, 3x PCC Champions
Theo Robertson, De La Salle, Concord, PAC10 Champion

Other great Bay Area Cal players ranked by the highest individual awards won:

Jason Kidd, Oakland, 1st team All-American, 1994, PAC10 Player of the Year, NBA
Rusty Critchfield, Salinas, 1st team All-American, 1968, 2nd team AA 1967, 2x All-PCC
Bob McKeen, Piedmont, 2nd team All-American, 1953, 3rd team 1954, 1955, All-Coast
Leon Powe, 2nd team All-American, 2006, 2x All-PAC10, NBA
Ryan Anderson, 2nd team All-Amaerican, All-PAC10, 2008
Lamond Murray, Fremont, 3rd team All-American 1994, 2x All-PAC10, NBA
Bob Matheny, Lowell of SF, 3rd team All-American, 1954
Kevin Johnson, Sacramento, All-Conference 1986, 1987, NBA
Charles Johnson, Redwood City, All-Conference 1969, NBA
Phil Chenier, Berkeley, All-Conference 1971, NBA
Mark McNamara, Del Ray of San Jose, All-PAC10 Conference 1982, NBA
Ansley Truitt, Wilson of SF, All-Conference, 1972, ABA
Ivan Rabb, Oakland, All-PAC12, 2017, NBA
Doug True, Concord, All-Conference 1980
John Ricksen, Berkeley High, All-PCC Conference, 1953
Ayinde Ubaka, Oakland, All-PAC10, 2006

Some more good to very good Bay Area Cal players, listed alphabetically:

Bob Albo, Berkeley
Jabari Bird, Vallejo
Monty Buckley, Sacramento
John Caselli, South San Francisco
John Coughran, San Jose, NBA
Mike Diaz, Armijo High, Fairfield, (set single season NorCal HS scoring record)
Bill Hagler, SF
Chuck Hanger, Berkeley
Devon Hardin, Fremont
Marquise Kately, Riordan of SF
Grover Klemmer, Galileo
Don Lauer, Berkeley
Denny Lewis, Lincoln of SF
Eric Long, Stockton
Ted Ohashi, Stockton (Historic first Japanese-American to start for Cal)
Robby Olson, El Camino
Charlie Perkins, Alameda
Gene Ransom, Berkeley
Rupe Ricksen, Berkeley High
Kevin Singleton, Oakland
Dick Smith, Gilroy
Jim Smith, Santa Cruz
Michael Stewart, Sacramento, NBA
Dick Tamberg, San Francisco
Camden Wall, Los Gatos

There were a lot of good or great Bay Area Cal players from earlier eras which are left out of this list because I could not find either the name of their high school or their town to prove they were Bay Area boys. The list is only a starting point. I probably let out some others by mistake.

Only two of Cal's Bay Area Players who won high individual awards, Vern Corbin and Andy Wolfe, won a conference championship. And Cal's greatest team player, Jason Kidd, IMO, did not win a championship at Cal. He had won consecutive state high school championships before coming to Cal, and won only one championship in his long NBA career. He was seldom blessed with either the coaching and/or the teammates to enable him to win championships, and that was tragic in a basketball sense. Have fun with the list.

---

Well done. This post should be archived.

Dear SAFCity Bear--Fabulous list. Prodigious research. I have some comments about two players you mentioned:
!) andy Wolf: Andy is still going strong while living here in Rossmoor. Andy is roughly 95 and looks terrific for his age.
2) Bob Matheny did make third team all-American in 1954. But did you know that when he was a senior at Lowell, the best he could muster was third-string all-city. And, the previous year, he was only third-string all-city 130's. When Matheny was at Lowell,his 110, 120, and 130 teams won the championship every year. When he was a senior playing varsity, SI won the title while Lowell came in second. But, both SI and Lowell were invited to the TOC in Berkeley. Lowell easily won the rematch 36-23. inj the championship game. Matheny played every year with Ward Healy. Both died before they were 50. Healy was the best pure shooter I ever saw. Healy and I had many shooting contests at Pacific Heights schoolyard. Healy and Matheny were real characters. Mike o'neal, Cal player, was a real character too. Benny Neff kicked him off the team every year he was at Lowell. O'Neal went on to have a very good AAU career after Cal. I think it's O'neill. He died before he was 50 too. All those guys were hard drinkers and hard smokers.

SFCityBear said:

---

I don't know how to define the best recruits. If it is recruit ranking, then that leaves out all the great Cal players who played before recruit rankings were made, or made public. That leaves out about 70 years of Cal basketball players. It should be based on success. Some fans believe it might be individual success, some might believe it is team success, and others might believe it is both individual and team success. I happen to value team success more than individual success, so here is my list of the best Bay Area Cal players I could find. Reference to All-Conference or All-Coast is to the first team awards only.

Bay Area Cal players who won championships, ranked by the championship and their contribution:

Bob Dalton, San Leandro, 2 x PCC Champion, NCAA Champion, NCAA Elite 8
Dick Doughty, Oakland, 2x PCC Champion, NCAA Champion, NCAA Final Four
Bernie Simpson, St Ignatius, PCC Champion, NCAA Champion, NCAA Elite 8
Jim Langley, Salinas High, PCC Champion, NCAA Champion, NCAA Elite 8
Bobby Wendell, Menlo, PCC Champion, NCAA Champion, NCAA Runner Up
Jerry Mann, Washington of SF, 2x PCC Champion, NCAA Champion, NCAA Runner up
Andy Wolfe, Richmond, 1st team All-American 1948, PCC Champion, NCAA Final Four
Bob Hogeboom, Oakland, PCC Champion, NCAA Final Four
Earl Robinson, Berkeley, 2x All-Coast, 2x PCC Champions, 2x NCAA Elite 8, MLB (Historic-first African-American player to start for Cal)
George Sterling, Oakland, PCC Champion, NCAA Elite 8
Ev McKeen, Piedmont, PCC Champion, NCAA Elite 8
Vern Corbin, Piedmont, 1st team All-American 1929, All-PCC, 3x PCC Champions
Theo Robertson, De La Salle, Concord, PAC10 Champion

Other great Bay Area Cal players ranked by the highest individual awards won:

Jason Kidd, Oakland, 1st team All-American, 1994, PAC10 Player of the Year, NBA
Rusty Critchfield, Salinas, 1st team All-American, 1968, 2nd team AA 1967, 2x All-PCC
Bob McKeen, Piedmont, 2nd team All-American, 1953, 3rd team 1954, 1955, All-Coast
Leon Powe, 2nd team All-American, 2006, 2x All-PAC10, NBA
Ryan Anderson, 2nd team All-Amaerican, All-PAC10, 2008
Lamond Murray, Fremont, 3rd team All-American 1994, 2x All-PAC10, NBA
Bob Matheny, Lowell of SF, 3rd team All-American, 1954
Kevin Johnson, Sacramento, All-Conference 1986, 1987, NBA
Charles Johnson, Redwood City, All-Conference 1969, NBA
Phil Chenier, Berkeley, All-Conference 1971, NBA
Mark McNamara, Del Ray of San Jose, All-PAC10 Conference 1982, NBA
Ansley Truitt, Wilson of SF, All-Conference, 1972, ABA
Ivan Rabb, Oakland, All-PAC12, 2017, NBA
Doug True, Concord, All-Conference 1980
John Ricksen, Berkeley High, All-PCC Conference, 1953
Ayinde Ubaka, Oakland, All-PAC10, 2006

Some more good to very good Bay Area Cal players, listed alphabetically:

Bob Albo, Berkeley
Jabari Bird, Vallejo
Monty Buckley, Sacramento
John Caselli, South San Francisco
John Coughran, San Jose, NBA
Mike Diaz, Armijo High, Fairfield, (set single season NorCal HS scoring record)
Bill Hagler, SF
Chuck Hanger, Berkeley
Devon Hardin, Fremont
Marquise Kately, Riordan of SF
Grover Klemmer, Galileo
Don Lauer, Berkeley
Denny Lewis, Lincoln of SF
Eric Long, Stockton
Ted Ohashi, Stockton (Historic first Japanese-American to start for Cal)
Robby Olson, El Camino
Charlie Perkins, Alameda
Gene Ransom, Berkeley
Rupe Ricksen, Berkeley High
Kevin Singleton, Oakland
Dick Smith, Gilroy
Jim Smith, Santa Cruz
Michael Stewart, Sacramento, NBA
Dick Tamberg, San Francisco
Camden Wall, Los Gatos

There were a lot of good or great Bay Area Cal players from earlier eras which are left out of this list because I could not find either the name of their high school or their town to prove they were Bay Area boys. The list is only a starting point. I probably let out some others by mistake.

Only two of Cal's Bay Area Players who won high individual awards, Vern Corbin and Andy Wolfe, won a conference championship. And Cal's greatest team player, Jason Kidd, IMO, did not win a championship at Cal. He had won consecutive state high school championships before coming to Cal, and won only one championship in his long NBA career. He was seldom blessed with either the coaching and/or the teammates to enable him to win championships, and that was tragic in a basketball sense. Have fun with the list.

---

Kind of another sport but Steve Desimone, was all Bay Area guard, California player of the year and led his high school team to the state championship, and played guard for Cal (his basketball career admittedly was not the same level as Jason Kidd). But he did start and coach the golf team for 37 years, was NCAA national coach of the year twice, woh a national championship, won Pac 12 championships, etc.

One thing about Doug True that was particularly impressive was that he got a Chemical Engineering degree while playing varsity basketball. That took brains, great time management, and an amazing work ethic.

HearstMining said:

---

One thing about Doug True that was particularly impressive was that he got a Chemical Engineering degree while playing varsity basketball. That took brains, great time management, and an amazing work ethic.

---

True (see that pun?); however, there are athletes in other sports who routinely accomplish feats like this. Rachel Aker was an all-American swimmer (just missed the Olympics) and graduated in 4 years with a double major in microbiology and French (with a GPA of 3.9).

Well done. Much deserved.

helltopay1 said:

---

Dear SAFCity Bear--Fabulous list. Prodigious research. I have some comments about two players you mentioned:
!) andy Wolf: Andy is still going strong while living here in Rossmoor. Andy is roughly 95 and looks terrific for his age.
2) Bob Matheny did make third team all-American in 1954. But did you know that when he was a senior at Lowell, the best he could muster was third-string all-city. And, the previous year, he was only third-string all-city 130's. When Matheny was at Lowell,his 110, 120, and 130 teams won the championship every year. When he was a senior playing varsity, SI won the title while Lowell came in second. But, both SI and Lowell were invited to the TOC in Berkeley. Lowell easily won the rematch 36-23. inj the championship game. Matheny played every year with Ward Healy. Both died before they were 50. Healy was the best pure shooter I ever saw. Healy and I had many shooting contests at Pacific Heights schoolyard. Healy and Matheny were real characters. Mike o'neal, Cal player, was a real character too. Benny Neff kicked him off the team every year he was at Lowell. O'Neal went on to have a very good AAU career after Cal. I think it's O'neill. He died before he was 50 too. All those guys were hard drinkers and hard smokers.

---

Thanks. Matheny was my favorite player at Cal when I was a kid. He had gone to Lowell as my father had, and I was beginning to see my growth slowing and realizing I was too short to play forward, and any future I was to have would be as a guard. I tried to pattern my game after Matheny (Never made it). As I remember he had a good mid-range shot, could drive with either hand, He missed a year at Cal. Was he hurt that year?

My maternal grandmother was an O'Neill. Once when I was visiting Ireland, I was riding a train, and an elderly gentleman was in the seat next to mine. He asked why I had come to Ireland, and I replied that one reason was I was looking for my roots, the town and hopefully my family. He asked where I was headed. I told him Roscommon in County Clare. He asked me what my family name was, and I replied that it was O'Neill. He looked at me very seriously, and then said, "Oh. The Roscommon O'Neills............Sheep thieves."

Hard drinking and hard smoking? Not a prescription for long life, I guess. Neff didn't like his players smoking. He heard a rumor that one of his players, Jim Thompson, was over at Johnny's coffee shop on Hayes street for lunch and was smoking. I had gone there with some teammates who wanted to have a burger and smoke some cigarettes. Ben walked in the door, and luckily I was eating and not smoking. The air was so thick with second hand smoke, it affected seeing and breathing in there. Thompson was not there. Neff looked around and spotted Bob Kucich, who was the biggest, meanest lineman on the football team, puffing away on a cigarette. Neff walked right up to the big guy and ripped the cigarette out of his mouth, threw it on the floor, and stepped on it. Then he said, "Give me your smokes." He took the pack of cigarettes and told him be at the football coach's office in 15 minutes. Kucich just said, "Yes, sir." and that was that. Johnny's was half empty the next day, as all the athletes got the word. Kucich who is 80 now, just retired from his job as a bartender in a bar on Taraval in the Sunset. He recently said, "2nd wife just came back. Drinking more now.". .

HearstMining said:

---

One thing about Doug True that was particularly impressive was that he got a Chemical Engineering degree while playing varsity basketball. That took brains, great time management, and an amazing work ethic.

---

Pete Newell used to say haw impressed he was with Denny Fitzpatrick, of Cal's '59 NCAA Championship team, because he was majoring in Engineering, and still able to play on the basketball team. He said Denny used to to arrive every day at Harmon Gym for practice, on the run, and carrying a load of books

UrsaMajor said:

---

HearstMining said:

---

One thing about Doug True that was particularly impressive was that he got a Chemical Engineering degree while playing varsity basketball. That took brains, great time management, and an amazing work ethic.

---

True (see that pun?); however, there are athletes in other sports who routinely accomplish feats like this. Rachel Aker was an all-American swimmer (just missed the Olympics) and graduated in 4 years with a double major in microbiology and French (with a GPA of 3.9).

---

"The value of the pun is in the recognition."..........Herb Caen

CVBear01 said:

---

SFCityBear said:

---

I don't know how to define the best recruits. If it is recruit ranking, then that leaves out all the great Cal players who played before recruit rankings were made, or made public. That leaves out about 70 years of Cal basketball players. It should be based on success. Some fans believe it might be individual success, some might believe it is team success, and others might believe it is both individual and team success. I happen to value team success more than individual success, so here is my list of the best Bay Area Cal players I could find. Reference to All-Conference or All-Coast is to the first team awards only.

Bay Area Cal players who won championships, ranked by the championship and their contribution:

Bob Dalton, San Leandro, 2 x PCC Champion, NCAA Champion, NCAA Elite 8
Dick Doughty, Oakland, 2x PCC Champion, NCAA Champion, NCAA Final Four
Bernie Simpson, St Ignatius, PCC Champion, NCAA Champion, NCAA Elite 8
Jim Langley, Salinas High, PCC Champion, NCAA Champion, NCAA Elite 8
Bobby Wendell, Menlo, PCC Champion, NCAA Champion, NCAA Runner Up
Jerry Mann, Washington of SF, 2x PCC Champion, NCAA Champion, NCAA Runner up
Andy Wolfe, Richmond, 1st team All-American 1948, PCC Champion, NCAA Final Four
Bob Hogeboom, Oakland, PCC Champion, NCAA Final Four
Earl Robinson, Berkeley, 2x All-Coast, 2x PCC Champions, 2x NCAA Elite 8, MLB (Historic-first African-American player to start for Cal)
George Sterling, Oakland, PCC Champion, NCAA Elite 8
Ev McKeen, Piedmont, PCC Champion, NCAA Elite 8
Vern Corbin, Piedmont, 1st team All-American 1929, All-PCC, 3x PCC Champions
Theo Robertson, De La Salle, Concord, PAC10 Champion

Other great Bay Area Cal players ranked by the highest individual awards won:

Jason Kidd, Oakland, 1st team All-American, 1994, PAC10 Player of the Year, NBA
Rusty Critchfield, Salinas, 1st team All-American, 1968, 2nd team AA 1967, 2x All-PCC
Bob McKeen, Piedmont, 2nd team All-American, 1953, 3rd team 1954, 1955, All-Coast
Leon Powe, 2nd team All-American, 2006, 2x All-PAC10, NBA
Ryan Anderson, 2nd team All-Amaerican, All-PAC10, 2008
Lamond Murray, Fremont, 3rd team All-American 1994, 2x All-PAC10, NBA
Bob Matheny, Lowell of SF, 3rd team All-American, 1954
Kevin Johnson, Sacramento, All-Conference 1986, 1987, NBA
Charles Johnson, Redwood City, All-Conference 1969, NBA
Phil Chenier, Berkeley, All-Conference 1971, NBA
Mark McNamara, Del Ray of San Jose, All-PAC10 Conference 1982, NBA
Ansley Truitt, Wilson of SF, All-Conference, 1972, ABA
Ivan Rabb, Oakland, All-PAC12, 2017, NBA
Doug True, Concord, All-Conference 1980
John Ricksen, Berkeley High, All-PCC Conference, 1953
Ayinde Ubaka, Oakland, All-PAC10, 2006

Some more good to very good Bay Area Cal players, listed alphabetically:

Bob Albo, Berkeley
Jabari Bird, Vallejo
Monty Buckley, Sacramento
John Caselli, South San Francisco
John Coughran, San Jose, NBA
Mike Diaz, Armijo High, Fairfield, (set single season NorCal HS scoring record)
Bill Hagler, SF
Chuck Hanger, Berkeley
Devon Hardin, Fremont
Marquise Kately, Riordan of SF
Grover Klemmer, Galileo
Don Lauer, Berkeley
Denny Lewis, Lincoln of SF
Eric Long, Stockton
Ted Ohashi, Stockton (Historic first Japanese-American to start for Cal)
Robby Olson, El Camino
Charlie Perkins, Alameda
Gene Ransom, Berkeley
Rupe Ricksen, Berkeley High
Kevin Singleton, Oakland
Dick Smith, Gilroy
Jim Smith, Santa Cruz
Michael Stewart, Sacramento, NBA
Dick Tamberg, San Francisco
Camden Wall, Los Gatos

There were a lot of good or great Bay Area Cal players from earlier eras which are left out of this list because I could not find either the name of their high school or their town to prove they were Bay Area boys. The list is only a starting point. I probably let out some others by mistake.

Only two of Cal's Bay Area Players who won high individual awards, Vern Corbin and Andy Wolfe, won a conference championship. And Cal's greatest team player, Jason Kidd, IMO, did not win a championship at Cal. He had won consecutive state high school championships before coming to Cal, and won only one championship in his long NBA career. He was seldom blessed with either the coaching and/or the teammates to enable him to win championships, and that was tragic in a basketball sense. Have fun with the list.

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Well done. This post should be archived.

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Thanks. I had fun doing this. It brings back memories and keeps my brain cells functioning. Dick Smith, Cam Wall, Jim Smith and Dan Lufkin were guys I played with in pickup games and hung out with. Jim Smith and I tried out for the Cal Frosh golf team. Jim was a scratch golfer and could hit the ball a mile. Denny Lewis was a teammate of mine on a City Rec League team. I included some Sacramento players (maybe I was thinking any place where commercial shipping can reach on a river is still Bay Area) but maybe I shouldn't have. I just revised the list to include Dan Lufkin, who held the Cal consecutive free throw record for many years. I

SFCityBear said:

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helltopay1 said:

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Dear SAFCity Bear--Fabulous list. Prodigious research. I have some comments about two players you mentioned:
!) andy Wolf: Andy is still going strong while living here in Rossmoor. Andy is roughly 95 and looks terrific for his age.
2) Bob Matheny did make third team all-American in 1954. But did you know that when he was a senior at Lowell, the best he could muster was third-string all-city. And, the previous year, he was only third-string all-city 130's. When Matheny was at Lowell,his 110, 120, and 130 teams won the championship every year. When he was a senior playing varsity, SI won the title while Lowell came in second. But, both SI and Lowell were invited to the TOC in Berkeley. Lowell easily won the rematch 36-23. inj the championship game. Matheny played every year with Ward Healy. Both died before they were 50. Healy was the best pure shooter I ever saw. Healy and I had many shooting contests at Pacific Heights schoolyard. Healy and Matheny were real characters. Mike o'neal, Cal player, was a real character too. Benny Neff kicked him off the team every year he was at Lowell. O'Neal went on to have a very good AAU career after Cal. I think it's O'neill. He died before he was 50 too. All those guys were hard drinkers and hard smokers.

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Thanks. Matheny was my favorite player at Cal when I was a kid. He had gone to Lowell as my father had, and I was beginning to see my growth slowing and realizing I was too short to play forward, and any future I was to have would be as a guard. I tried to pattern my game after Matheny (Never made it). As I remember he had a good mid-range shot, could drive with either hand, He missed a year at Cal. Was he hurt that year?

My maternal grandmother was an O'Neill. Once when I was visiting Ireland, I was riding a train, and an elderly gentleman was in the seat next to mine. He asked why I had come to Ireland, and I replied that one reason was I was looking for my roots, the town and hopefully my family. He asked where I was headed. I told him Roscommon in County Clare. He asked me what my family name was, and I replied that it was O'Neill. He looked at me very seriously, and then said, "Oh. The Roscommon O'Neills............Sheep thieves."
Matheny played AAU ball during that break from Cal I believe.
Hard drinking and hard smoking? Not a prescription for long life, I guess. Neff didn't like his players smoking. He heard a rumor that one of his players, Jim Thompson, was over at Johnny's coffee shop on Hayes street for lunch and was smoking. I had gone there with some teammates who wanted to have a burger and smoke some cigarettes. Ben walked in the door, and luckily I was eating and not smoking. The air was so thick with second hand smoke, it affected seeing and breathing in there. Thompson was not there. Neff looked around and spotted Bob Kucich, who was the biggest, meanest lineman on the football team, puffing away on a cigarette. Neff walked right up to the big guy and ripped the cigarette out of his mouth, threw it on the floor, and stepped on it. Then he said, "Give me your smokes." He took the pack of cigarettes and told him be at the football coach's office in 15 minutes. Kucich just said, "Yes, sir." and that was that. Johnny's was half empty the next day, as all the athletes got the word. Kucich who is 80 now, just retired from his job as a bartender in a bar on Taraval in the Sunset. He recently said, "2nd wife just came back. Drinking more now.". .

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Matheny had TB, and, as a result, had to sit out a few years. He graduated from Lowell in 1947. At one point at Cal, he was 26 years old. He, too, lived close to Pacific Heights School and played there with Healy, O'Neill, glafkides, and many other Lowell players.

helltopay1 said:

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Matheny had TB, and, as a result, had to sit out a few years. He graduated from Lowell in 1947. At one point at Cal, he was 26 years old. He, too, lived close to Pacific Heights School and played there with Healy, O'Neill, glafkides, and many other Lowell players.

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Geez. TB. I had that too. I was three years old, and doctors made me take vitamin C and I spent a whole year in bed. My mother got me a library card and taught me to read during that year. When I arrived in 1st grade, I was already reading at a 6th or 7th grade level. Then I discovered science fiction and comic books and the great start I had was blown. My teachers always blamed that year in bed for making me such a juvenile delinquent, as I never got the play out of my system. Spent more time in the principal's office than I did in the classroom, it seemed. Lowell and Cal straightened me out, more or less.