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Mark Fox Named . . .

Just got the email from Knowlton too:

Dear Cal Family,

I am very excited to share with you that we have hired Mark Fox as the next head coach for the Cal men's basketball program. As I have said on many occasions, my expectation is for all of our programs to be exceptional. After conducting a thorough national search, Mark quickly differentiated himself and emerged as the leader we want to guide our men's basketball program.

We are confident that Mark's values align with those of the University and our department. He is a man of unparalleled integrity with a proven record of success as a head basketball coach. He is an inspiring leader, a teacher and an exceptional communicator who has displayed a strong commitment to developing the entire student-athlete, on and off the court.

Mark compiled a 123-43 record in five seasons leading Nevada from 2005-09, a run that included four conference championships, three invitations to the NCAA Tournament and two trips to the CBI Tournament. He later served as head coach at Georgia for nine seasons from 2010-18 and amassed a 163-133 mark, leading the Bulldogs to a pair of NCAA Tournaments and three National Invitation Tournaments. Overall, he has averaged more than 20 wins per season in 14 years as a head coach.

Outside of coaching, Mark is a former chair of the NCAA Men's Basketball Rules Committee and member of the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Ethics Coalition. Since leaving Georgia, he served with USA Basketball as an assistant coach to Jeff Van Gundy for the World Cup Qualifying team.

Mark is well respected among his peers. He has built programs to compete on the national stage, and has consistently exhibited his commitment to the student-athletes by promoting a balanced developmental experience. He is passionate about supporting the young men on his team to challenge themselves academically and graduate with degrees that will help them in life after basketball. He is a true mentor at heart - always challenging his student-athletes to be good citizens of their community and high character individuals.

The future is bright for this program and I can't wait for us to get started on this journey. We will be formally introducing Mark to the Cal family at a press conference on Monday, April 1 at 10:00 am. Here is a link to the full news release, which provides additional information about Mark and his coaching accomplishments.

Mark is looking forward to engaging with the Cal Athletics community, particularly our Cal men's basketball fans and supporters. Stay tuned for opportunities in the coming months to get to know Mark and learn more about his vision for our program.

Please join me in welcoming Mark, his wife, Cindy, and his children, Parker and Olivia, to the Cal family!

Go Bears!

Jim Knowlton
Director of Athletics

"Fox played collegiately at Garden City Community College in Kansas under former Nevada head coach Jim Carey"

Quote:

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"my expectation is for all of our programs to be exceptional"

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Nice words, Jim, but actions speak louder than words, and the action of hiring Fox contradicts your words.

The list of quotes under "What they're saying" (bottom of calbears.com release) seems carefully curated*! Can you imagine if they'd picked 10 reactions at random off of BI?


* The only time I use the word "curated" is when I'm being, you know...

at least whoever put this together was smart enough to try to bury the most relevant part of Fox' resume - his record at Georgia. But hey, some other coaches said nice things about him.

My sighs are big. Cal is Cal.

The mention of the NIT was a nice touch. Are we still celebrating Cal's NIT championship?

Sluggo

This is embarrassing.

So, he was canned at Georgia one full year ago.
What's he been doing for the last 12 months?

concordtom said:

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So, he was canned at Georgia one full year ago.
What's he been doing for the last 12 months?

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Since leaving Georgia, Fox spent the fall of 2018 serving with USA Basketball as an assistant coach to Jeff Van Gundy for the World Cup Qualifying team. He also assisted the Milwaukee Bucks in the NBA Summer League

IKWT

Easy to see the disappointment but I'm not sure Decuire would have been a better choice and we know there weren't a bunch of sure things lining up to interview and probably very few "rising stars". Let's see if he can hold together the current players and the incoming class.

59bear said:

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Easy to see the disappointment but I'm not sure Decuire would have been a better choice and we know there weren't a bunch of sure things lining up to interview and probably very few "rising stars". Let's see if he can hold together the current players and the incoming class.

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While not a splashy/"in demand" hire, its prudent and reasonable to withhold judgement/grade on our new coach. Lets see who his staff is (he is close to Trent Johnson) and how his roster plays out (current players/incoming recruits). I would like to see Grace retained, but new coaches have their connections and relationships they trust.

Now that its a done deal and Fox is our HC, hope he surrounds himself with great assistants. Retain Grace or get an ace recruiter...

Perhaps Fox might do to Cal what Barnes did with Tenn....? Wishful thinking?

The Knowlton is Listening

GoCalBears said:

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Now that its a done deal and Fox is our HC, hope he surrounds himself with great assistants. Retain Grace or get an ace recruiter...

Perhaps Fox might do to Cal what Barnes did with Tenn....? Wishful thinking?

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I have hope but that is some GOOD stuff.

Rick Barnes is likely dirty as hell.
He also took Texas to something like 11 straight tournament appearances. (and ditto Clemson). We _WISH_ Fox had as good a resume.

Ironic he will be introduced on April Fools

socaltownie said:

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GoCalBears said:

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Now that its a done deal and Fox is our HC, hope he surrounds himself with great assistants. Retain Grace or get an ace recruiter...

Perhaps Fox might do to Cal what Barnes did with Tenn....? Wishful thinking?

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I have hope but that is some GOOD stuff.

Rick Barnes is likely dirty as hell.
He also took Texas to something like 11 straight tournament appearances. (and ditto Clemson). We _WISH_ Fox had as good a resume.

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this guy was on nobody's short list on this site. I mean not one mention.

4thGenCal said:

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59bear said:

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Easy to see the disappointment but I'm not sure Decuire would have been a better choice and we know there weren't a bunch of sure things lining up to interview and probably very few "rising stars". Let's see if he can hold together the current players and the incoming class.

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While not a splashy/"in demand" hire, its prudent and reasonable to withhold judgement/grade on our new coach. Lets see who his staff is (he is close to Trent Johnson) and how his roster plays out (current players/incoming recruits). I would like to see Grace retained, but new coaches have their connections and relationships they trust.

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What is this? A breath of sanity in the face of the usual Cal fan negativity and despair?

Rick Barnes? The same guy that thrice won the Big 12 and took Texas to a Final 4 and two Elite 8s? Who won 2/3 of his conference games in the Big 12? If that's what Fox' record looked like I don't think you'd see this much angst.

SFCityBear said:

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4thGenCal said:

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59bear said:

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Easy to see the disappointment but I'm not sure Decuire would have been a better choice and we know there weren't a bunch of sure things lining up to interview and probably very few "rising stars". Let's see if he can hold together the current players and the incoming class.

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While not a splashy/"in demand" hire, its prudent and reasonable to withhold judgement/grade on our new coach. Lets see who his staff is (he is close to Trent Johnson) and how his roster plays out (current players/incoming recruits). I would like to see Grace retained, but new coaches have their connections and relationships they trust.

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What is this? A breath of sanity in the face of the usual Cal fan negativity and despair?

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interesting take, I viewed it as capitulating. Let's see

MilleniaBear said:

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Ironic he will be introduced on April Fools

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Introduced by the fool who hired him.