The Cal Alumni Club of Chicago has an opportunity to host Coach Smith and an assistant coach on Friday, Feb 7th in Chicago, in advance of the Bears' game at Notre Dame on Feb 9th.

If by any chance readers of this board are able to make it to the dinner, please let me know via email at nplin1@yahoo.com.

This is a last-minute opportunity that has arisen from discussions with the Leadership Giving team. We only need a couple of more attendees to hit critical mass to make this happen.

Thanks, and Go Bears!

SFCB72,

Dinner was fantastic. We had about 20 alums there along with Charmin and Assistant Coach Kai Felton. Some of us also traveled to South Bend -- good environment, but obviously not such a good game.

Charmin is extremely personable and is very impressive in person. It was clear that both she and Kai really appreciated our being there, as they try to increase enthusiasm and support for the program.

She spoke on a wide range of topics, mostly spurred by questions from us. I personally enjoyed hearing some of her recruiting anecdotes and her perspectives on NIL and the transfer portal. It was also interesting hearing about the differences in culture between the Stanford WBB team when she played for Tara VanDerveer and the culture of Cal WBB, which apparently started with Joanne Boyle and has continued on through Gottlieb and on to Charmin.

Probably the most important takeaway was that we're facing an uphill battle in terms of NIL funding for WBB, facilities, marketing, etc. ($$$) Watching the ND game in South Bend on Sunday really drove home the point to me. In fact, it's amazing what Charmin has done under the circumstances.

Bottom line: we need more alumni support and the team certainly deserves more fan support at Haas.

Great report. Thank you!

The crowds at Haas have improved recently: Florida State (2,311), UNC (2,886) and Pitt (2,733). But we need more fans in the seats. 4 more home games.

You're right about NIL and overall funding for Cal WBB. Bears definitely need a new WBB locker room and funding for that is underway.

Go Bears!!

Who is going to the game Thursday. I am..

wvitbear said:

---

Who is going to the game Thursday. I am..

---

I hope to drag BearBloke to his first game since his ER/hospital adventures last month.

Quote:

---

Who is going to the game Thursday. I am..

---

Haas Pavilion ranks number among places I want to and plan to be this coming Thursday. It has the same ranking in the same categories for Sunday afternoon.

P.S. BearBloke and I are bringing the Four Tops: