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Cal Basketball Head coach Mark Fox Completes Staff

April 18, 2019
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BERKELEY – California men's basketball's coaching staff is now complete, with head coach Mark Fox adding veteran coaches Andrew Francis, Chris Harriman and Trent Johnson, and retaining Marty Wilson, the program announced today.
 
Francis, Harriman and Wilson will serve as assistants on Fox's staff, while Johnson joins the staff as an analyst for the program.
 
Read more about each coach below, and click each name to read a full biography:

Assistant Coach Andrew Francis

Francis joins the Golden Bears with nearly two decades of Division I coaching experience, including stints under Fran McCaffery at Iowa and Jay Wright at Villanova.
 
Praised for his tireless recruiting efforts and player development, Francis served the Hawkeyes for nine seasons and was a member of the longest-tenured coaching staff in Division I basketball after becoming Iowa head coach Fran McCaffery's first hire in April 2010. During his time in Iowa City, the Hawkeyes averaged 20 wins in eight consecutive seasons and won at least 18 games per season for six straight seasons (2012-17), while attendance at Carver-Hawkeye Arena increased by more than 50 percent. The Hawkeyes were one of just three teams to finish in the upper division of the Big Ten in at least six of his last seven seasons.
 
"Andrew has worked side-by-side with an outstanding coach in Fran McCaffery for more than a decade," Fox said. "His contacts across the entire country will be a tremendous benefit to our program. I have admired his ability and his impact on young people for many years."
 
In Francis' final season with the Hawkeyes, Iowa amassed 23 victories – the program's second-highest total in more than a decade – and was nationally ranked for 16 consecutive weeks. With his help over the last decade, Iowa regained its footing as a national powerhouse, achieving its highest ranking since 1987 when the Hawkeyes earned a No. 3 ranking in January 2016. The Hawkeyes were ranked in both major polls in each of the final 11 weeks of the 2016 season. While in 2013, Iowa tallied 25 wins and reached the NIT Championship game.
 
During his tenure, Jarrod Uthoff was named an All-American, while eight student-athletes earned All-Big Ten status, including Tyler Cook (2018), Peter Jok (2017), Uthoff (2016), Aaron White (2015) and Roy Devyn Marble (2014). Jok also became the Big Ten scoring champion after averaging 19.9 points per game. Francis helped develop frontcourt players Gabriel Olaseni and Nicholas Baer, who were each voted Big Ten Sixth Man of the Year in 2015 and 2017, respectively. He also helped coach six All-Big Ten Freshman performers (Eric May in 2010; Melsahn Basabe in 2011; White in 2012; Jordan Bohannon and Tyler Cook in 2017; Joe Wieskamp in 2019).
 
Francis also served under McCaffery at Siena from 2007-10, helping with the team's recruiting, player development and scouting efforts as an assistant coach and guiding the Saints to three consecutive conference titles and NCAA Tournament berths. He arrived in Loudonville after a two-year stint under Jay Wright at Villanova University beginning in August 2005, where he was the administrative assistant and video coordinator for Wright.
 
A Brooklyn, N.Y., native, Francis played basketball at Fulton Montgomery Community College in Johnstown, New York, before completing his college career under Sidney Green at Long Island University-Southampton. He graduated in 1998 with a degree in marketing and management.
 
"I'm tremendously excited and honored to have this opportunity to work at a world-class institution like Cal, and to work for a successful, highly respected coach in Coach Fox," Francis said.

Assistant Coach Chris Harriman
A native of Sydney, Australia, Harriman joins Fox's staff with a renowned repertoire of international recruiting prowess and global knowledge of the game and a coaching pedigree that includes assistant stops under Rick Majerus, Tim Miles and Paul Weir.
 
"Chris brings a wealth of experience and contacts in basketball from across the globe," Fox said. "He trained under the great Rick Majerus and has been an exceptional recruiter.  I am excited to add someone with great international experience and basketball expertise to our Cal basketball family."
 
Gary Parrish and Matt Norlander named Harriman one of the "Top 5 Up-and-Coming Division I Assistants" on CBS Sports, with Norlander writing, "Few guys have the international networking and contacts like Harriman. He's the long-term valuable hire, the guy who finds the gem buried under 20 feet of mud." Additionally, national basketball insider Jeff Goodman named Harriman one of the top three international recruiters in Division I college basketball.
 
"It's an honor and a privilege to have this amazing opportunity. You don't have to be born in the U.S. to appreciate the incredible reputation Cal has as the No. 1 public university in the world," Harriman said. "I came here to be part of the Cal family and to share in the great traditions, but more importantly I came here to help Coach Fox build a great basketball program. Having the opportunity to work for someone I respect and admire and is a teacher of the game made this move a no-brainer for me."
 
Harriman arrives in Berkeley after four seasons as the associate head coach at the University of New Mexico, where he oversaw all aspects of the basketball program, including scheduling, recruiting and player development. In 2017-18, Harriman helped the Lobos finish third in the Mountain West in the regular season after being selected to finish ninth overall. New Mexico earned a Mountain West Tournament first-round bye and reached the conference title game for the first time since 2014. With his guidance, Antino Jackson developed as an All-Mountain West Defensive Team selection while Anthony Mathis became one of the Lobos' all-time 3-point leaders and a two-time All-Mountain West Third Team selection.
 
Off the court, Harriman helped guide Lobo student-athletes to two CoSIDA Academic All-District selections, eight NABC Honors Court awards and eight Academic All-Conference nods. Harriman's 2016 New Mexico squad recorded a team grade point average of 3.03 in 2016, earning the program the NABC Team Excellence Award.
 
Prior to his time in the Pit, Harriman spent three seasons as an assistant at Nebraska under Tim Miles, and in 2013-14 Nebraska made the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 15 years.
 
He studied under the late Rick Majerus as an assistant coach at Saint Louis from 2008 to 2012. Working side-by-side with Majerus, Harriman helped the Billikens to a pair of 20-win seasons as they improved from the ninth-place team in the Atlantic 10 in 2008 to a second-place finish in his last year in 2012. In his final year at SLU, Harriman helped develop the Billikens into an NCAA top 25 leader in scoring defense, scoring margin, turnover margin and turnovers per game, advancing to the NCAA Tournament round of 32.
 
"I was very fortunate to work for one of the greatest teachers in college basketball, the late Rick Majerus.  I remember Coach Majerus referring often to Pete Newell as a great teacher of basketball, and a coach who was influential in his mental approach to the game.  So many of the things I was able to learn from Coach Majerus had their roots in Coach Newell and Cal- basketball," Harriman added.
 
He began his coaching career at Nova Southeastern in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. where he helped the team to 48 wins over a four-year span.
 
Prior to coaching, Harriman was a standout guard for the Augusta State (Ga.) Jaguars of the NCAA Division II's Peach Belt Conference. During his playing career, the guard helped guide Augusta State to PBC division titles and NCAA Tournament appearances. He wrapped up his college career with 627 points and 375 assists for the Jaguars before spending the 2003-04 season with the Hunter Valley Pirates. Harriman was the runner-up for the National Basketball League's Rookie of the Year award for the Pirates as the top first-year player in Australia's NBL.

Assistant Coach Marty Wilson

Wilson, a longtime head coach at Pepperdine, will remain on Fox's staff as an assistant coach. He originally joined the Bears as an assistant under Wyking Jones in April of 2018.
 
"I have known Marty for more than a quarter of a century and his knowledge of the West Coast, the Pac-12 and of our current situation will be of great value as we begin to rebuild this program," Fox said. "He has already been extremely helpful in the transition and I know he will continue to serve this program at a high level."

During Wilson's first season with the Bears, the squad ranked within the Pac-12's top three in steals (3rd, 7.6 spg), turnover margin (2nd, +2.8), and Cal ended the regular season with three consecutive victories, sweeping the Washington schools and winning at Stanford.
 
"I truly appreciate the opportunity and I am extremely excited to be a part of Coach Fox's staff," Wilson said. "Our relationship goes back almost 25 years, and we share a valuable mentor who has shaped our philosophies. I believe Coach Fox will do great things here at Cal that everyone can be proud of."

Wilson spent 21 total seasons in Malibu, starting as a student-athlete for the Waves and compiling an impressive record. As a head coach, Wilson helped transform the Waves from a 10-win team in his first season to back-to-back 18-win seasons in 2014-15 and 2015-16, marking their first consecutive winning seasons since 2001-03. Pepperdine finished fourth in the West Coast Conference in both the 2015 and 2016 seasons, and the 2015 squad allowed just 61.6 points and finished the season second in the nation in three-point field goal percentage defense (27.0 percent).

Off the court, Wilson helped guide 21 of his 22 student-athletes who exhausted their eligibility to degrees. Malte Kramer was the program's first Capital One/CoSIDA Academic All-American and co-valedictorian at the university.
 
Prior to becoming head coach in 2011, Wilson served as the associate head coach for the Waves under Tom Asbury beginning in 2008. He rejoined Pepperdine after coaching stints at San Diego (1996-98), UC Santa Barbara (1998-2004) and Utah (2004-08).

Men's Basketball Analyst Trent Johnson

Johnson returns to the Bay Area and reunites with Fox to serve as a men's basketball analyst in a special assistant role, joining the Golden Bears after a 17-year head coaching career and nearly four decades in the collegiate coaching business.
 
"Trent Johnson has been a part of my family for nearly three decades. His commitment to developing young people is second to none," Fox said. "Across his coaching career, he won league championships at Nevada, Stanford and LSU, and his expertise and experience will be a valuable part of our program."
 
A Berkeley, Calif., native, Johnson helmed the men's basketball programs at Nevada (1999-2004), where he was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2013, as well as at Stanford (2004-08), LSU (2008-2012) and TCU (2012-16). He also served as a collegiate assistant coach at Utah (1986-89), Washington (1989-92), Rice (1992-96), Stanford (1996-99) and Louisville (2017-18).
 
In his analyst role for the Bears, Johnson will support day-to-day student-athlete development and mentorship off the court, plus serve as an assistant to Fox. His head coaching experience will help guide the Bears in game planning and scouting, plus opponent analysis.
 
"I am thrilled to be able to reunite with Coach Fox while we work to build something special here in Berkeley," Johnson said. "I'm looking forward to mentoring our guys as we develop high-character, high-caliber young men in the great tradition of Cal Athletics."
 
A former member of the National Association of Basketball Coaches Board of Directors, Johnson's teams made five NCAA Tournament appearances, including reaching the NCAA Sweet 16 at Nevada and Stanford and reached the postseason eight total times, with three trips to the National Invitation Tournament. Johnson, who owned a 276-264 record as a head coach, has been honored as the conference coach of the year in three different leagues (2003 WAC, 2008 Pac-10 and 2009 SEC).

Discussion from...

Cal Basketball Head coach Mark Fox Completes Staff

15,227 Views | 15 Replies | Last: 5 yr ago by OneTopOneChickenApple
GoCalBears
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Marty Wilson is staying on while strong recruiters like Grace and Walker leaves? WTH? What's the upside of keeping Wilson over the other?
bonsallbear
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Well that's a good post. Nice and positive. Have a nice day.
NYCGOBEARS
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Hope Francis and Harriman live up to their reps as energetic recruiters. I feel a little better now that we have them.
KoreAmBear
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Time to hit the road -- open recruiting period April 19-24. Let's see if we can make some progress.
Genocide Joe 58
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GoCalBears said:

Marty Wilson is staying on while strong recruiters like Grace and Walker leaves? WTH? What's the upside of keeping Wilson over the other?
He's friends with the coach
roqmoq
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NYCGOBEARS said:

Hope Francis and Harriman live up to their reps as energetic recruiters. I feel a little better now that we have them.
FWIW, checked with a friend in Albuquerque and he says that Harriman has a good reputation and works well with the players.
BeachedBear
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GoCalBears said:

Marty Wilson is staying on while strong recruiters like Grace and Walker leaves? WTH? What's the upside of keeping Wilson over the other?
Based on Fox's quote in the article:

"He has already been extremely helpful in the transition and I know he will continue to serve this program at a high level."

I expect Wilson to be replaced next season. (hopefully with the father of a 5-star phenom?)
NYCGOBEARS
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roqmoq said:

NYCGOBEARS said:

Hope Francis and Harriman live up to their reps as energetic recruiters. I feel a little better now that we have them.
FWIW, checked with a friend in Albuquerque and he says that Harriman has a good reputation and works well with the players.

That's good news.
touchdownbears43
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GoCalBears said:

Marty Wilson is staying on while strong recruiters like Grace and Walker leaves? WTH? What's the upside of keeping Wilson over the other?


There's no evidence to suggest either Grace or Walker were (or are) strong recruiters. What Fox has done is hire assistants who worked for somewhat-successful Head coaches hoping that we can capture some of their respective programs' occasional rise above mediocrity.
OneTopOneChickenApple
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Will Trent Johnson be on the bench during games?
Genocide Joe 58
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OneTopOneChickenApple said:

Will Trent Johnson be on the bench during games?
No. He is being hired as an analyst, something kinda similar to Tedford at UW.
71Bear
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Yogi Bear said:

OneTopOneChickenApple said:

Will Trent Johnson be on the bench during games?
No. He is being hired as an analyst, something kinda similar to Tedford at UW.
Actually, he can be on the bench during games. What he cannot do is coach players during practice.

https://collegesportsmaven.io/cal/basketball/cal-basketball-it-s-official-mark-fox-assembles-his-coaching-staff-nrsF8AXmikSgs7MSvsdLMw/
OneTopOneChickenApple
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In the event that Fox can not finish coaching a game, who takes over?
71Bear
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OneTopOneChickenApple said:

In the event that Fox can not finish coaching a game, who takes over?
Shocky?
OneTopOneChickenApple
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71Bear said:

OneTopOneChickenApple said:

In the event that Fox can not finish coaching a game, who takes over?
Shocky?
I'll take it.
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