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Mark Few! Mark Few! Mark Few!

Braun has been living on borrowed time and should have gone much farther with the talent that he had. The ending of the last regular season game with UCLA, which CAL should have won was brutal and the Bears' performance in the PAC 10 championship was worse. It's like something went missing from Braun over the last few years. He could recruit decently, but couldn't get things done with his players.

Kelvin Sampson is available!

I think Braun found himself in a tightly contested league being victimized by high expectations partially due to his own previous success. Similarly people ask, why isn't Wake Forest or Virginia a better team on par with Duke and North Carolina? Same deal with Cal, the Pac-10 is a tough conference to contend in. I think Monty was somewhat overrated. Lavin was an excellent recruiter but the name UCLA may have been instrumental to that fact. Now, a Monty / Lavin one-two-punch - WOW - couple that with a large cache of cash left in Ryan's apartment and I'd see Cal contending in 2 years for the title. The past few years have tightened up and I don't think that trend will be changing anytime soon - for that reason I still contend that teams like UW and OSU need to go the JUCO route to bring in immediate, albeit temporary assistance.

Disagree; Braun's teams were underachievers and have been the last few years. Check out the article. Braun was a not as good a coach as the talent of the players demanded. (Also check out what one player says about how he hopes the next coach is a better disciplinarian. That pretty much sums up what the problem has been for Braun and the Bears.)

not Lavin. go Bears!

Steve Lavin is awesome!

Steve Lavin is awesome!

MARINsur4

I don't think so. He got the boot at UCLA for losing - worst season since 1941- and that's got to be the most storied program in college b-ball. You think he could do better with Cal's meager resources?

Mark Few would be an excellent choice. Beyond having an 80% win percentage, Few has the highest level of integrity, which fits in the universitiy's search criterion. Few would be an excellent choice!

few will never leave gonzaga. you're kidding yourself if he'd leave gonzaga especially for cal. gonzaga's program is far more prestigious than cal

Few. Big fish in a little pond, CAL medium fish in the biggest pond. I say look at the St. Mary's guy. he has shown he can turn around a program, and he would not even have to move.

Lavin does an exceptional job on ESPN but was an at best mediocre coach at UCLA. He recruited well but used those players poorly during the season, before somehow getting them to come together in the tournament. His record is gaudy, but then again so is Braun's.

Few will leave Gonzaga for the right job; the luster is coming off that program. Cal might be a good place for him to go; he'd stay in the West where his recruiting ties are and have better facilities.

As an alumnus of both Cal and UCLA, I say, Please! Anyone but Steve Lavin. He did well in recruiting for UCLA (who wouldn't?), but he consistently failed to develop the talent he had and eventually wore out his welcome. The good that could come from his taking another coaching job would be to remove him from the broadcasting booth, where his glib, fast-talking manner is wearisome to listen to. He's not a bad guy (in fact, he looked like a hero after Jim Harrick), but he doesn't belong in college basketball. If he were to get the Cal job, it wouldn't take long for people to regret Braun's departure.

Agreed, Few would leave Gonzaga for the right job but not a rebuilding job; he has nothing to prove in this area. Cal has talent and he could take them immediately to the next level and he has a great area from which to recruit to keep reloading.

As an alumnus of both Cal and UCLA, I cringe at the thought of Lavin's coaching at Cal. Having to suffer through his tenure at UCLA was punishment enough--please don't inflict him on my undergraduate alma mater, too. Lavin's not a bad buy and certainly not a terrible coach. However, he was poor at developing the talent that he recruited, and he's tedious to listen to. I'd like to see him forget about coaching and get out of sports broadcasting. He'd make a fine game show host. Perhaps he can replace Pat Sajak on WHEEL OF FORTUNE. (Incidentally, I wouldn't mind seeing Cheryl Miller replace Vanna White on that show, as I never watch it myself.)

Sorry for the double post. I thought that the Web had swallowed my first message while I was signing on, so I rewrote it.

Incidentally, I'm curious why a previous poster would say that Gonzaga has a "far more prestigious" program than Cal does. Granted Gonzaga basketball teams have enjoyed more success than Cal's in recent years. However, if one were to compare both programs' deeper histories, both school's total athletic programs, and both school's academic reputations, Gonazaga can only rank a distant second. Throw in the superiority of the Pac-10 to the West Coast Conference and the fact that Cal's Haas Pavillion is twice the size of Gonzaga's arena, and there is a lot to be said for moving from Gonzaga to Cal. Finally, would Few really prefer to live in Spokane, Washington, instead of the San Francisco Bay Area? Perhaps, but he certainly wouldn't have to travel as far to recruit players as he does from Spokane.

I hate to see any university (including my own) steal a coach from another institution that I like. However, it happens all the time, so I won't object if Cal hires Few. In fact, I would be happy to recommendation Lavin for the resulting opening at Gonzaga.

Hate to say this, Uncle Dynamite, but if you have to go into that kind of explanation about your program's "prestige" (or lack thereof), then it's probably not as great as you think.

And that's not even taking into account the fact that only people west of Utah care about the Pac-10.

And that's not even taking into account the fact that only people west of Utah care about the Pac-10.

LSH99

That is definitely NOT true. You can buy, for example, cable PAC 10 football packages in the MIdwest, which obviously indicates a fan-base and interest. The sense that nobody is watching the PAC 10 other than on the coast is a way-old myth. (Besides, USC's got the best cheerleaders in the country.)

mark few wont leave gonzaga this year, so i hope... maybe next year. he has already commented on his team next year and he recruits. his team is next year and he'll also get some good competition in the wcc.
whats so bad about spokane? im sure all the people that comment about it uncle dynamite) haven't ever even been here. we just don't get money like seattle gets it, thats all.
and about the wcc being a weak conf. we usually only get one bid, one chance to make the tourney, pac 10 gets practically all their teams in no matter what, even Oregon this year? no matter what conf, the picks are the same. just because zags usually win their title andtourney every year, doesnt mean they lost all their pre season games which are usaully trecherous...

anyways gonzaga will have few next year.

I don't really mean to knock Spokane. I've been to western Washington many times but have never been to the eastern part of the state. I'm sure that Spokane is a fine place to live. However, for those who seek the attractions of major metropolitan centers, it can't compete with the Bay Area. And I daresay that the weather in the Bay Area is generally better than that in Spokane. The other points I made about the advantages of living in the Bay Area have to do with the interests of college basketball coaches. Be honest: Leaving aside the question of old school ties, If you were a college coach, where would you prefer to be? That said ... if Few prefers to stay at Gonzaga, more power to him!

LSH99's suggestion that only folks west of Utah care about the Pac-10 is, of course, laughable. I don't believe that statement is true, but even if it were, it would still be laughable. I say that because no one is more parochial than a college sports fan. How many people (other than alumni) care about any conference outside their own region? Who cares about the WCC, WAC, or Mountain West Conference? Frankly, I don't much worry what other folks think about the Pac-10, as the conference's record in NCAA championships in all sports speaks for itself. Indeed, I wouldn't be surprised if even unprestigious Cal has won more national championships than all the schools in the WCC combined. I don't know what the total number for Cal is, but I do know that my other alma mater, UCLA recently topped 100 NCAA championships (and is still in the running for this year's basketball championship). How many conferences have won a total of 100 NCAA division I championships?

Okay, I admit it. I'm biased, too. What a surprise.

BTW, what does "LSH" stand for? "Legion of Super Heroes"? "Laparoscopic Supracervical Hysterectomy"? or what?

the weather may be better in the bay area if you like moderate climate, some people love the 4 complete seasons, like people in spokane. and yeah, the pac 10 has some serious records along with acc and other conferences. histrory speaks there, but just because history is so strong, you cant count out other conferences to make histroy. cal has a incomplete program right now, compare that to a gonzaga team with little history (only the past 10 years) and one should care about the WCC and its new competition. our conference is still young. it gets little or no attention already, what are we supposed to do, just sit back and let the other conferences control like 'history', NO.

cal could be a better job in the future, and in history, but currently, it would be a wise decision for few to stay in spokane. And i think many would agree with me on this one. yea i'll admit im scared to lose one of top, if not the top coaches of the century.