Apr 5, 2008 - 6:56 PM
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Montgomery joins California after coaching at rival Stanford for 18 seasons, where he guided the Cardinal to 12 NCAA Tournament appearances.
At Cal, Montgomery will replace Ben Braun, who was fired Wednesday after 12 seasons. The Golden Bears went 17-16 in Braun's final season, posting a disappointing 6-12 record in Pac-10 Conference play.
"This is an exciting time," Montgomery said. "First of all, Ben Braun was a friend of mine, and I think a lot of him as a person.
"Any time there seems like there is good fortune for somebody, there's always misfortune for somebody else. I acknowledge that. I've been in the coaching profession a long time, and I'm always sensitive to that."
At Stanford, Montgomery compiled a 393-167 record, becoming the school's all-time winningest coach while resurrecting the basketball program. He also guided the Cardinal to the Final Four in 1998.
Montgomery left Stanford in 2004 to coach the Golden State Warriors in the NBA, where he went 68-96 in two seasons before being replaced by Don Nelson in August 2006.
Montgomery had spent the last 19 months working as a broadcaster and as an assistant to Stanford athletic director Bob Bowlsby.
"This is a tremendous opportunity for me," he said. "I started missing coaching. The TV stuff for me pointed out that I miss it more than I thought I did. It's what I do - it's what I do best."
Despite his lengthy history at Stanford, Montgomery seemed enthused to move across the Bay and coach the rival Golden Bears.
"I think it is a fierce rivalry," he said. "I talked to a number of people, including some of my players at Stanford, some of the kids I could get a hold of, people who I had respect for.
"To me, it was more about trying to do at Cal maybe what I have done in the past. I want to try to build a quality basketball program that will build on the foundation that they have and to try to win basketball games."
