BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) -California underachieved in the eyes of its players, its athletic director and its fans.
The school fired basketball coach Ben Braun on Wednesday following another disappointing season in which the Golden Bears missed the NCAA tournament for the fourth time in five years.
Braun spent 12 years at Cal and made the tournament five times. But the Bears only went to the NCAA tournament once over his final five seasons, leading to the decision by athletic director Sandy Barbour.
She met Wednesday morning with Braun, who then met with eight players from the team in the locker room afterward with the news. Barbour, too, talked to as many players as she could considering some had already left town for spring break. She said her decision was made this week after evaluating the program over the course of the season.
“Ultimately, the bottom line is we just didn’t win enough basketball games,” Barbour said. “I believe this is a very talented team and I believe they underperformed. … It concerns me not to put the student-athletes in position to have outrageous success.”
Cal finished ninth in the Pac-10 this season, going 17-16 overall and just 6-12 in the conference despite having a talented roster that included likely future NBA players in Ryan Anderson, DeVon Hardin and Patrick Christopher. Anderson, the team’s leading scorer and rebounder this season as a sophomore, is likely to declare himself eligible for the NBA draft without hiring an agent so he can still return to school.
The Bears had the youngest roster in the Pac-10 – with two seniors and no active juniors – and made the NIT, where they were knocked out in the second round by Ohio State on Monday night. They struggled all season to play solid defense and that led to losing lots of close games.
“I was speechless, shocked, kind of numb in a way,” forward Jamal Boykin said. “I heard all the rumors. I understand, but I think it’s unfortunate because he’s put together a really good system. I understand how the business works. This is a top university.”
Braun leaves Cal with a 219-154 record at the school. His most successful season was his first after taking over when former coach Todd Bozeman was found to have paid $30,000 to the father of a former player. The Bears went 23-9 in 1996-97 and advanced to the third round of the NCAA tournament.
Integrity of the program is a priority for Barbour, who called certain things like NCAA violations “nonnegotiable” as she makes this hire.
Cal won the NIT in 1999 and made three straight trips to the NCAA tournament from 2001-03, before struggling in recent years as other conference programs have improved. The Bears have placed eighth or ninth in the Pac-10 in three of the last four years.
“I’d like to thank the Cal community for 12 great years of support,” Braun said in a statement. “I’ve had the privilege to coach at one of the top universities in the country, and I’m proud of the program we’ve built. Going to eight postseason tournaments has been very special. I’m obviously disappointed that my staff and I won’t be able to coach this team next year, and I feel they will be very successful.”
According to terms of the most recent contract extension that went through the 2010-11 season, Braun is due a $985,000 buyout. The door to the men’s basketball office was locked Wednesday afternoon and it was dark inside.
Beaudine, Inc. Associate head coach Louis Reynaud will direct the program until a new head coach is named, and the other assistants will at least stay aboard until then.
“This team had a tremendous amount of talent and it was more the little things that held us back,” said forward Theo Robertson, who redshirted the season while recovering from hip surgery.
The Cal job is one of two open in the conference, along with Oregon State, which fired Jay John during the season.
Some possible replacements for Braun include Saint Mary’s coach Randy Bennett, former Stanford and Golden State Warriors coach Mike Montgomery, former UCLA coach Steve Lavin, former Warriors and Sacramento Kings coach Eric Musselman, UNLV coach Lon Kruger or Arizona assistant Kevin O’Neill.
Barbour already has her own short list.
Boykin said the Bears need a “disciplinarian” who will put some “fear” in the players.
“The numbers don’t lie,” Boykin said. “We made the NIT but that was a disappointment to a lot of people. I really have no idea why our defense was so bad. It’s a mental toughness thing and we didn’t have that mental toughness on the defensive end.”
Braun has a school-record 11 postseason victories and reached a record five NCAA tournaments. His 219 victories at the school are second on Cal’s career list behind only Nibs Price, who was 449-294 from 1925-54.
The 54-year-old Braun coached at Eastern Michigan and Siena Heights College before joining the Bears in September 1996. His career record is 552-389 in 31 seasons.
Braun was born in Chicago and played one year of basketball at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse before transferring to Wisconsin. He graduated in 1975.
—-
AP Sports Writer Josh Dubow contributed to this report.
Add A Comment