Well, now that our favorite Sudanese b-ball player, Bak Bak, is safely in the fold, we can have the first in what I can only assume is a continuing series:  Bak Bak Fun Facts.

1.  Bak Bak has an irrational fear of ventruiliquism and ventruiliquist dummies. 

2.  Bak Bak was originally named Reginald Val Johnson when born, but went with Bak Bak instead.  He always hated Family Matters!

3.  Bak Bak currently hold the world record for longest Crocodile Mile.  He lined up like 40 of those and just kept going and going and going and going.

4.  Not to be outdone, Bak Bak started the Bak Bak and Belinda Gates organization to help people in Africa.  Take that, Steven Colbert.  Also taking that, Bill Gates.

5.  Bak Bak is fluent in Gujerati.

6.  James Cameron originally wanted Bak Bak for the lead, but Bak said "Hey, why not try that DiCaprio kid.  There's something about him."

7.  Bak Bak later regretted that.

8.  Bak Bak is the father of NeNe from the Real Housewives of Atlanta (I hate myself for knowing what that means).

So, that's a good start.  Let's learn more about Bak Bak!

Womens soccer to take on Florida in NCAAs:

Bears Earn NCAA Tournament Selection
The California women's soccer team received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament's 64-team field. The Golden Bears (10-8-1 overall, 3-5-1 Pac-10) will take on No. 7 Florida (17-3-1, 11-0 SEC) in the first round of the tournament on Friday at 4 p.m. EST at the Gators' James G. Pressly Stadium. The winner of the Cal-Florida game will face the winner of the Miami (10-8-3, 3-5-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) vs. Central Florida (13-5-3, 7-2-2 Conference USA) first-round match on Sunday, Nov. 16, at 1 p.m. EST in the same venue. Miami and UCF play each other Friday at 6:30 p.m. EST.

Bears' NCAA History
This year's selection is Cal's 16th playoff bid, the 10th in the last 11 years and the fifth straight. Cal advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament in 2007. The Bears defeated Santa Clara, 2-0, in the first round. Cal tied Stanford, 1-1, in the second round, but the Cardinal advanced to the third round by winning the penalty kick shootout, 7-6. In 2005, Cal advanced to the third round of NCAAs for the first time since 1988. The Bears' best NCAA Tournament performances were semifinal appearances in 1984, '87 and '88.

Ashley Walker gets a major accolade from ESPN:

BERKELEY - ESPN.com, in a list of the top five women's basketball players at each position, declared California Golden Bear senior Ashley Walker to be the best power forward in the nation. The list was voted on by a panel of ESPN.com contributors. "She [Ashley Walker] plays with the aggressive mentality of thinking she has something to prove," wrote Mechelle Voepel in her explanation of what makes Walker the nation's best power forward. "She has been the steady presence as Cal has risen in the national rankings."

Junior Alexis Gray-Lawson was among the top five two-guards. Epiphanny Price of Rutgers, whom the Bears will play against on Friday, Nov. 21 at Haas Pavilion, was named the top at the position. Only the top player at each position was announced with No.s 2-5 being listed alphabetically. Senior Devanei Hampton was among other forwards receiving votes.

Cal was one of eight schools to have two or more players ranked in the top five for their positions. Rutgers, Oklahoma, whom the Bears play on Dec. 13 in San Jose, and Stanford also had more than one player make the list. The Bears open their regular season on Friday, Nov. 14 when they host Albany at 1p.m. at Haas Pavilion.

More women's swimming recruits:

BERKELEY - Four high school swimming standouts - Mary Beck, Laura Evans, Caitlin Leverenz and Samantha Pearson - plus high school divers Rachel Becker and Kelsey Heiken have signed National Letters of Intent to join the University of California women's swimming and diving program for the 2009-10 season, Golden Bear head coach Teri McKeever announced Thursday. Beck, who will join the Bears in January of 2009, signed a Financial Aid Agreement.

"I can't stress enough how fantastic these student-athletes are," said McKeever. "They fit in perfectly with out team philosophy, and will provide immediate impact to our program."

Beck, who hails from Austin, Texas, is widely considered as one of the top backstroke and individual medley prospects in the country. She owns the national high school record in the 200 IM with a time of 1:56.45 and holds the public high school standard with a 53.03 in the 100-yard backstroke. Beck scored 29 points, the highest among female swimmers, and helped the United States to a second-place finish at the 2007 Junior Pan Pacific Championships in Hawaii. She collected two gold medals and one silver medal, and established Junior Pan Pac meet records in the 200 IM (2:16.72) and 400 IM (4:46.30).

Ashley Walker gets ANOTHER accolade:

BERKELEY - Members of the Pac-10 Conference's media, as an extension of the preseason poll, voted a five-member preseason All-Pac-10 team. Senior forward Ashley Walker was a unanimous pick, receiving a vote on all 14 ballots. Fellow Bears' post Devanei Hampton was also among the five players named.

The preseason All-Pac-10 honors are the latest in a growing list of honors for the pair of senior fowards. Walker, a two-time All-American and first-team All-Pac-10 player, was named a first-team preseason All-American by the Sporting News and an honorable mention All-American by the Associated Press. She is also on the Wooden Award Preseason Top 30 list and the State Farm/Wade Trophy Watch List and was just named the top power forward in the country by ESPN.com. Hampton, a two-time All-American and three-time All-Pac-10 honoree was named preseason third-team All-American by The Sporting News. She is also on the Wooden Award Preseason Top 30 list and the State Farm/Wade Trophy Watch List.

The Bears were picked second in the media poll, duplicating their finish in the Pac-10 coaches' poll. The Bears open their regular season on Friday, Nov. 14 when they host Albany at 1p.m. at Haas Pavilion.

2008 PAC-10 WOMEN'S BASKETBALL PRESEASON MEDIA POLL
    TEAM             PTS
1.  Stanford (13)    139
2.  California (1)   126
3.  Arizona State    112
4.  USC               94
5.  UCLA              85
6.  Oregon            64
7.  Washington        56
8.  Oregon State      51
9.  Arizona           26
10. Washington State  21
2008 PRESEASON WOMEN'S BASKETBALL ALL-PAC 10 TEAM
NAME              SCHOOL        POS  YR   HT     HOMETOWN
Jayne Appel       Stanford      F/C  Jr.  6-4    Pleasant Hill, Calif.
Devanei Hampton   California    F/C  Sr.  6-3    Oakland, Calif.
Briann January    Arizona State G    Sr.  5-8    Spokane, Wash.
Kayla Pedersen    Stanford      F    So.  6-4    Fountain Hills, Ariz.

Ashley Walker* California F/C Sr. 6-1 Modesto, Calif.

God, the media STILL thinks Stanford is way better.  This year is the year to change people's minds on that!!!!

Okanes says team is getting healthier.  Finally!

Not too much to report off practice tonight. The team is getting pretty healthy these days so there isn’t much info on the way of injuries. Right guard Noris Malele practiced for the second straight day. That’s better than last week, when he only practiced on Thursday. Still, coach Jeff Tedford said it would be a game-time decision. Safeties Marcus Ezeff, Bernard Hicks and Sean Cattouse all practiced fully.

One fairly significant development: Jahvid Best returned kicks for the first time in weeks. After practice, Tedford said Best “probably” would return kicks against Oregon State. Best was one of the top kick returners in the country before suffering a dislocated left elbow against Colorado State on Sept. 27. He only missed one game but gave up his kick return duties to Jeremy Ross. Tedford said Best’s elbow is healed enough that he can return to that role. He said the elbow, not the sprained foot, was what was preventing Best from returning kicks.

Faraudo (new b-ball beat writer for CoCoTimes) on Monty:

 Bob Thomason has a pretty good idea what to expect from the atmosphere at Haas Pavilion on Saturday evening when his Pacific Tigers visit in Cal coach Mike Montgomery’s debut.

   “The emotion of him being the new coach in his first regular-season game will be a tough environment for us to play in,” said Thompson, beginning his 21st season as coach at his Stockton alma mater. “I hope we can quiet it down a little.”

   Thomason faced Montgomery’s Stanford teams twice and expects little will be different now.

   “I have a lot of respect for Mike. I think he’s one of the better coaches in the country,” Thomason said. “I love watching his teams play — not when I’m preparing to play him. He gets his guys to play aggressively, and I like the way he runs his stuff. He’ll have his guys well-prepared.”

   That’s been Thomason’s trademark, too. He is the winningest coach in UOP history, he directed the program to NCAA tournament appearances in 2004, ‘05 and ‘06, and his Tigers were 21-10 last year.

So, there you go.  Do you know any Bak Bak fun facts?