Golden Nuggets: More on Randle's Player of the Year Award

Randle and Monty talk about the Pac-10 Player of the Year award.

Randle on winning the award:
"I was surprised that it happened, but it feels great. I really want to give a lot of credit to my teammates. I probably would not have gotten this honor if it wasn’t for them. Coach has really believed in me. (Former)  coach (Ben) Braun really paved the way, and taught me a lot. With Coach Montgomery coming in, it really opened the door for me and taught me a lot to become the player that I am right now. I just want to let him know and give him thanks."

Randle on how he heard about the news:
"It was crazy. I was in class and coach Montgomery called me, and I thought that I must have done something wrong. I said, `What’s going on?’ I received a text from someone in the office saying that they needed to talk to me, so I went over to the office and they congratulated me on the honor. I gave them thanks for being there for me and teaching me a lot."

Randle on his teammates also receiving awards:
"I feel like my teammates are just as responsible for this award as I am. They obviously had to make shots when I passed them the ball. Just being the great players that they are, really opened up the game for me. Patrick (Christopher) and Theo (Robinson) are great scorers as well, so it’s hard to just focus on one player. You have to focus on Theo, Patrick, Jamal, Jorge, all of them. I feel like it really opened up the game for me, so they really play a key role in this."

On the feeling on campus:
"I’ve never seen this campus like this before. Everyone is excited. I’ve received a lot of messages, e-mails, all type of things. I’m really happy it’s like that. But then again, we still have a lot basketball to play. We need to go down to the Pac-10 Tournament, and take that (title) as well. But right now, it’s really exciting. Everyone is behind us 100 percent. We are just ready to bring it home again."

After the jump we look at linebackers and receivers, Randle earns more honors, Cal moves up in ratings/bracketology, and Jerry Palm really wants the Bears to travel to Spokane.

Cal Football

• JO previews linebackers.  With Mychal Kendricks missing all spring and the arrival of Chris Martin, Cecil Whiteside, Nick Forbes, and Dave Wilkerson this summer, plenty of guys have the opportunity to shine before the LB competition becomes fierce this summer.
• Nick Daschel looks at Pac-10 receivers.  Cal is among "The Healthy" and will have to find more reliability this season.

Cal Basketball

• Max and Jorge could play in the Pac-10 tournament.  Max was doing some contact drills and Jorge did a light workout yesterday.
• Randle earned a spot on Sporting News' All-America fourth team.  He is the only Pac-10 member featured among the All-America teams.  Randle was named the US Basketball Writers Association District IX Player of the Year.
• Lunardi's most recent bracketology has Cal as a 7-seed facing 10-seed Old Dominion in Oklahoma City.  Jerry Palm of CollegeRPI.com still has Cal as a 12-seed, facing Wisconsin in Spokane.  This is the third week in a row we've been in that same matchup.
• Cal is up to 29th in the Sagarin ratings.  Cal moved up to 20th in the NCAA RPI ratings.  Even the humans give Cal some love this week, as Cal received 2 AP votes and 4 votes in the coaches' poll.
• Faraudo looks back on another week of Pac-10 play.  He gives some thoughts on player of the year and his predicted winner of the Pac-10 tourney (hint: it's Washington).
• Wilner gives his perspective on the recent Pac-10 Player of the Year, first/second teams, and defensive team.