CGB Hall of Fame: (2) Kirk Everist v. (7) Mychal Kendricks

Our final second round match-up of the weekend and of the whole tourney is between Water Polo legend Kirk Everist and Cal football star Mychal Kendricks. These guys have both made their marks on Cal Athletics and are great representatives of the Blue and Gold.

Kirk came here by beating Joy Biefield Fawcett with a two-thirds majority while Kendricks took down Ryan Anderson with an almost identical margin. This should be a pretty good match-up out of the Pete Newell region and the winner is going to move on to take on Jahvid Best. You can take a look at the whole bracket here and read the full write-ups after the jump. As always, the voting is going to end on Friday. GO BEARS!

(2) Kirk Everist

MSS: Kirk Everist (via swimmingworldtv)

The Cal water polo program has a storied history and Kirk Everist is one of the program's all-time greats. Everist has won four national championships as a Cal Bear: two as a player in the 1980s and two more as Cal's head coach.

From here:

Producing back-to-back NCAA titles, two Mountain Pacific Sports Federation crowns, 29 All-Americans and numerous academic honorees, Kirk Everist has proven to be the perfect individual to perpetuate the tradition of excellence that defines California water polo. In six seasons (140-40, .778) Everist has twice led the Golden Bears to the pinnacle of the sport; last year directing his alma mater to its NCAA-record 13th national crown with a 8-6 win over USC after a thrilling 7-6 last-second national championship victory over the Trojans in 2006.

A former three-time All-American, 1988 NCAA Player of the Year and two-time United States Olympian, Everist, 41, earned the 2002 MPSF Coach of the Year honors in his inaugural season when he guided Cal to the MPSF Tournament title and a national runner-up finish. Then in 2004, he was inducted into both the Cal Athletic and the USA Water Polo Hall of Fames. In 2006, Everist was selected USA Water Polo's Elite Co-Coach of the Year after leading the Bears to both the MPSF and NCAA titles. On July 29, 2002 Everist returned to his alma mater and immediately led the Bears to a 20-7 mark and Cal's first MPSF title and national runner-up finish since 1995. Now after guiding the Bears to the school's first back-to-back NCAA trophies since the early '90s, Everist and his troops are in a position to vie for a third-straight national crown in 2008.

Before his successful return to Berkeley, Everist had contributed to eight CIF North Coast championships as an assistant coach at Miramonte High School. During Everist's 11-year tenure at Miramonte, the school also produced nine league titles and three third-place finishes in the California State Tournament. He helped develop 22 high school All-Americans, and three of his former players went on to earn NCAA All-American recognition, while two ex-pupils have played on NCAA championship teams.

Two time national champion as a player. Two time national champion as a coach. Three time All-American. On top of all of that, Everist was twice a member of the United States Olympic water polo team. Certainly, Everist has Hall of Fame credentials.

Plus, we totally interviewed him and he had this great answer:

17. How many times do you run around the office in your swim trunks with the trophies laughing hysterically?
Not very often but it is a great job and I love it very much. CAL is an amazing place and I am very lucky to be here.

(7) Mychal Kendricks

Kendricks was a mainstay in the Golden Bears defense for many years and I think that everyone reading this has to say that they appreciated the intensity and skill with which he played the game. I am sure he'll make his mark while playing on Sundays next year and he should be just as fun to watch in Eagles green as he was in Blue and Gold.

Cal Football: Mychal Kendricks Highlights - LB #30 (via calathletics)

Via Official Cal Bears Profile:

Earned several All-American honors as a senior, including second-team selections
by Phil Steele and College Sports Madness ... also a third-team All-American
selection of Yahoo! Sports and an honorable mention pick of SI.com ... named the
Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year and a first-team all-conference selection as a
senior, after earning second-team all-league honors during his junior campaign ...
finished his career with 258 tackles to rank tied for ninth all-time at Cal, while
adding 36.5 tackles for loss (-144 yards) to miss finishing among the school's all-
time leaders by one-half of a tackle for loss ... also had a punt return in which he
was credited with 26 punt returns yards after he blocked a punt before teammate
Bryant Nnabuife picked the ball up and ran 30 yards for a score vs. Colorado State
in 2008, five pass breakups and a forced fumble ... recorded at least 0.5 tackles for
loss 24 times in his career, including in 19 of his final 25 games ... played inside
linebacker as a 2011 senior after spending most of his collegiate career as an
outside linebacker.