Golden Nuggets: Media has no faith that Cal can execute our search for an MBB coach

According to the media, Cal will most certainly fail in our endeavor to find a new coach for our men's basketball program.

Ann Killion of the SFGate thinks we're wasting our money by hiring DHR International to assist in the search as the perfect candidate is right in front of our nose.

Cal should junk the executive search firm in the hunt for a replacement for basketball coach Mike Montgomery. And use Montgomery as its personal Bears search firm.

Great idea, huh?

Montgomery made an unusually impassioned plea Monday for athletic director Sandy Barbour to name associate head coach Travis DeCuire as his successor.

DeCuire is certainly a promising candidate and I would have no problem if he ends up with the job, but given that he has yet to have a head-coaching gig, I don't think there's a problem with fully exploring all of our options.

I love the rhetorical "great idea" and her closing of the article with a "you're welcome." Money can't buy that kind of sass!

But that's nothing compared to the write-up by our BFF, Jon Wilner. Wilner dismisses Athletic Director Sandy Barbour's role in hiring Montgomery and, without providing any facts or evidence, suggests that Barbour will have no significant power in this process.

Barbour has been involved in a series of missteps for the athletic department, from the budget fiasco and the Memorial Stadium financing mess to the embarrassing graduation rates.

She is also responsible for hiring football coach Sonny Dykes, whose rookie season could not have been worse.

The combination of events have cast Barbour's long-term future at the school into doubt and undermined confidence in her judgment within the Cal athletic community.

Will she be handed the keys to the basketball search, free to present her favored candidate to the administration for approval? Or will her every move be vetted as thoroughly as the candidates themselves?

There is something to be gained from this article as Wilner spoke with a West-Coast coach about the perception of the Cal gig.

Cal is considered "a hard job,'' according to the head coach of a West Coast school.

The program is in better shape now than when Montgomery arrived in 2008. But Cal is not UCLA, steeped in success and surrounded by the most fertile recruiting ground in the country. It's not Arizona, a basketball factory and the only show in town. And it's not Stanford, which has embraced its inner "Nerd Nation."

"Cal has no brand," the West Coast coach explained.

I guess Wilner said at least one nice thing, in acknowledging that our curriculum is more rigorous than the UCLAs and Stanfurds of the world.

Softball

• The Bears' 10th consecutive win was a shutout of Pacific

Men's Swimming and Diving

• Ryan Murphy is the Pac-12 Newcomer of the Year, which means Cal took home both Newcomer awards this year thanks to Murphy and Missy Franklin
• Coach Dave Durden was named the Pac-12 Coach of the Year and the NCAA Coach of the Meet when he led the Bears to winning the national championship
  

  This soaking wet man is @calmenswim's Dave Durden, the @pac12 Coach of the Year. http://t.co/CtImsDTlOm pic.twitter.com/lv7Cz1ZWi3

  — Pac-12 Networks (@Pac12Networks) April 2, 2014

• Durden had to keep the team calm after learning they clinched the title because several Bears, including Murphy, still had races
• Highlights from the NCAA Championship win
  

Men's Tennis

• Gregory Bayane is the Pac-12 Player of the Week for the second time this year

Women's Tennis

• Klara Fabikova is the Pac-12 Player of the Week after winning all four of her games against Arizona and ASU

Baseball

• What does Derek Campbell think of Cal and how does he prepare for gameday?
  

Men's Golf

• Joël Stalter and Brandon Hagy are in the top six of the Palmer Cup Rankings

Women's Basketball

• Brittany Boyd is an honorable mention All-American
• Cal-bound Mikayla Cowling and Gabby Green led the West team to victory at the McDonald's All-American game

Men's Basketball

• Check out the year's top plays
  

Track and Field

• Milan Ristic was named Pac-12 Male Outdoor Track Athlete of the Week after setting a personal record in the 110m hurdles

Women's Crew

• The Bears are rowing strong at the Sydney World Cup

Men's Gymnastics

• Cal is headed to the NCAA Qualifiers

Football

• WR Trevor Davis is ready to compete for a starting job
• And so concludes DeSean Watch 2014, who chose the Washington Redskins after they welcomed him with open arms (video autoplays). DeSean Watch 2014b will be about what Jackson's new number will be, which may be 11
  

  IT'S OFFICIAL: 3-time Pro Bowl WR DeSean Jackson (@DeseanJackson10) signs his contract at #Redskins Park pic.twitter.com/LB42RM2vSN

  — Washington Redskins (@Redskins) April 2, 2014

• One more piece of DJax news: ESPN's #ThrowbackThursday will look quite familiar to most of you: