Golden Nuggets: How Sam Singer Embraced Cuonzo Martin And Berkeley

Women’s Soccer

Nine Bears Earn Pac-12 Academic Honors

SAN FRANCISCO --- The Pac-12 Conference has announced its women's soccer All-Academic teams and nine members of the California women's soccer team have earned Honorable Mention selections for their efforts on the field and in the classroom.

The Golden Bears selected for honorable mention honors were redshirt junior Kelly Fitzgerald; senior Emma Fletcher; senior Lynsey Hromatko; junior Haley Lukas; sophomore Miranda Nild; redshirt senior Ifeoma Onumonu; senior Arielle Ship; senior Alexa Vandevanter; and junior Heather Walleigh.

Men’s Water Polo

Champions Again: Cal Wins 14th National Title

BERKELEY – For the 14th time in program history and with the weight of an entire Cal community behind it, the Cal men's water polo team is national champion yet again.

Over time, those words will sink in for the 16 Golden Bears that rallied for an 11-8 overtime victory over No. 1-ranked USC on Saturday at Spieker Aquatics Complex. But, as night fell over Berkeley and the energy inside Cal's home pool continued to resonate, the Bears were left with one undeniable truth as they carried the celebration forward.

The legacy of Cal Water Polo has a new chapter – and a new trophy – to celebrate.

Men’s Basketball

Beyond Limits

"If you think that basketball players make a lot of money, how much money do you think the team owners make?"

It's a question Cal men's basketball head coach Cuonzo Martin often poses to his squad.

"Whenever the ball stops bouncing, he wants us to be ready to be successful," said senior point guard Sam Singer. "The ball is going to stop bouncing and not everyone is going to play in the NBA, but we can use what we have learned from being on a team and from what he preaches to be successful in the business world or whatever we have an interest in."

For a guy who didn't originally commit to Martin, Singer has a deep level of understanding of the tenets of his coach's program. While he's taken these ideologies to heart, it wasn't always that way.

Singer originally committed to join the Golden Bears under former head coach Mike Montgomery's staff. He was attracted to Cal because of its strong academic reputation, and after attending a basketball camp in Berkeley ahead of his senior year of high school, Singer committed to the Blue and Gold.

"I was looking for the best combination of basketball and academics, so that really narrowed things down," he said. "I loved the campus, the weather was unbelievable and the people were different."

The excitement turned to desolation when Singer arrived on campus to begin his collegiate career.

"I just felt lost. I didn't know anybody. Everyone had high school friends or people who were from where they were from," Singer said.

"I don't think I can do this," he told his mom.