Golden Nuggets: Justin Wilcox Speaks After NSD

Football

• Yesterday was National Signing Day and it wasn’t eventful for the Bears, but Justin Wilcox sat down with the media for a 30-minute press conference (you can see a transcript at Golden Bear Report with a paid subscription) but our friend Rusty Simmons has a good summary of his statements about the offense. Cal Bears Maven has some video excerpts as well.

He said he rolled into solitude for five days after the game and emerged from his video bunker to make the decision to reshuffle his offensive staff. He made offensive coordinator Beau Baldwin the quarterbacks coach to get the play-caller in the meeting room with the players making the throws, shifted quarterbacks coach Marques Tuiasosopo to tight ends, and swapped Burl Toler III to receivers and Nick Edwards to running backs.

“I think we have really good coaches, who are really good people. I think they have flexibility. The adjustments that we made were in the best interest of the team and what’s going to help us moving forward,” Wilcox said. “It’s not an indictment on (Tuiasosopo) at all. It’s about what gives us the best opportunity to move forward on offense.”

• If you need to catch up on the roster additions, Trace Travers has you covered.

Basketball

• Connor Vanover has looked pretty good. Maybe its some reason for hope?

The numbers tell part of the confidence story and the fact that he’s putting himself in position for the uptick tells the rest. Vanover is no longer hesitating to take shots (55 in the past nine games; 27 in the first nine) and is showing a newfound aggressiveness on defense and in rebounding as he starts to fill out his spindly frame.

“You do one good play, and it leads up to another one,” Vanover said. “My confidence is a big thing, so going into a game and knocking down a shot or two or making a good defensive play, I really think it motivates me and motivates my teammates.”

Misc.

• In honor of Black History Month, Cal Athletics is honoring a few notable African Americans in school history. In this piece, learn about former football and baseball player Thelton Henderson, who went on to become a lawyer who even worked with MLK Jr. He still teaches at Berkeley Law School.
• Yesterday was Girls & Women in Sports Day and Cal Softball alum Jordan Fines created a group where female student athletes at Cal can organize and discuss shared experiences.

• Speaking of softball, the Daily Cal sports crew have a roundtable discussion talking about what Cal softball needs to do to have a quality season in 2019.
• Cal student-athletes got to watch Dr. Derek Greenfield speak last week. Success, diversity, and inclusion were among the topics he discussed.