Jan 13 2009
Montgomery will be ready to win at ‘old’ home
Many in the Stanford community were shocked when they learned that their icon for basketball success had re-entered the college coaching ranks as a head coach at another university. Finding out that he was not only going to be coaching against them in the Pac-10 was less distressing than finding out he’d be coaching their most hated rival.
The whispers of, “Traitor,” were heard in the Bay Area and Montgomery also felt that it was necessary to set that record straight on several occasions. For the record, when Montgomery agreed to come back to coaching with the Cal Bears, Stanford already had a fairly successful coach in place.
It wasn’t until a few weeks after Montgomery’s services were already enlisted that Stanford was in need of a replacement for the departed Trent Johnson, who left to coach LSU. What they got was Johnny Dawkins, the former NBA pro turned college coach, from Duke.
Now, a Cal team that was only able to muster 15 wins in the ‘07-’08 campaign’s regular season, is ranked #22 in the country and climbing fast after starting off 15-2, 4-0 Pac-10, under Coach Montgomery. Stanford meanwhile, sits at 11-3, with all three losses coming from Pac-10 play making their record 1-3 in conference. Cardinal fans can’t be happy about that.
All week long, the return of Montgomery will be the story coinciding with the bandwagon that is forming behind the bench of the Cal Bears. You can bet the excitement for this Saturday’s game will rival that of any Big Game played on the football field. It will definitely have Montgomery’s blood pumping a little more than usual.
