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One of the elite coaches in basketball returned to the collegiate arena when Mike Montgomery was named head coach of the University of California on April 5, 2008. Last season, he became the third consecutive Cal head coach to reach the 20-win plateau in his first season at the helm, and he got the Golden Bears back into the NCAA Tournament for the first time since the 2005-06 season.
A four-time Pac-10 Coach of the Year and recipient of a John R. Wooden "Legends of Coaching" Lifetime Achievement Award, Montgomery brought a proven record of success to Berkeley, and has collected 19 postseason appearances, claimed four conference championships and reached the Final Four of the NCAA Tournament. Montgomery was also named a finalist for the Henry Iba Award last season.
"Throughout his years as a head coach, Coach Montgomery has established that he understands what it takes to develop a basket-ball program that will compete consistently with the nation's top teams," Director of Athletics Sandy Barbour said. "He has demonstrated a clear commitment to the development of student-athletes both academically and socially. He has an impeccable reputation in the industry and is recognized as a leader in the men's basketball community."
Montgomery enters the 2009-10 season with a 569-255 (.691) record at the college level, a mark that places him 10th in victories among active coaches at the Division I level. He was 393-167 (.702) over 18 years at Stanford from 1987-2004 and 154-77 (.667) during the previous eight seasons at Montana. Overall, 26 of his 27 teams have posted winning records.
In his first season coaching the Bears, Montgomery took a team that was predicted to come in eighth in the Pac-10 preseason media poll and guided Cal to a third-place finish in the conference. Montgomery also helped Jerome Randle and Patrick Christopher earn All-Pac-10 first-team honors.
During his tenure at Stanford, Montgomery led the Cardinal to 12 NCAA Tournament bids - including the 1998 Final Four - four NIT selections, four regular-season Pac-10 titles and the 2004 Pac-10 Tournament crown. His players earned first-team All-Pac-10 status 27 times and first- or second-team Pac-10 All-Academic notice on 25 occasions, more than double that of any other school during his years with the Cardinal.
Following the 2003-04 season, Montgomery left Stanford to become the head coach of the NBA's Golden State Warriors, where he compiled a 68-96 record in two seasons. He then served as an assistant to the athletic director at Stanford and worked as a television commentator for two years before accepting the offer to coach at Cal. During Montgomery's career at Stanford, the Cardinal registered at least 30 wins three times, including a school-record 31 victories in 2000-01. The 1997-98 and 2003-04 both finished with 30 wins. Stanford reached the 20-win mark on 13 occasions under his guidance, including each of his last 10 seasons.
Those 20-victory years corresponded with an NCAA Tournament invitation each time, highlighted by a trip to the 1998 NCAA Final Four in San Antonio, Texas. The third-seeded Cardinal finished the season with a 30-5 record after losing to second-seeded Kentucky, 86-85, in the NCAA semifinals.
While coaching on The Farm, Montgomery garnered an assortment of honors, including the prestigious John R. Wooden "Legends of Coaching" Lifetime Achievement Award in 2004. The Long Beach, Calif., native was tabbed the Sports Illustrated National Coach of the Year in 2000 and the Naismith and Basketball Times Coach of the year in '04. In addition, he has been honored as the Pac-10 Coach of the Year in 1999, 2000, 2003 and 2004.
Montgomery received the John R. Wooden "Legends of Coaching" Lifetime Achievement Award in 2004, following Dean Smith of North Carolina (1999), Mike Krzyzewski of Duke (2000), Lute Olson of Arizona (2001), Denny Crum of Louisville (2002) and Roy Williams of Kansas (2003). The award recognizes coaches who exemplify Coach Wooden's high standards of coaching success and per-sonal accolades. When selecting the individual, the Wooden Award Committee considers character, coaching philosophy, graduation rate of student-athletes, success on the court and identification with the goals of the Wooden Award. Three student-athletes under Montgomery's tutelage have been named Wooden All-Americans (Todd Lichti in 1989, Mark Madsen in 2000 and Casey Jacobsen in 2001).
While Stanford advanced to the 1998 NCAA Final Four, its 2000-01 team is also recognized as one of the best in Cardinal history. Montgomery guided the Cardinal to a 31-3 record, a third straight Pac-10 title and a spot the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament. Dur-ing the year, Stanford set or tied 13 Pac-10 and school records, including team marks for wins (31) and scoring average (83.2). The Cardinal led the nation in field goal percentage (51.1%) and ranked in the top eight in the country in six statistical categories.
Montgomery's teams have also been noted for their defense, with five of his final eight Stanford squads leading the Pac-10 in fewest points allowed, including the 1999-2000 team that surrendered just 59.7 ppg.
Inheriting a Stanford program that had not advanced to the NCAA Tournament since winning the national title in 1942, Montgomery quickly had the Cardinal on the winning track. In his second year on The Farm, he piloted his charges to a 21-12 mark and an NIT invitation, becoming the first Stanford men's basketball team in 46 years to reach postseason play. A year later, the Cardinal earned a bid to the NCAA Tournament, finishing with a 26-7 record.
Montgomery's expertise helped eight Stanford players move on to NBA careers as first-round draft choices: Curtis Borchardt, Jarron Collins, Jason Collins, Adam Keefe, Brevin Knight, Todd Lichti, Mark Madsen and Casey Jacobsen.
Before helping Stanford's ascend to the national stage, Montgomery oversaw the Montana program for eight years. His teams aver-aged 19 wins per year, never had a losing season and earned two NIT selections. Montgomery guided the Grizzlies to five runner-up finishes in the Big Sky Conference and won at least 20 games each of his last four seasons.
Prior to accepting the head position at Montana, Montgomery served as an assistant coach there for two years. While he was with the Grizzlies, the university had four players drafted by the NBA: John Schroeder, Derrick Pope, Marc Glass and Larry Krystkowiak.
In addition, Montgomery has been an assistant coach at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, Colorado State, the Citadel, Florida and Boise State.
Montgomery's proven track record caught the attention of USA Basketball, and he has been a member of national team staffs on several occasions. He served as an assistant coach for the United States at the 2002 World Basketball Championships, and in 1996, he was named head coach of the USA Men's 22-and-Under Select team. That year, Montgomery was chosen the USA Basketball Developmental Coach of the Year and the USOC Basketball Developmental Coach of the Year.
The 15th head men's basketball coach in Cal history, Montgomery earned his bachelor's of arts in physical education at Long Beach State in 1968. He received a master's degree in physical education from Colorado State in 1976. In 2002, Montgomery was named to the Long Beach State Hall of Fame.
Montgomery and his wife, Sarah, have two grown children, John and Anne.
