Fri Apr 4 22:50:14 2008

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Cal hires former Cardinal coach Montgomery

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Berkeley, CA (Sports Network) - Former Stanford and Golden State Warriors head coach Mike Montgomery has agreed to terms to be the next men's basketball head coach at California.

Cal has scheduled a press conference for 1 p.m. (et) Saturday to introduce Montgomery.

Montgomery spent 18 seasons at Stanford, one of Cal's fiercest rivals, and guided the Cardinal to a 393-167 record, becoming the school's all-time winningest coach. A four-time Pac-10 coach of the year, Montgomery led the Cardinal to 12 NCAA Tournament appearances and to the 1998 Final Four. Stanford won four regular-season Pac-10 titles, and one Pac-10 tournament under his watch.

Montgomery left Stanford in 2004 to coach the Golden State Warriors in the NBA, where he was fired after consecutive 34-48 finishes. He took a position as an assistant to the athletics director at Stanford last August.

He replaces Ben Braun at Cal, who was fired last week after 12 seasons at the school. The Golden Bears went 219-154 under Braun, but only made five NCAA Tournament appearances in his 12 years, and only one in the last five seasons. Cal went 17-16 this season, only 6-12 in the Pac-10, and lost to Ohio State in the second round of the NIT.