I think you’re point is what will determine how good Cal hoops can be. Montgomery showed me last year that he can still coach. He got so much more out the Bears than Ben Braun ever would have/could have.

So the big question is can he recruit the top kids? Can he connect with the best kids and does he have a vision and can he sell a vision that will attract the top players he targets. He was able to do that to an extent at Stanford. If he can, Cal will be a top 15 team every year and will start actually contending for Pac 10 titles. If not, the program will still be stronger and more consistent than it ever was under Braun, and we will hope for NCAA berths and pray for a sweet sixteen appearances.

See – my contention is that Monty should be able to compete with the top 15 schools nationally. We shouldn’t have to settle for “Best of the West”, after all the top guys have already gone to the typical top basketball programs.