BearTalk

“Somebody talk to this guy,” coach Mike Montgomery said, pointing to freshman Brandon Smith in the Cal dressing room. There were no takers.

On the eve of the Bears’ NCAA Tournament second-round matchup with Duke, seemingly every reporter from the state of North Carolina needed an audience with Cal senior Jamal Boykin.

The scene was hilarious, but predictable. While most of his teammates were ignored by reporters, Boykin faced a sea of microphones and TV cameras as the media contingent following Duke wanted to get the scoop from the one-time Blue Devil.

Boykin, a starting forward for the Bears, began his college career at Duke before transferring to Cal in December 2006.

“What was funny,” Boykin said later, “is I felt after not having that big double-double game (against Louisville), OK, I avoided the media blitz because I felt they’ll just focus on (others) and I’ll be on the side. This kind of caught me off guard.”

His teammates snickered and took pictures of the scene with their cell phones.

“His mind is probably going a thousand miles an hour right now,” senior Theo Robertson said.

Boykin said he has no bitterness toward Duke. Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said of Boykin, “On and off the court, he was the total package _ that’s why we recruited him.”

There will be no reminiscing today, Boykin promised. “It has to be all out the window,” he said. “We have to focus on playing the game.”