BearTalk

Former Cal star wide receiver Keenan Allen will skip the workouts portions of the NFL combine after aggravating the knee he sprained late last season, ESPN reported.

Allen is expected to undergo a medical exam at the combine, but will not participate in any drills. He reportedly will hold a workout for NFL scouts at Cal in April.

The combine begins Saturday at Indianapolis.

Click here for the full story.

Former Cal star and 2012 Olympian Alysia Montano broke the American record while winning the seldom-run 600-meter run at 106th Millrose Games indoor track meet at the Armory in New York City.

Montano ran 1 minute, 23.59 seconds to crush the record of 1:26.56 set by Delisa Walton-Floyd in 1981. She won the race by nearly three seconds.

Wide receiver Keenan Allen heads a potentially long list of recent former Cal football players expected to participate March 14 when the Bears stage their annual pro timing day at Memorial Stadium.

The event will draw NFL scouts and portions will be open to the public.

Beginning at 10 a.m., fans can enter the stadium at the north end through Gate 1.  Spectators will be directed to seating in the lower area of sections EE, F, FF and G. Fans will not be allowed on the field.

Prospects will be timed in the 40-yard dash, 20- and 60-yard shuttles, and the 3-cone drill before going through positional work. Other measurable drills held earlier in the day will include the bench press, broad jump and vertical jump. The prospects will also have their height, weight, hand width and arm length measured by personnel from NFL teams.

The  list of participants has not been finalized, but five players expected to be on hand are Allen, running back C.J. Anderson, cornerback Marc Anthony, offensive lineman Brian Schwenke and cornerback Steve Williams, also have been invited to the 2013 NFL Scouting Combine, Feb. 20-26 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

Other former Cal players eligible to participate in the pro day include   WR Ross Bostock, DB Tyré Ellison, OL Dominic Galas, DB Josh Hill, LB J.P. Hurrell, FB Kameron Krebs, WR Kaulin Krebs, TB Mike Manuel, QB Zach Maynard, LB Robert Mullins, DL Kendrick Payne, OL Tyler Rigsbee, TB Isi Sofele, FB Eric Stevens, OL Matt Summers-Gavin and DL Aaron Tipoti.

Andy Wolfe, Cal’s first great player in the post-World War II era, will be honored Thursday with the Pete Newell Career Achievement Award.

Wolfe, 87, will be recognized at halftime of the Bears’ 6 p.m. game against UCLA at Haas Pavilion. The game is designated as the third annual Pete Newell Classic.

Wolfe, who lives in Walnut Creek with his wife Peggy, said his sons and their families also will be on hand for the ceremonies.

The first Cal player to score 1,000 career points, Wolfe played for the Bears from 1945-46 through 1947-48. He led the team in scoring as a sophomore, when he led Cal to its first Final Four appearance.

He was a three-time All-Pacific Coast Conference Southern Division selection and and a first-team All-America pick by the Helms Athletic Foundation as a senior in 1948.

I talked Tuesday with Wolfe, posing five questions:

Who was the best player you ever played against?

“I would have to say the most effective against us was Bob Kurland from Oklahoma A&M. He was a 7-footer. Our tallest guy was 6-5. He controlled the boards pretty well. That’s when what we call the key actually looked like a keyhole — the lines didn’t go straight from the outer arc. He’d just park underneath the basket.”

Note: Kurland scored 29 points as Oklahoma A&M beat Cal 52-35 in the West Regional Final at Kansas City, Mo., which also served as the national semifinal.

Who do you consider the best players you’ve seen at Cal?

“You’ve got to go to Pete Newell’s (national championship team) group. I thought they all were good players. Obviously, Darrall Imhoff was the one who got more recognition than the others. That team was solid all the way through. Jason Kidd, obviously he’s distinguished himself. I know he was a great passer — could see the floor. He wasn’t much of a scorer. He had a good cohort with him in Lamond Murray.”

Tell us what you remember about your coach, Clarence “Nibs” Price?

“After I played, I was his assistant for four years. I have a lot of memories. He was there for 30 years and he started in 1924, ended up in ’54. From ’24 through ’30 he was both the head basketball coach and head football coach. He took the team to the Rose Bowl team in ’30. He was a gentleman. He could get tough in practice and be demanding. Never would embarrass anybody. It was more this is what we’ve got to do. He was a good coach to play for.”

What is your lasting memory of playing Ohio State in the third-place game at the 1946 Final Four at New York City?

“My memory is we got beat. And that I don’t like. We were in the game at halftime (trailing 22-21). Then they came out and they took control of the game. (Ohio State won 63-45) Believe it or not, you remember more the games you lose than the games you win. It was fun playing in the Garden. Then I went back there in the East-West Game in ’48.”

Which brand of college basketball is better — your era or today’s game?

“The game has changed. Probably the fans like this game better. There are a lot of things they do today we would called on. That makes a different game out of it. The players today are better, faster, bigger. If they had to play under our rules they wouldn’t look quite as good.”

Ex-Cal star Jorge Gutierrez continues to make progress in the NBA’s Development League.

A professional rookie with the Canton Charge, Gutierrez is averaging 10.8 points, 4.6 rebounds and 4.6 assists for a team that is 18-11 and first in the D-League’s East Division.

In the month of January, he was better still. He averaged 13.8 points, 4.9 assists, 4.2 rebounds and 1.7 steals. Twice he scored 20 points and he had 17 points and 10 assists in a game last week against Iowa. In 12 games played in January, Gutierrez had five games of 12 points or more.

The D-League regular season runs through Feb. 13, when the playoffs begin.

Shareef Abdur-Rahim, who debuted at Cal in 1995-96 by scoring 33, 29 and 32 points in his first three games, has been chosen to the Pac-12 Hall of Honor.

Abdur-Rahim and 11 other former players and coaches from the league’s 12 schools will be honored in ceremonies at halftime of the March 16 championship game of the Pac-12 tournament in Las Vegas.

I’ve covered a lot of Cal hoops over the years and Abdur-Rahim, without question, was the most ready-made scorer ever to arrive on the Berkeley campus. Better than Lamond Murray, who was very good. Better than Ryan Anderson. Better than anyone.

He led the Pac-12 in scoring at 21.1 points per game and was the first freshman named conference player of the year. After just one season at Cal, he went onto a sucessful career in the NBA, played in the 2000 Olympics and now serves as an excecutive with the Sacramento Kings.

Aside from Jason Kidd, Abdur-Rahim was the best player I’ve ever seen at Cal. Were these the old days and he had to stick around for four years, the guy would have scored 3,000 career points. No doubt.

Previously Cal players and coaches named to the Hall of Honor: Pete Newell (2002), Kevin Johnson (2003), Jason Kidd (2004), Darrall Imhoff (2005), Andy Wolfe (2006), Russ Critchfield (2007), Charles Johnson (2008), Nibs Price (2009), Earl Robinson (2010), Bob McKeen (2011) and Lamond Murray (2012).

Also set to be inducted this year: Jason Gardner (Arizona), Dennis Hamilton (Arizona State),  Cliff Meely (Colorado), Chuck Rask (Oregon), Charlie Sitton (Oregon State), Ron Tomsic (Stanford), Lucius Allen (UCLA), Forrest Twogood (USC), Keith Van Horn (Utah), Nate Robinson (Washington) and James McKean (Washington State).

Click here for the full Pac-12 release.

Tony Gonzalez didn’t make it to the Super Bowl.

And the former Cal star didn’t reverse his field on plans to retire after a 16-year-old NFL career.

After Gonzalez and the Falcons lost 28-24 to the 49ers in Sunday’s NFL title game, Gonzalez said the game was “probably” his last.

If he follows through on that plan, he will retire as the greatest tight end in pro football history.

The numbers are undeniable: 1,242 receptions (427 more than any tight end in history), 14,268 yards (4,208 more) and 103 touchdowns (20 more).

Click here for more on what was likely Gonzalez’s final day in the NFL.

Former Cal star Valerie Arioto of Pleasanton was named 2012 USA Softball Female Athlete of the Year.

Arioto, 23, helped lead the USA team to the World Cup Championship and Silver medal finishes in the Canadian Open Championship and International Softball Federation (ISF) Women’s World Championship. Arioto was named the Batting MVP of the Canadian Open
Championship after finishing the event with five home runs and 13 RBI.

“I’m so honored to be named 2012 USA Softball Female Athlete of the Year,” Arioto said. “The supported I’ve received from my family, my Team USA family and my Cal family has been tremendous and I wouldn’t be where I am without their help.”

With the USA team, Arioto batted .462 on the year with 11 home runs, 37 RBI and 27 runs. She had an on-base percentage of .611 with a 1.115 slugging percentage.

Cal grad and London Olympic finalist Alysia Montano will run the 600 meters at the 106th Millrose Games indoor track and field meet Feb. 16 at the Armory in New York City.

Montano, who ran as Alysia Johnson while at Cal, is an 800-meter specialist. She ran the fastest time in the world in 2010 and last season was ranked No. 7 in the world, No. 1 in the USA, according to Track and Field News after a fifth-place finish at the London Olympics.

The 600 is an event held primarily indoors and meet director Ray Flynn believes Montano and the field could threaten Delisa Walton-Floyd’s 32-year-old American record of 1:26.56.

Others expected to join Montano in the race include former U.S. indoor champion Phoebe Wright, world indoor bronze medalist Erica Moore and world junior champion and former Neptune High School (N.J.) sensation Ajee Wilson.

“I have been looking forward to racing at Millrose for some time now, but could never fit it in the training schedule,” said Montano, a four-time national champion (2007, 2010-2012) in the 800 meters and bronze medalist in 2010 world indoor championships.

“This year is the perfect opportunity. The 600-meter run at Millrose is a wonderful opportunity to run fast, have fun and gauge my potential 800-meter time at this point in the season.”

For Tony Gonzalez, being a two-sport athlete at Cal wasn’t enough.

The Golden Bears were preparing to play in the 1996 Aloha Bowl when a couple of linebackers were hurt in a car accident. Gonzalez, the team’s junior tight end, had a solution.

“He came up to me and said, ‘Coach, let me play both ways,’ ” recalled then-Cal coach Steve Mariucci. “That’s the kind of kid he was. He’d do anything to help the team win. If you had a handful of Tony Gonzalezes, you’d never lose.”

Jump forward to 2013, and Gonzalez is doing plenty of winning with the Atlanta Falcons. He’s one of the key components standing in the way of the 49ers’ Super Bowl quest. The teams tangle for the NFC championship Sunday in Atlanta.

Atlanta Falcons tight end Tony Gonzalez celebrates as he leaves the field after the Falcons defeated the Seattle Seahawks in their NFL NFC Divisional playoff football game in Atlanta, Georgia January 13, 2013. REUTERS/Tami Chappell

Now 36, Gonzalez has said he is 95 percent certain this will be his final season. His eye-popping accomplishments in his 16 NFL seasons include — as a tight end — ranking as the No. 2 pass-catcher in NFL history behind only Jerry Rice. He was named All-Pro for the sixth time and won his first NFL playoff game last weekend.

His Hall of Fame future got a great liftoff at Cal, where he was a scholarship football player who could not resist the lure of the basketball court.

Click here for the rest of my story.

TONY GONZALEZ AT BERKELEY

     Highlights of Tony Gonzalez’s two-sport, three-year career at Cal:

– Earned first-team All-Pac-10 football honors after catching 44 passes for 699 yards and five touchdowns as a junior in 1996.

– Named the All-America tight end by The Sporting News and Football News in 1996.

– Caught career-best 10 passes for 150 yards and a touchdown in 1995 Big Game vs. Stanford.

– Scored 29 points in basketball season finale vs. Washington State as freshman in 1994-95.

– Had 21 double-digit scoring games in Cal basketball career.

– Averaged 14.8 points over final six games of 1996-97, including 23 vs. Villanova in NCAA tournament second-round win.