OMONDI AMOKE
Year: Sophomore
Position: Forward
Height: 6-7
Hometown: Oxnard

Your five-man Dream Team, including yourself in the lineup: I’m going to play myself at the 3. I’ll go with Shaq at center. Tim Duncan at the 4 — he’s a winner. MJ at the 2 and Magic at the point.

Age when you first dunked: I was 13 years old. I used to play on a little club team called All-Star Rebels. We practiced at the Boys and Girls Club. We’d see who could hang on the rim, and one day we were all messing around, trying to dunk and I actually went up and threw one down. I didn’t exactly smash it down. It was a little rim-rattler. But everybody was going crazy.

How tall you really are, if the doctor measured you barefoot: 6-5 1/2

How many pairs of basketball shoes you own: Probably 10

Coolest place you’ve been to play basketball: Probably the trip to New York.  MSG — Madison Square Garden — it’s the mecca of basketball. If you’re playing there, you feel like you’ve got to bring your `A’ game.

Place you’ve never been that you’d love to visit: I want to go to Kenya. My dad’s from there. There’s a lot of culture and tradition. Half my family still lives there.

Most daring thing you’ve ever done: I’m not really much of a daredevil. But I went parasailing at Catalina Island, where there’s a boat pulling you and you’re up in the sky. I was scared at first — you’re way up there on this little string. But it was fun.

Besides Cal, the Pac-10 school with the best basketball fans: I hate to say it since we’re playing them Thursday, but I’d have to go with Washington.

If you could be an Olympic athlete, other than basketball, your sport/event: I really admire Michael Phelps and Olympic swimmers. I think that’s real cool how they can glide through that water.

The sport you refuse to watch: Baseball. I can’t watch baseball at all. It’s too slow.

The actor who plays you in the movie version of your life: Will Smith

Actress who plays the lead opposite you: Halle Berry

Best advice you ever got: It was from my dad: Whatever you do, just give it 100 percent and you can’t help but succeed.

Favorite meal your mother cooks: Spaghetti and meatballs — love em.

Secret guilty-pleasure food: Ice cream, but only Haagen-Dazs. Strawberry or cookies and cream.

Food you will not eat: I pretty much eat any kind of food if I’m hungry enough.

Three people in history you’d like to have dinner with: My mom, my dad and my uncle William.

The smartest guy on the Cal team: I’ll go with Max (Zhang). I couldn’t imagine coming here from China and doing what he’s doing. He got a B in a college writing class — one of the hardest classes at Cal. I couldn’t do that in Chinese.

The funniest: A tie between Markhuri (Sanders-Frison) and Jerome (Randle). Two goofballs.

The best athlete: Patrick Christopher.

And from the Seattle Times, Washington gropes to find ways to alter its road (mis)fortunes.

By the way, coach Mike Montgomery said Tuesday that Jorge Gutierrez will start again vs. Washington, giving the Bears an additional ball-handler.

Here’s what he had to say:

How do you feel about possible Pac-10 expansion and do you think the league’s presidents would even consider it?

“I think in today’s economic climate, the presidents have to be open to a lot of things. I don’t know when all that’s going to change or if it’s going to change, but I think that in hiring Larry Scott (as Pac-10 commissioner), the primary thought process was we need to expand our television revenue, take more advantage of some of the things out there that others have taken advantage of that we’ve been kind of in the dark ages about as far as revenues.

“In order to do that, if adding teams allows us to do that, adds markets, adds the opportunity to sell packages, then I think the presidents have to look at that. For a long time, I think the Pac-10 was pretty comfortable where they are — and they still may well be, and in many ways should be. It’s a great conference, and we’ve had academics as part of the mission statement for the league. But the times, they are a-changin’, as my good friend Dylan said.

“And you’re going to have to stay on top of things. If you’re going to go out and try to make the money and sell packages to TV that are going to help everybody revenue-wise, then you’re maybe going to have to make some changes.”

Are you comfortable with all that comes with changing TV contracts in the future, trying to get more Pac-10 games on ESPN?

“There are some coaches in our league that have been other places, way more than there ever used to be. Their thought process is we’ve got to play wherever, whenever to get that exposure. I don’t necessarily agree with that. I’ve been in the league long enough to feel like we have been awfully competitive over the years the way we were.

“Their thought is if we have play Wednesdays, Saturdays and change the schedule, so be it. If that’s what we need to do to get the exposure and generate the dollars, I think that’s a decision some people have to get together (on). It may change if we’re allowed to charter. I don’t think you can start taking kids out of class three days in the middle of the week. You’re going to have to throw that in the equation. There’s a lot of stuff to talk about if those things start to happen.

“I don’t think it’s any secret that when the commissioner was hired his charge was we’ve got to generate more dollars.”

And new Pac-10 deputy commissioner Kevin Weiberg has been involved in conference expansion and the creation of TV packages with a focus on basketball:

“He’s certainly got a lot of experience in that. History has it, if you’re a conference commissioner type or administrator and if you’ve created a big contract for anybody, you’re well thought of and probably highly sought after because these days that’s what people are looking for.”

If you did change your conference travel schedule in a way that required taking charter flights, how does that work financially?

“If you’re generating money from television, you can either take that money to pay for expenses for everything in the athletic department, or you can take some of those expenses and say, `OK, there is a cost of doing business here, some of those expenses should be allocated to allow us to do that.’ ”

What impact, if any, does the economic climate have on recruiting:

“I would say there’s a trickle-down effect for some schools. There are some schools, not at the upper level, who may not be able to recruit out-of-state kids because the scholarship costs double. That’s a huge revenue issue for them. It isn’t for us. Who’s to say down the road that doesn’t become a little bit of an issue. I’m sure they’d be happier if we had all in-state kids. It would cost us less money.

“But if you’re going to participate in the Pac-10 in major revenue sports and expect to compete, you can’t short-cut, especially recruiting. It’s so difficult and it is the lifeblood of what you’re trying to do.”

There seems to be more talk recently that the NCAA Tournament field might be expanded from 65 teams. Do you favor that?

“There’s 340 Division I (basketball) schools. From a percentage standpoint, using football — which probably isn’t a very good comparison — half the football teams that play at the top (Division I) level, go to bowls. If you have a .500 record, you go to a bowl. It’s a different system, but it’s the same principle. You have 340 Division I basketball schools and only 64 get to go to the NCAA Tournament.

“You’re talking about perception, you’re talking about student-athletes’ opportunities, you’re even talking about coaches getting fired because they can’t make the tournament when they have to be in the top 20 percent of their group, and that becomes the dividing point. There are other arguments that way.

“I don’t think the tournament would necessarily be diminished if you doubled it because now you’re going to play one more game to get to 64. There’d probably be some of the 128 teams that wouldn’t deserve to be in, but if you get an upset maybe they did deserve to get in. The fact of the matter is some of the haves are able to orchestrate their schedule to get wins and some of the have-nots can’t do that. So they’re in an awkward spot from the get-go. They’re having to play guaranteed (high-payday road) games just to get a schedule to raise money to support their program.

“I do think if you were going to expand the tournament, you’d have to start taking a look at the conference tournaments. Maybe (NCAA expansion) takes the place of your conference tournament, where now more teams are going to go to the NCAA, but instead of playing a team in your conference for the fifteenth time that year, you’re actually going to play somebody else.”

So would possibly eliminating the conference tournament be a good tradeoff for expanding the NCAA field?

“I’m just waxing philosophical. I’m just saying, you can’t keep playing postseason games. Now you play (a first-round NCAA game), and you’re down to 64. And now theoretically, you’re down to the best 64, versus the arbitrary decisions that were made by a (committee). There is an argument that could be made for that.”

Would the major conferences gobble up most of the additional spots if the field were expanded?

“There’s been a lot of parity lately. I think there could be a pretty good argument for a lot of other (non-major conference) schools getting in, provided they played competitively against some of the other schools and had some success.”

They aren’t necessarily even talking about expanding all the way to 128 teams, right?

“I don’t think they are, either. Why would there be 65, instead of 64. If you’re going to play 65 vs. 64, why aren’t you playing 72 vs. 71?”

Why is all of this coming up now?

“If you’ve been around long enough, you can remember when we were spending too much money. You can’t do this, you can’t do that, we’re playing too many games, and everything was cost-saving. Then, all of a sudden, all that stuff’s kind of out the window again. For whatever reason, it’s changed.

“You don’t hear much about missed class time anymore. You don’t hear much about the things that at one point were real flashpoints for people. Why did that change? Do we have more money now? I don’t know that we do. The (NCAA) tournament’s generated a lot of money, but it really depends on how the wind’s blowing at any particular time.

“I do think that because of the pressure on administrators to generate revenue, there’s been some concessions made because nobody has enough money. If you can make money in basketball, they’re now, `Well, let’s play some more games.’ Football’s up to 13 (games) or whatever they are. Things change as time goes on.”

Sanders-Frison has missed three of the past six games — including both in Arizona last weekend — with a back problem. He told me besides back spasms, he has a bulging disk. He has been on the floor a total of 31 minutes over the past six games, contributing nine points. Earlier, he missed a game with the flu.

Montgomery said the problem for Sanders-Frison and sophomore guard Jorge Gutierrez (knee) is that both would benefit from practice time, to improve their stamina and timing, but both also need rest to let their injuries heal.

Cal’s roster casualty count:

  — Markhuri Sanders-Frison: Missed 4 games (back/flu)

  — Jorge Gutierrez: 5 games (knee)  

  — Theo Robertson: 6 games (foot)

  — D.J. Seeley: 1 game (death in the family)

  — Harper Kamp: 21 games (knee)

– By Sunday night, at the halfway point of the Pac-10 schedule, Cal could find itself at 7-2 and at least two games ahead of the herd, or 5-4 and as far down as fifth place. More likely, somewhere between those two extremes.

– You can make the argument that the three Pac-10 teams with the best showing last week were Arizona, UCLA and Stanford . . . historically speaking, the Pac-10’s usual suspects. Among them, the Wildcats seem most likely to keep it going, with two home games this weekend.

– Still winless in six games played outside the city limits, Washington may be reaching the point where its best hope of reaching the NCAA Tournament is to petition that the Pac-10 tournament be moved to Seattle.

– The best freshman point guard in the state of Washington is not everyone’s preseason darling, Abdul Gaddy of UW, but WSU’s Reggie Moore. And he pays a visit to his hometown of Seattle on Saturday to remind everyone what they’re missing.

– I wasn’t convinced that Oregon’s Ernie Kent was a dead Duck walking . . . until this weekend’s lifeless performances by his team. If Mark Few says no — and doesn’t he always? — how about Steve Alford?

– Is Oregon center Michael Dunigan’s the league’s most under-achieving player? He looks terrific in brief spurts. But each time he got double-teammed at Cal it was as if he were seeing it for the first time. Man, he ought to be so good.

– The Pac-10 player of the year race is wide open. Jerome Randle has been off his game two of the past three times out; UW’s Quincy Pondexter is coming off a 1-for-10 shooting performance in a blowout loss at USC; and WSU’s Klay Thompson seemed to be playing better a month ago, before running into Pac-10 scouting reports. I’d lean toward Stanford’s Landry Fields right now, except you figure they’re going to lose at least three of four on these two road trips. Any ideas?

– Didn’t you used to be Roeland Schaftenaar?  Oregon State’s senior center totaled five points on 2-for-11 shooting as the Beavers lost twice in the Bay Area. A year ago, he had 40 points on 16-for-26 shooting and OSU pulled off a sweep here.

– Wondering if ex-UW assistant Cameron Dollar will have his Seattle Redhawks go easier on the Huskies Tuesday night than they did in that 99-48 rout of Oregon State three weeks ago.

– If these things were possible, Cal would be putting in an order about now for a Thursday night appointment with the Arizona State team that allowed 77 points to Arizona, rather than the Sun Devils who surrendered more than 60 points in just one of 10 previous games.

– My Pac-10 preview from this morning’s editions — first time I can remember picking the Bears to win it.

 – My Bay Area News Group colleague Jon Wilner’s picks from the San Jose Merecury News.

– Vic Tafur’s Pac-10 predictions from the SF Chron.

– And Percy Allen’s picks in the Seattle Times.

– My game story on Cal’s win over UC Santa Barbara in the championship game of the Golden Bear Classic.

– A blog item by Doug Haller of the Arizona Republic on the upcoming 10-year anniversary of Hayward HS’s Eddie House scoring 61 points for ASU against Cal. A remarkable game.

– Finally, a belated Happy Birthday to Cal sophomore Jorge Gutierrez, who turned 21 on Sunday. On the same subject, today is one of the best days of the year for sports birthdays. Try this Big 3: Sandy Koufax (74 years old), Tiger Woods (34 years old and getting older fast) and LeBron James (25 years old — the guy looked 25 when he was 18).

Gregory acknowledged the ankle is still bothering Thompson but also said he’s the kind of player who can play effectively in a game without practice, because of his experience as a four-year starter. It looks as though it will be a game-time decision.

Another notable development, related to Thompson, is that it would be redshirt freshman Marc Anthony that would start for Thompson if he can’t go. Josh Hill is out with a shoulder injury — it also kept him out of the Washington game — and Gregory said Anthony is practicing more consistently than Darian Hagan at this point. It would be the first career start for Anthony. Gregory said Hill likely will have surgery after the season.

—————————————————————————————-

Over at San Diego State, Utah held its final practice of the regular season. After their regulars left the field, their scout team players scrimmaged for another 15 minutes or so before the session finally wrapped up.

One advantage the Bears have over the Utes is their practice field at the University of San Diego is natural grass, which is the surface at the site of Wednesday’s game, Qualcomm Stadium. The practice field at San Diego State is the same kind of field turf at Memorial Stadium.

One answer I went looking for from the Utes is how they prepare for an opponent that has been so up and down this season.

“They’ve been up and down all season long, but we fully expect them to come out and play as well as they have all season long,” Utah left tackle Zane Beadles said. “That’s what we are preparing for. That’s really all we can do. We can’t bank on them coming out and having an off day.”

Utah coach Kyle Whittingham acknowledged that Cal’s results have been a bit of a roller coaster, but that doesn’t mean what they have done schematically has been changing.

“They’re very consistent with what they do as far as schematics,” Whittingham said. “The results haven’t been as consistent as I’m sure they would like. But what they’re doing from week to week has been very consistent as far as their schemes.”

—————————————————————————————-

Monday marked the last practice of the 2009 season. The Bears will have their usual day-before walkthrough tomorrow, but it was the last time the players will put on their practice gear.

For seniors like fullback Brian Holley, it was his last practice at Cal.

“I really wanted to treat this practice like it was my first — treat my last like my first and my first like my last,” he said. “I came out here and I ran full speed with the same type of passion I had when I first got here.”

Holley said he vividly remembers his first practice at Cal, way back in 2005.

“I remember that I didn’t know what I was doing,” he said. “I was tired because I wasn’t in shape yet. I was wide-eyed, but I gave 100 percent effort in everything I did, just like today.”

The Bears then made the short drive out to the University of San Diego for practice. As is the rule in San Diego, the weather cooperated. It was a warm evening for this time of year.

USD has natural grass, which is helping the Bears prepare for Wednesday’s Poinsettia Bowl because that will be on natural grass as well at Qualcomm Stadium. The Bears actually practiced slightly earlier in the day then originally scheduled because the field becomes slicker when nightfall comes. “A lot of guys were slipping yesterday,” Tedford said. “But it’s been good to be on grass to simulate the surface we’re going to play on Wednesday.”

I reported in a post earlier that left guard Matt Summers-Gavin has been ruled out for Wednesday. Cornerback Syd’Quan Thompson rested his balky ankle today, but Tedford said Thompson will still play.

One topic of conversation today was the last time Cal faced Utah. It came in September, 2003. One thing I didn’t realize is that was the first game for Aaron Rodgers and Alex Smith. I remember Rodgers replacing Reggie Robertson, but I didn’t realize Smith also made his first career start in that game because No. 1 quarterback Brett Elliott suffered a broken wrist a week earlier. Of course, the two quarterbacks have been forever linked since the NFL draft.

The Bears will practice in the late morning Monday and then attend a function at a local speedway where players and coaches will take part in go-kart races. Later tomorrow night, bands from both schools will march through the gaslamp district of downtown and then have a “Battle of the Bands.”