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For most teams, winning a golf tournament without a top player is inconceivable. For the Cal men’s golf team, the top player happens to be the 2012-13 National Player of the Year, Michael Kim. But the Cal men’s golf team is no ordinary team.

The Bears came into the Alister MacKenzie Invitational on Monday and Tuesday at the Sonoma Golf Club in Sonoma, Calif., nowhere close to 100 percent. Kim sat out due to illness, and the recently crowned Pac-12 player of the month, Brandon Hagy (70-64-72 – 206, -10), was playing through a foot injury. Despite this, Cal (268-273-284 – 825, -39) had three players in the top five once again, leading to a dominant victory.

“It’s very clear that we have seven or eight players that can play at the highest levels in college,” said coach Steve Desimone. “It gives us confidence and security that we can move down through the lineup and not drop off.”

Led by Joel Stalter (64-69-70 – 203, -13) who took home top individual honors, Cal rolled over second-place UC Davis (286-284-277 – 847, -17) by an overwhelming margin of 22 strokes. Oregon State (287-283-280 – 850, -14) and No. 21 Arizona State (281-281-289 – 851, -13) stayed true to their rankings, placing third and fourth, respectively.

Numerous Cal players have stepped up their play over the course of the season. Last week, Hagy led the Bears to victory with a first-place finish at the Jack Nicklaus Invitational. This week, it was Kim’s replacement and another All-American, Stalter. Stalter got off to a hot start, drilling five consecutive birdies. He proceeded to hit back-to-back birdies on the par-4 ninth and 10th holes, giving him a 64-stroke first-round performance, one stroke shy of his collegiate best.

Stalter’s second round featured four birdies and only one bogey, giving him the lead going into the second day of play ahead of teammates Hagy and Pace Johnson (66-68-71 – 205, -11) by one stroke. He began the third round shakily with a bogey on the first hole, but he followed it up with back-to-back birdies on the par-4 second hole and par-5 third hole. Although he hit only two more birdies, along with a bogey, he finished the round with a score of 70, giving him the first-place finish.

“I was just really consistent, and my putting was really good, so that helped me score,” Stalter said. “But I was driving the ball really well, too, so that helped me get in good position.”

Johnson’s first round was the model of consistency, featuring six birdies with no bogeys. His second round was almost as impressive, with five birdies and only one bogey, on the par-4 sixth hole. But his second day of play was not nearly as steady; he posted only four birdies, with a bogey and a double-bogey on the par-3 14th hole.

Hagy continued the excellent play that won him the Pac-12 Player of the Month award. After a subpar first round, he played one of the best stretches of golf in his collegiate career, starting with an eagle on the par-5 eighth hole. He went on to nail three consecutive birdies starting on the 10th hole and back-to-back birdies on the par-4 14th hole and par-5 15th hole. His back nine featured five birdies and no bogeys.

“They do so many things well, but overall, it was not a great ball-striking performance,” Desimone said. “We did have a great short game and really good putting, though.”

In the lineup for the first time in two years was Keelan Kilpatrick (76-72-72 – 220, +4), who failed to produce for Cal. He came in at 48th place and suffered from a horrid first round featuring seven bogeys.

Michael Weaver (68-73-71 – 212, -4) finished in 12th place after playing at par in the second and third rounds. He played his best in the first round, highlighted by his four birdies, including an eagle on the par-4 11th hole.

“We have five, six guys that can win a golf tournament, so we’re really deep,” Stalter said. “That’s our biggest strength, and that’s why we’re ranked so high.”

Winston Cho covers golf. Contact him at wcho@dailycal.org

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Winning is not foreign to the Cal men’s golf team. Coming off of one of the most successful seasons in college golf history allowed the team to have tremendous confidence coming into the new year. Add the top player this year receiving a tremendous accolade last week and a huge victory in the team’s most recent tournament. There is clearly no denying that the Bears have it in themselves to win. The team will try to use this to its advantage when it hosts the Alister Mackenzie Invitational on Monday and Tuesday.

Cal will be hosting its only tournament of the season in Sonoma, Calif., at the Sonoma Golf Club. The tournament consists of 16 teams on a 7,103-yard course that is par-72. Teams taking part in the tournament include Pac-12 foes No. 23 Arizona State, Colorado, Oregon and Oregon State. Also competing in the event are local rivals USF, Fresno State and San Jose State.

Hosting the tournament adds a level of ease that makes it unique from any other.

“(Having) friendly faces at the tournament just makes you that more comfortable,” said senior Brandon Hagy.

The Bears are ranked No. 4 in the country, despite a dominant win a couple of weeks ago at the Jack Nicklaus Invitational in Ohio (281-280-281 – 842, -10). Cal finished the event 19 strokes ahead of second-place Oklahoma (No. 12).

Individually, Hagy (71-67-69 -207-6) ended the event in first place. His performance from that tournament and other tournaments this season led to him being named the Pac-12 Men’s Golfer of the Month for September. Hagy is the sixth Cal player in a row to receive this honor. He has a 69.4-stroke average and has medaled in each of the tournaments he has played in this season.

“The Pac-12 is the best golf conference in the country, so any time you win an award like that in a conference that is so competitive, it shows that a lot of the hard work I am putting in is paying off,” Hagy said.

Despite the confidence Cal feels coming into the event, the team will have some obstacles to overcome. Hagy is coming into the tournament at less than 100 percent after injuring his foot Wednesday night. Michael Kim was ill coming into the weekend and is unable to play in the tournament. Not having these top players in optimal health hurts the team.

“We have a lot of really good players on this team, but to lose last year’s National Player of the Year, the reigning Pac-12 player of the year and arguably the No. 1 player in the country, you got both of those guys out of your lineup — those are big holes to fill,” said head coach Steve Desimone.

Additionally, the Bears are hosting the event at the Sonoma Golf Club, as opposed to hosting it at the Meadow Club in Fairfax, Calif., where the tournament was held from 2002 to 2007 and 2009 to 2012. The team is not as familiar with this course, which may reduce the advantage of hosting the event.

Despite all of this, Desimone still has high expectations.

“I have a great deal of confidence they will be ready to go come Monday morning,” he said.

No matter what conditions the team plays in, confidence will be the key to victory.

Alaina Getzenberg covers golf. Contact her at agetzenberg@dailycal.org

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For coach Steve Desimone, there is no question about it — the Cal men’s golf team had the greatest season in collegiate golf history.

So what if the Bears tied for third at the NCAA championships? Can a team be the best without even winning the ultimate prize? Desimone thinks so.

“I’ll be honest with you,” Desimone said, “the only reason this team didn’t win is because the format was different from ’04.”

The Cal team had 11 victories in just 14 stroke-play events, breaking a record that has stood since the 1970s. However, the NCAA tournament is not a stroke-play event but a match-play one, a format that is much more suspenseful for fans but that Desimone calls “a crapshoot.”

“Anything can happen in a round of match play,” he said.

And what happened was a historic upset. Cal lost to Illinois on June 1, ending the Bears’ NCAA run and giving them a third-place finish.

Although their finish was a disappointment for Desimone and the Bears, it didn’t take away from what the team, which the coach calls the “best in the country,” accomplished.

“Nothing diminishes what we did this year,” Desimone said, dismissing the idea that the loss in the NCAAs changes his perspective on the season.

Cal’s accomplishments include more than just its record-breaking number of victories. The Bears, who were ranked No. 1 with all 20 first-place votes for nearly the entire season, outscored their opponents by a combined 7,000 shots. To put that number into perspective, the three tournaments that Cal lost were by five shots. Combined.

The team also sent three players to the U.S. Open — another record for a collegiate golf team.

And what about the team that eventually ended up winning the NCAA tournament? Although Alabama took home the crown, it was 0-4 against the Bears in the regular season. Cal outscored the Crimson Tide by a combined 35 shots on the year.

“The numbers are so overwhelming it’s hard to argue against,” says Desimone. “There has never been a run like this in the history of college golf.”

And Desimone would know if there had been a run as impressive. He has been coaching the Cal men’s golf team for 35 years and recently won the Dave Williams Award, naming him the top college golf coach in the country. He also was named the coach of the year by Golfweek magazine.

“It’s a team award, not an individual one,” Desimone said of the accolades. “As a team, we had an incredibly great season.”

While their results at the NCAAs still sting, coach Desimone and the team are already looking toward the future. The main challenge will be replacing star Max Homa — the only senior on the squad. That’s a task that Desimone says “is going to be difficult.”

But despite that task ahead of him, Desimone is nothing but optimistic about next year.

“Next season is going to top this season,” Desimone said. “Every player believes it. We’re going to win an NCAA championship.”

Contact Riley McAtee at rmcatee@dailycal.org. Follow him on Twitter @riley_mcatee

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Cal men’s golf superstar Michael Kim has done it again.

The sophomore can now add “winner of the Haskins award” to the hefty list of achievements he has garnered throughout the season.

The Haskins Award — college golf’s most coveted accolade — is voted on by college golfers, coaches and members of the national media and given to the national player of the year in men’s collegiate golf. The Fred Haskins Commission announced on Tuesday that Kim was the 43rd recipient of the award and the first Cal men’s golfer to ever achieve such an honor.

“Voters have once again recognized an outstanding golfer and an equally impressive young man,” said J. Madden Hatcher, the commission president. “Michael Kim was the No. 1 player on the nation’s No. 1 team and certainly deserves to have his name added to the Haskins Award’s legendary list of past winners.”

Previous recipients of the Haskins Award have collectively won 28 of the elite Major Championships and more than 260 professional tournaments held around the world. Kim joins a list of top-notch golfers that includes Tiger Woods, Matt Kuchar and Phil Mickelson — all now immensely successful professional golfers.

Along with the award, Kim earned a sponsor’s exemption to play in the 2013 Greenbrier Classic, a tournament stop in the PGA Tour, from July 4 to July 7 in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia.

“It’s unbelievable to think my name will be on the same trophy as Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and many others,” Kim said. “I can’t wait for the opportunity to play at the Greenbrier Classic with the very best players in the world.”

The Southern California native will add to a list of achievements that includes two other previously earned national player-of-the-year awards. Having consistently topped the Golfweek/Sagarin college rankings, Kim was named the Golfweek/Sagarin Player of the Year for 2013. He later picked up the Jack Nicklaus Award — presented by the Golf Coaches Association of America — which recognizes the top players at the Division I, II, III, NAIA and NJCAA levels.

But to Kim, the Haskins Award isn’t just another one of the many honors he has received throughout the year.

“I did win the Jack Nicklaus Award, but the Fred Haskins Award is different and unique in its own right because it’s voted by my peers, my coaches, the players and a few of the media people that follow college golf,” Kim said. “To be voted by your peers as having the best collegiate season is pretty special.”

According to Golfweek, the highly accomplished golfer boasts a No. 1 ranking to end his season. Kim’s consistency throughout the season with an unparalleled stroke average of 70.73 — the lowest in Cal history — ultimately led Kim to develop into this year’s top contender for the Haskins Award.

“This is further recognition of Michael’s tremendous season,” said Cal coach Steve Desimone. “I don’t think there’s anything question Michael has won this award, because they know he was the best player in college golf this year.”

Contact Janice Chua at jchua@dailycal.org.

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Max Homa stood just seven feet away from the 20th hole, but to the senior golfer, the cup seemed a light-year’s length away.

As Homa readied himself to putt the ball, his mind raced, and pressure came flooding in. While serene in his exterior appearance, Homa was under siege inside.

The Cal men’s golf team’s season — the historic campaign in which the Bears won a record 11 tournaments — stood on the brink on Saturday. Homa needed to make this putt to push the NCAA Championship semifinal match against Illinois to the 21st hole.

Homa putted the ball. It creept slowly toward the hole. But the ball never landed inside the cup.

Homa stood frozen in disbelief, his head bent to his stomach and face cupped in his hands.

In a dramatic stunner, No. 5 seed Illinois toppled No. 1 Cal, 3-2.

Minutes later after missing the putt in the 20th hole, Homa faced reporters at the Crabapple Course in Milton, Ga., for the last press conference of his Cal career. At the thought of his teammates, his second family, Homa struggled to hold back his tears.

“I let my whole family down,” Homa said. “It sucks not being the one to move us on to tomorrow.”

Cal coach Steve Desimone, like Homa, couldn’t believe the season’s premature end.

“It’s hard to believe it’s over,” Desimone said. “To have a season like this — I just don’t know the next time a season like this is going to happen.”

And thus, Cal’s season, arguably the greatest season in collegiate men’s golf history, ended without a national trophy. The NCAA title went to No. 3 Alabama on Sunday, who defeated Illinois, 4-1.

Unlike most tournaments Cal participated in and won this season, the NCAAs were run on a match-play format in which five players from each team play a counterpart from another team.

In contrast to the usual stroke play, which aggregates the players’ scores over the course of many days into one team score, the match-play format emphasizes individual performance on a day-to-day basis.

Cal struggled in the new change of scenery. The Bears edged past Arizona State, 3-2, in Friday’s quarterfinals. Saturday was no different.

“It’s not beneficial to finding the best teams,” Homa said. “The match-play format is more exciting, though.”

The battle between Homa and Illinois’ Thomas Pieters was neck-to-neck from the first hole and eventually needed two extra holes to finish. Until the 20th hole, Homa never trailed behind Pieters. At the end of the ninth hole, Homa had a three-stroke lead, but the match was back to square one by the 12th hole.

Pieters had a chance to win the match in the 18th hole, but his four-foot birdie attempt barely missed, sending the match to extra holes.

Starting back from the No. 1 green for the 19th hole, Homa nearly had a chance to win on a chipped shot 20 yards off the green. The ball stopped a few inches from the hole.

In the 20th hole, both Pieters and Homa, who were the 2012 and 2013 NCAA individual medalists respectively, missed their chances to win. Homa missed a long birdie attempt by about seven feet, and Pieters failed to seize the chance at a birdie and settled on a par.

Despite finishing first in 11 of 14 competitions this season, the lack of the grand prize in the Bears’ decorated trophy cabinet leaves some space to debate on whether this team is the greatest of all time.

However to Homa, there is very little doubt.

“If it leaves a dent, it should be a very, very small one,” Homa said. “We should be considered the best team of all time.”

Contact Seung Y. Lee at sylee@dailycal.org Follow him on Twitter @sngyn92.

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After a long four week break since their last win at the Southern Highlands Collegiate Masters in Las Vegas, Cal is headed to the Karsten Golf Course starting on Friday.

“There’s always a little edge after taking a break like this.  They know what they need to do.  We aren’t concerned about that at all; we think they’ll be absolutely ready,” Coach Steve Desimone commented regarding the long break between tournaments.

But Desimone is not too worried of the month-long rust that may have piled.

“We are the reigning champions.  I like the way we set up the golf course with our experience,” Desimone said. “If we make good decisions on the golf course and stay with the game plan we should be fine.”

The team will be one short of its usual line up this weekend.  Michael Weaver will be absent from the two remaining events of the regular season because he was invited to play in the Masters as one of six amateurs invited to the tournament.

Freshmen James Yoon will be taking his place in his very first competition.

“To be very honest, of course I’m worried.  When we have all five together, we are the best team in the country.  James is a freshman and has no experience in competition but he has played very well,” Desimone said.

After horrible weather conditions at the last tournaments in Hawaii and Las Vegas, the Bears are excited to about the forecast for this weekend.  During the days, it will be in the low 90s with some wind and no chance of rain.

With the weather at ease, it would be easier for top players like Michael Kim, ranked no. 1 by Golfweek and Golfstat, to be effectively.  Kim this season has been consistently on the top of the Haskins Award watch list. Nicknamed the Heisman of golf, the Haskins Award is an honor that is granted to the nation’s most outstanding player in men’s collegiate golf.

“Some of the names that have won that award are Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson,” Kim said.  “Just to have my name on that list with them would be a huge honor.

With only five events remaining, the Bears will try to make every event count.  From here on out, they have their eyes set on the ultimate prize.

“The big prize is the NCAA championship,” Desimone said. “If we win that on June 2nd, everything else pales in comparison.”

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In the three-day tournament last weekend, Kim had a total of 14 birdies on Saturday, moving him from being tied at 51st to being tied for seventh.  Ranked No. 1 in the nation by Golfweek, he broke a school record for the number of consecutive wins, finishing the tournament in a four-way tie for first place.

“The course really fit our games well,” said coach Steve Desimone. “We felt comfortable about it.”

No. 1 Cal closed the tournament in first place with a 13-stroke lead. This was its eighth of nine away tournament victories.

“I’m running out of superlatives for these guys,” Desimone said. “It’s really the best problem to have.”

UNLV hosted 13 of the top 14 collegiate golf teams this weekend, including Cal’s Bay Area rival, Stanford. The Cardinal were the only team that was able to keep up with the Bears’ talented players.

Stanford was one shot behind Cal on Friday and was the only other team to break par due to unfriendly weather conditions. The tournament was put on hold for 90 minutes because of the severity of the storm.

“We got slammed by rain,” Desimone said. “It was just coming down in buckets. It was a merciful delay.I’m not sure any of us would be alive if they hadn’t called us off the field.”

Rain or shine, all five of Cal’s players finished the tournament in the top 11. Max Homa finished in a four-way tie for seventh, while Brandon Hagy, Joel Stalter and Michael Weaver finished in a five-way tie for 11th.

On Friday and Saturday, Homa had even par rounds, evening out his multiple birdies and bogeys. Homa moved up five positions on Sunday, boasting an eagle on a 40-foot putt on the 13th hole.

Hagy started the team off strong on Friday, playing impressively under the harsh weather conditions. He began with a three-under-par round of 69. With a total of 11 birdies, split up by two pars, and one lone bogey at the end, Hagy finished tied for third on Friday.

Hagy fell nine spots on Saturday to 12th. But on Sunday, Hagy climbed up one spot and played the best of the three Bears tied for 11th..

The Bears claimed their 14th of 22 wins since last fall with this tournament. Cal will take a break until April for the Arizona State Thunderbird Invitational.

Alexa Cammarano covers men’s golf. Contact her at acammarano@dailycal.org

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Best Male Athlete: Keenan Allen

While Cal football continued to be Cal football in 2012, Keenan Allen continued to be Keenan Allen.

Not even shoddy quarterback plays and a porous offensive line could hold back the junior wide receiver. Despite drawing double coverage on almost every play that he was on the field — and not playing in the final three games of the season — Allen racked up 737 receiving yards on the season, including six touchdowns. His 61 catches led the team by a margin of 20.
While Allen’s speed isn’t too impressive, his size and route-running ability made him nearly unguardable on underneath routes over the middle. For the second year in a row, he proved to be Cal’s safety valve, utilized heavily on quick slants and screens.

Against Washington State, Allen drew mostly single coverage, and the result was an 11-catch day for 166 yards and a score.
Allen also served as Cal’s punt return man, putting up 14.1 yards per return despite most teams punting away from him. Allen even showed off some deceptive speed in a 69-yarder against Southern Utah that went for a touchdown.

A surprise to no one, Allen declared for the NFL draft recently and will likely hear his name called in the mid- to late first round. He leaves Cal as the all-time leader in receptions with 205 over his three-year career and ranks third with 2,570 career receiving yards.

And all those statistics are even more impressive given who was throwing him the ball. It will be fun to watch Allen in the NFL with a serviceable quarterback and offensive line. Then we might get to really see how good he actually is.

— Connor Byrne

Honorable mention: Collin Smith

After the removal of five players for code of conduct violations this fall, the Cal men’s water polo team was broken down and torn apart. It badly needed someone to step up and help carry the team. Soon, Collin Smith took the team’s reins.

The junior led the Bears with 61 goals in 23 matches, recording a 2.65 gpg average that ranked fifth in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. Smith also led the team with 31 assists while adding 31 steals, 10 field blocks and 11 ejections drawn.

Smith had six goals in the Bears’ Big Splash victory over Stanford on Oct. 20 and 19 goals in five games at the Princeton Invitational. In Cal’s win over Pepperdine to open the MPSF tournament, Smith had three goals before being removed for a flagrant foul. His absence during the following two-game suspension especially showed his importance to the Bears, as Cal struggled to score in a 9-5 loss to USC in the MPSF Championship game.

Even from the sidelines, Smith supported his team through the final two games.

“We just have to be their biggest fans now and cheer them on until the last possible second,” Smith said after the Bears defeated No. 2 UCLA in the MPSF semifinal.

Smith joined senior Marin Balarin and sophomore Aleksa Saponjic in winning All-MPSF honors. He will be the foundation that coach Kirk Everist builds on for next season.

— Warren Laufer

Best Female Athlete: Ifeoma Onumonu

Two years ago, Ifeoma Onumonu committed to join the Cal women’s soccer team despite not visiting the campus or meeting her coach, Neil McGuire. But she steadfastedly believed that Cal was the place for her to shine.
Very few people expected her to explode into the limelight as a freshman this year.

In her 19 starts, the striker led her team in both goals and assists with 11 and six, respectively. She was second in the Pac-12 in goals scored. By the end of the season, Onumonu had established herself as the heart of the lineup.

Onumonu has come through in the clutch several times in the season. She is fourth in the Pac-12 with four game-winning goals, two of which came against USC and Washington.

Onumonu provided the firepower to lead Cal to a 16-6 record — the best in McGuire’s six years at Berkeley. In the second round of the NCAAs against No. 2 seed San Diego State, Onumonu scored Cal’s lone goal in the 2-1 loss.

Naturally, Onumonu draws the comparison of former Cal striker Alex Morgan. Since Morgan’s graduation in 2011, the question of who will fill her shoes has been constantly raised. This year, the freshman from Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., silenced all questions, perhaps for the next three years.

By the numbers, Onumonu tallied far better than Morgan in her freshman year. In 2007, Morgan chalked eight goals and two assists.

Is it far-fetched to compare Onumonu to arguably the best player in women’s soccer today? Absolutely.
But at the rate that Onumonu’s been progressing, it’s not crazy to speculate that Onumonu will have a better collegiate career than Morgan. In a couple of years, Onumonu might start alongside Morgan for the United States national women’s soccer team.

— Seung Y. Lee

Honorable Mention: Shannon Hawari

In a year of uncertainty and disappointment for the Cal women’s volleyball team, senior middle blocker Shannon Hawari was the rock that held the team together.

Hawari and the Bears began the season with high expectations. However, setback after setback quickly dropped the Bears out of the rankings.

Injuries to stars like outside hitters Correy Johnson and Adrienne Gehan as well as libero Robin Rostratter created huge holes to fill for the team. While teammates flopped around her, Hawari shouldered more leadership, often becoming the most vocal member during games.

As Hawari’s leadership helped the Bears through the tough times, the numbers the senior put up were some of the best in the country. Hawari led the team with 326 kills on the season, posting a  stellar .374 hitting percentage that was good enough for third in the Pac-12.

She also made major contributions on the defensive side. Her 1.20 blocks per set ranked her seventh in the conference.
Hawari was rewarded for her strong season, earning all-Pac 12 team honors and thus joining the ranks of some of the best players in the nation.

Hawari’s illustrious career may have ended on a sour note with a first round exit in the NCAA tournament, but Hawari’s season was one of the best in Cal history.

— Austin Crochetiere

Best Coach: Steve Desimone

After the the winningest season in Cal men’s golf history last year, head coach Steve Desimone seemed to have reached his peak. And yet, in his 34th year leading the team, he has surpassed expectations once again.

After winning a program-record six tournaments in the 2011-12 season, Desimone’s team began its 2012-13 campaign by winning its first five competitions.

Cal finished just short of its second-ever national championship last May, falling in the NCAA semifinals and ending the season ranked No. 3 in the nation. With Desimone at the helm, the Bears have taken the No. 1 spot this season. The players credit Desimone’s passion to the program and dedication to winning for much of their success so far.

“Sometimes I think he likes the No. 1 ranking more than we do,” said sophomore Michael Kim.

In November, the California Golf Writers and Broadcasters Association awarded Desimone with the 2012 Jack Lemmon Ambassador of Golf Award, making him the first coach from Cal to win the award.

Desimone has worked his finest magic in player development, turning recruits neglected by other programs into some of the top golfers in the country. Most notably, Desimone recruited Kim when many other golf powerhouses overlooked the 5-foot-11, 135-pound sophomore as too small and too weak to compete at the collegiate level.

With Desimone’s help, Kim has added weight and strength, increasing his drive off the tee. Now the No. 2-ranked individual in the country, Kim is a shining example of how Desimone’s success spreads beyond the golf course.

As the top golf team in the country, the Bears will head to spring season with one goal: bringing the NCAA Championships to Berkeley after narrowly missing out last year.

— Warren Laufer

Honorable Mention: Kirk Everist

In his 11 years as the head coach of the Cal men’s water polo team, Kirk Everist has won two national championships, led the Bears to two Mountain Pacific Sports Federation championships and coached more than 50 All-Americans. He has turned the Bears into one of the elite collegiate water polo squads in the country.

But this year, Everist coached Cal to a 17-8 season, the worst record of his tenure and the worst since the 2000 season. Still, considering the obstacles he overcame, this year may have been his best work so far.

Coaches normally can only go so far and do so much for their teams. They cannot control what choices their players make outside of the game, and this year, Everist was forced to face the consequences of his players’ actions.

Everist began the season by removing five players from the team for code of conduct violations. All the while, Everist was in the midst of losing his mother. But even without some of the most talented players on the preseason roster, Everist led the Bears through the ups and downs.

Despite the obstacles, he took them closer to an NCAA title chase than last season, losing in the MPSF final to No. 1 USC — just one win from entering the NCAA tournament.

— Warren Laufer

Best Newcomer: Chris Harper

Chris Harper was almost an afterthought when he committed to Cal. Now, he will be the Bears’ go-to receiver next year after putting together one of the greatest freshman receiving seasons of all time at Cal.

In 2012, he was the squad’s second-leading receiver, catching 41 passes for 544 yards. Both numbers rank second for a freshman receiver at Cal, alongside the rookie stats of presumptive first-round draft pick Keenan Allen and NFL Pro Bowl-er DeSean Jackson.

“It means a lot,” Harper said, “because DeSean Jackson, he’s who I look up to in the NFL — he’s who I try to take after.”
Unlike his five-star predecessors, Harper was not a big-time recruit. In fact, the wideout from Crespi Carmelite High School in Encino, Calif., originally committed to Southern Methodist.

But after an unofficial visit to Berkeley, Harper was given an offer to attend his dream school. During the summer, Harper zoomed up the wide receiver depth chart, beginning the fall season behind only Allen, the Bears’ All Pac-12 junior, and Bryce Treggs, a top-25 receiver prospect and Harper’s roommate. In his first two games, Harper accounted for 12 receptions, 151 receiving yards and a touchdown.

With Treggs usually lined up as the deep receiver and Allen often double-teamed, the sure-handed Harper took advantage of Cal’s short game as a primarily slot receiver. He had a few too many fumbles but was as reliable as anyone on the team in catching the ball, making one-handed catches left and right.

Harper’s coming-out party came on Nov. 2 at home against Washington. With Allen and Treggs sidelined by injuries, Harper was called on to be the Bears’ primary playmaker, and he responded with a seven-reception, 101-yard performance that also included a 14-yard run for Cal’s only touchdown.

There will surely be more of that to come for Harper in the coming seasons as the Bears’ top target in new head coach Sonny Dyke’s “air raid” spread offense.  

— Jonathan Kuperberg

Best Game:  Cal football vs. UCLA

For one game, the Cal football team got to pretend it was a force in the Pac-12.

No. 25 UCLA, the eventual Pac-12 South champion, came into Memorial expecting to blow out a reeling 1-4 Cal squad. And yet, it played 60 minutes of horrid football, and players were sent home with their tails between their legs, getting blown out 43-17.

The Bruins got off to a quick start after Cal quarterback Zach Maynard threw a pick on his first pass of the game. Six plays later, UCLA quarterback Brett Hundley connected with his tight end in the end zone for an early 7-0 lead.

Then UCLA fell apart and committed six turnovers — including four picks and a fumble by Hundley — while playing some truly atrocious football. All Cal had to do was sit back and watch the Bruins beat themselves.

Yet while UCLA played what was unequivocally its worst game of the season, the Bears did see some impressive individual performances. Maynard played what was probably the best game of his career, shaking off the early interception to complete 25 of his 30 passes for 295 yards and four touchdowns — two to wide receiver Keenan Allen.

Sophomore cornerback Kameron Jackson also turned in the best performance of his young career, picking off Hundley three times while filling in for an injured Marc Anthony. Jackson was then named the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week.

Yet the game proved to be an anomaly, not a harbinger, and the Bears would finish out the season by winning just one of their next six games. But at least it was fun to go into a time machine and pretend that it was 2006 again, even if for just one game.

— Connor Byrne

Honorable Mention: Cal volleyball vs. Oregon

Cal women’s volleyball began its Oregon road trip in the midst of 2-4 slide and in serious danger of dropping out of relevance in the Pac-12. First up was No. 2 Oregon, a daunting task with a bleak outlook for the Bears.

Five thrilling, emotional, stunning sets later, Cal had shocked the volleyball world, upsetting the Ducks, 3-2 (25-17, 25-21, 22-25, 19-25, 15-13).

The Bears dominated the first two sets of the match behind their blocks, registering 10 total team blocks during the time period. The stunned Eugene crowd watched as the Ducks fell behind slumping Cal 2-0 going into the break.

However, the sleeping giant that was the Oregon offense finally awoke. Behind outside hitters Liz Brenner and All-American Alaina Bergsma, the Ducks mounted a furious comeback to which the Bears had no answer.
After four sets, the game was tied at two sets apiece. A fifth set would be needed.

Oregon’s momentum continued in the final set, as the team jumped out to a 9-5 lead. Cal would need to mount a comeback of its own. That’s just what the Bears did.

The Bears finished on a 10-4 run to pull off the momentous victory. Senior Shannon Hawari registered eight blocks while sophomore Christina Higgins led the offense with 17 kills.

— Austin Crochetiere

Worst Game(s): All nine cal football losses

If there is some solace in Cal football’s nine losses this season, if you can call it that, it’s that each was unique and colorful in its own way. Each of the nine losses broke Cal fans’ hearts in nine different ways. They all equally deserved this accolade.
Some losses gave us hope — some gave us hopelessness. It was the best and definitely the worst of Cal football.

The season opener to Nevada was a disaster from the start. From starting quarterback Zach Maynard’s first-quarter benching, Cal was lost and sloppy. Lady Luck seemed to shower Cal with every chance to prevent it from losing its first game at new Memorial Stadium, but the Bears still pulled off the 31-24 loss.

Then two weeks later, the Ohio State game gave Cal false hope. The eye-opening performances of Maynard and running back Brendan Bigelow kept the Bears tied with the Buckeyes until the last few minutes.

The 35-28 loss planted cautious optimism, only to be trampled to dust by the 27-9 loss to USC and 27-17 loss to Arizona State the following weekends.

Cal teased with a two-game winning streak afterward, but the 21-3 loss to Stanford left no doubts. The Bears’ anemic offensive performance lost the Axe for the third-straight year.

The Big Game loss was the beginning of a five-game skid. The Bears surrendered 49 points to a mediocre Utah offense. The next week, both Cal and Washington embarrassed themselves on ESPN, but the Huskies came out the less mortified team with the W.

Then one last time, against No. 4 Oregon, Cal, like a mercurial siren, tempted fans to believe in an upset until the Ducks blew it open in the second half, 59-17.

Then the 62-14 loss to No. 13 Oregon State put Cal’s season out of its misery. The score really said it all.
It was the perfect exclamation point to a team riddled with question marks.

— Seung Y. Lee

Contact the sports desk at sports@dailycal.org.

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Kore Chan/Staff

Michael Kim dreams of Augusta. He sees himself sinking a 15-foot putt to win the Masters and to don the legendary green jacket.

But more importantly, Kim pictures himself winning against his golf idol, Tiger Woods.

“I grew up watching Tiger Woods win all those tournaments,” the sophomore says. “He is the most important reason why I’m playing golf as hard as I am now. Just knowing that he’s talented beyond anyone I’ve ever seen but still works so hard inspired me.”

Kim is not kidding around in believing he can win the Masters. His self-confidence is unwavering. As a golfer, he has little interest in anything but winning.

Throughout his golf career, Kim has carried a chip on his shoulder. He has been neglected by many, and he is ready to be done with it.

Beating Tiger Woods at the Masters would make it impossible for anyone to ignore him any longer.

“I never really liked the underdog role much,” Kim says.

In high school, many college coaches overlooked Kim.  Coaches worried that at only 120 pounds, Kim would not be even strong enough to drive the ball off of the tee. He was barely recruited out of college, ignored by many of the country’s top programs.

Now, Kim is the No. 2 individual golfer in the country and the Bears are No. 1 after being written off as the No. 24 ranked team last year.

But he has not forgotten those who did not think he could perform at the collegiate level.

When Kim was eight, his dad brought him to a driving range for the very first time. As a small kid, Kim’s size limited his ability to excel in other physical activities, especially in contact sports.

But golf was different. Kim showed promise, especially with his short game, which Cal head coach Steve Desimone has called “one of the best in Cal history.” The kid that emigrated from Seoul, South Korea a year ago displayed enough natural talent to inspire him to stick with it.

“For me, if you’re not good at it, I’m not going to do it,” Kim says.

When he was 13, Kim began playing in amateur golf tournaments. In two years, he had started playing in more competitive tournaments and was contributing to his Torrey Pines High School team, one of the best in the state.

In junior year of high school, Kim had his best golf season yet. But Kim’s recruiting mailbox remained empty — he only received offers from four schools, including Cal. After committing to Cal because of its academic reputation, Kim helped his high school team win the California State Championship his senior year.

Desimone took a chance on Kim when few others did. He had a feeling that the recruit had the necessary talent to make it in the next level. Kim just needed to get bigger and stronger.

“I’ve been always been a big believer that guys that have a passion and understanding of the game can be successful in college,” Desimone said. “I knew he would add some weight and distance, which he has. We’re sure glad to have him.”

Kim continues to be motivated by the coaches that did not believe that he was capable of competing at the collegiate level. This fall, the Bears defeated No. 2 Texas twice and No. 3 Alabama once — both golf powerhouses who snubbed Kim in high school.

Kim revelled in every minute of the victories.

“When we beat teams like Texas and Alabama, it’s definitely redemption on the inside,” he says. “It’s kind of telling everybody that we are just as good as they are. It’s more motivation for us to beat those teams.”

Coming into his freshman year, Kim was joining a Cal team that was overlooked by many. It was a position that he was grudgingly used to being in.

He made it a point to be on the golf course as much as possible, dedicated to proving his naysayers wrong. His hard work is a point of pride for Kim.

“If I could say anything to every golf team in the country,” he says. “It would be, “I am going to outwork you.” I want to be known for my work ethic more than anything.”

That work ethic has paid off. As a freshman last season, Kim helped the Bears win a school-record six tournaments, secured the first Pac-12 conference title in program history and finished third at the NCAA tournament.

Kim was an All-American last year and was named Co-MVP alongside sophomore Brandon Hagy and junior Max Homa.

“Last year we had a chip on our shoulder because even when we won 6 times, we never felt like we got the attention that we deserved,” Kim says. “It wasn’t until the end that they thought we were contenders.”

This season, Kim led the Bears to five tournament wins in an undefeated fall season. He capped off the fall by winning his first individual title at the last tournament, the Isleworth Collegiate Invitational held at Windemere, Fla.

Kim is still the youngest player on Cal’s starting squad. His older teammates make him grab their bags when the team embarks on road trips. He looks up to  Homa and tries to imitate Homa’s work ethic.

But pretty soon, Kim is going to be the one everyone else looks up to.

“We’re going to need Michael to be a leader,” Desimone says. “And things are moving in that direction.”

When he does become an experienced leader that is looked up by future underclassmen, Kim is certain to carry his distaste for the underdog with him.

For now, though, the Bears are No. 1. Kim is one of the most fierce golfers in the country. He’s not ready to go back to being the underdog.

From the disregarded scrawny high school golfer of the past, Kim is inching ever closer to his Masters dream, his ultimate goal.

If the stars align, he might soon be on the 17th hole at Augusta, one putt down to the great Tiger Woods. Then he will sink the birdie that will set up that 15-foot putt to win the whole thing.

But then, the ideal scenario sets up one obvious problem — a paradox Kim has been running away from all his life.

“Then I’d be the underdog, I guess.”

Contact Warren Laufer at wlaufer@dailycal.org

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