Jerome Randle Says His `Dream' Is To Become Cal's Head Coach
Jerome Randle is playing the final season of his professional basketball career for US Monastir of Tunisia in the Basketball Africa League, a joint venture of the NBA and FIBA.
The former Cal star knows what he’d like to do next.
“I definitely would like to coach,” Randle says in the video above during a Zoom interview from Dakar, Senegal. “My dream and what I really want to do is I want to be, potentially, head coach for Cal one day.”
Reminded that his alma mater as a job vacancy, Randle smiled and acknowledged the obvious hole in his resume — the 35-year-old has never held a formal coaching position.
“They wouldn’t take a chance like that. Everyone wants experience,” Randle said.
But Randle’s global travels the past dozen years, which have taken him to 17 countries, give him a unique set of experiences that he believes translate well to what Cal needs.
“I feel like being able to connect with players, being able to recruit players . . . I’ve been developing players all over the world,” he said. “So the connections that I have to bring in five-star athletes are at the snap of a finger for me. My passion is developing kids. Especially here, I feel like I came here for a reason, to be able to connect with kids that don’t have opportunities to go to college.”
Our interview took place Thursday morning, just as the main bracket of the NCAA tournament was getting under way. Randle, who led the Bears to their only conference championship since 1960 and NCAA bids his junior and senior seasons, is sad about the current state of the program.
Coach Mark Fox was fired last week after a 3-29 season that was Cal’s sixth straight losing campaign, the past four on his watch. The Bears haven’t played in the NCAAs since 2016.
Jerome Randle
Photo by Kim Klement, USA Today
“To win the (2010) Pac-10 championship after 50 years, that pride is still there,” Randle said. “But I don’t have anything to brag about as of right now. That’s what hurts my heart more than anything, where everybody’s talking about March Madness and their school. I can’t chime in on the conversation. It kind of pisses me off, excuse my language, it actually does.”
Randle remains Cal's all-time scoring leader with 1,835 career points and he was the Pac-10 Player of the Year as a senior.
Given the fact that Cal is extremely unlikely to hire even one of its former great players as head coach without some history on the bench, Randle said he might welcome the chance to serve as assistant to the new man.
“That’s the plan. I’m hoping they hire someone that wants to be at Cal, and not using it as an opportunity to go somewhere else. The Cal family needs some type of stability,” he said.
“You need to see someone there who wants to be there. Cal is unique. You can’t just go hire anybody. They have to know about the area. They have to know about Cal. You’ve got to understand that it’s not like every other school. You’ve got to know how to maneuver through the Cal ways. That’s cool. It’s a unique place — that’s why we all love it. I think the time is now.”
Besides his passion for the school and popularity among fans, Randle believes he has something tangible to offer.
“I really do because at the end of the day when you look at college, one thing that colleges lack is developing players,” he said. “How many players coming as a freshman and leave the same player their junior or senior year? I wouldn’t allow that to happen.
“To me, that’s my passion. Putting guys in the position to be successful, focusing on the things I know they need in order to be successful in the system in which the coach provides for the player. I’ve thought about this for a long time. I’m passionate about it. Maybe it won’t happen this year but I’m sure at some point it’s gonna happen.
“Whatever team gives me that opportunity, I’m sure they’ll be really pleased with what I have to offer.”
Randle visited Berkeley on Dec. 1 and watched as Cal lost 66-51 to USC, falling to 0-8 on the season. He had a meeting that day with Cal athletic director Jim Knowlton, although he declined to reveal the content of their conversation.
He has no doubt the Cal athletic administration is aware he has interest in assisting the program.
“They know," he said. "Do they take it serious? Who knows? It’s something I definitely want to pursue. I definitely would love to be there.”
Cover photo of Jerome Randle
Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo
