Cal Basketball: Ryan Betley Talks The Palestra, The Blob and Stephen Curry

Cal graduate transfer played at Penn in one of America's greatest hoops venues

The Palestra in Philadelphia is one of basketball's most famous venues.

Built in 1927, it claims to have hosted more college basketball games than any facility ni the country. Wilt Chamberlain, Jerry West and Oscar Robertson all played there in the same season as college players, and Kobe Bryant and LeBron James both experienced The Palestra while high school stars.

Cal senior guard Ryan Betley, who graduated from Penn's Wharton School of Business, played at The Palestra during his four seasons with the Quakers. 

Betley and the Bears are scheduled to play Saturday at 3 p.m. at Oregon State. The Beavers were forced to postponed their game Thursday night against Stanford because of a positive COVID-19 test within their program, so the game would appear to be in jeopardy.

If the game does happen, Betley will get the chance to play in one of the oldest arenas in the West. But with apologies to Ralph Miller and Gary Payton, no one will confuse 72-year-old Gill Coliseum with The Palestra,

"The Palestra is a special gym, it really is," Betley said earlier this week in the video above. "It's just a pure basketball experience."

The Palestra / USA Today

Betley called the building a museum, but also said it comes to life when any of the Big Five games featuring the Division I teams from Philly square off.

"When it's sold out, there's nothing like it. The acoustics in there are just other-worldly for a basketball player or a fan. It doesn't get any better than playing there."

Before attending Penn, Betley grew up in Downington, PA, a community of about 7,800 which is located 40 miles west of Philadelphia, 

Downington is primarily known for two things:

-- A pretzel stand that opened in 1988 at a local farmer's market and eventually morphed into Auntie Annie's, a global pretzel chain that includes more than 1,000 stores and takes in $375 million annually

-- And the 1958 horror film classic "The Blob," which was the first feature film for legendary actor Steve McQueen and was partially filmed in Downington.

Betley and I did not discuss pretzels, but I asked him about "The Blob," and while he'd heard of the movie he admitted he hasn't taken the time to check out a film that scored a luke-warm 66 on Rotten Tomatoes and was made four decades before he was born.

But Betley did mention the Downington Diner, the original version of which appeared in the film as a location where McQueen's character and his girlfriend tried hiding from the gelatinous alien creature bent on consuming the entire town.

Here's more from Betley on "The Blob:"

During our conversation, we did manage to squeeze in some hoops talk. Betley is a 3-point specialist who has made 191 shots from beyond the arc in his college career, including 169 during his career with the Quakers to rank No. 10 on Penn's all-time list. 

A second-team All-Ivy League pick in 2018, Betley was recruited to Cal because of his 3-point prowess. He converted 8-for-11 from deep in two games  before the Bears' 82-69 loss at Oregon on Thursday night, when he labored through a 1-for-7 effort on 3-point tries.

Here's Betley's reaction to Warriors star Stephen Curry last week making 105 consecutive 3-point attempts from the right corner during practice. Yep, 105 in a row. 

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COVER PHOTO COURTESY OF PENN ATHLETICS

Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo