The Best of the Bears, Part 9: Cal's Top Athletes of the 1990s

Cal football played on New Year's Day before basketball took center stage in Berkeley

Photos courtesy of Cal Athletics

The 1990s opened at Cal with Bruce Snyder’s football program reaching its peak but basketball soon seized the spotlight.

Russell White and Mike Pawlawski teamed to lift the Bears to a New Year’s Day bowl victory before the athletic administration bungled negotiations with Snyder and watched him defect for Arizona State.

Jason Kidd arrived the next fall and Cal basketball commanded national attention. Kidd’s drawing power forced the Bears to move some of their games to the Oakland Coliseum Arena, and with running mate Lamond Murray, Cal stunned Duke in the NCAA tournament.

Shareef Abdur-Rahim’s stay in Berkeley was brilliant but brief and controversial coach Todd Bozeman was asked to leave in the midst of a a sexual harassment investigation and an NCAA probe.

Left-hander Michele Granger dominated the softball diamond and two-sport wonder Tony Gonzalez provided glimpses into his Pro Football Hall of Fame future.

By any measure, it was a fascinating decade for Cal athletics.

As we reach Part 9 in The Best of the Bears, here are Cal’s top athletes for each year in the 1990s:

1989-90: SHEILA HUDSON (track & field). Hudson won her third NCAA triple jump championship with a jump of 46 feet, 0 3/4 inches and added the long jump crown with a leap of 22-0. Both marks remain school records 30 years later. She also captured both events at the 1990 NCAA indoor meet. Hudson went on to win nine U.S. triple jump titles, set two world bests (before the event was officially recognized internationally for record purposes) and inked nine American records. After campaigning to make the women’s triple jump an Olympic event, she finished 10th in the event at the 1996 Atlanta Games. Also: David Ortega (football), Troy Taylor (football), Keith Smith (basketball).

Russell White / Photo courtesy of Cal Athletics

1990-91: RUSSELL WHITE (football). White burst onto the scene as a sophomore in 1990, returning a kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown against defending national champion Miami the first time he touched the ball in Memorial Stadium. He rushed for 1,000 yards in three straight seasons — the only Cal back ever to do so — and gave the Bears a swagger only a star player can bring. Among his 15 career games of at least 100 rushing yards was a spectacular 229-yard performance in Cal’s memorable 52-30 rout of USC in 1991. White remains Cal’s career leader with 3,367 rushing yards and 35 rushing touchdowns. Also: Chris Humbert (water polo).

1991-92: MIKE PAWLAWSKI (football). Pawlawski’s confident style at quarterback set the tone for Cal’s best season in four decades. He passed for 2,517 yards and 21 touchdowns as the Bears compiled a 10-2 record, capped by a 37-13 rout of Clemson in the Citrus Bowl on New Year’s Day. Pawlawski was named co-Pac-10 Offensive Player of the Year for a team that averaged nearly 37 points per game, including 86 in a season-opening win over Pacific. In 1990, Pawlawski helped the Bears end an 18-year losing streak to UCLA, and as a senior he became the first Cal quarterback to beat both USC and UCLA in the same season since Joe Kapp did it in 1958. Also: Troy Penix (baseball), Jon Zuber (baseball), Kristen Smyth (gymnastics), Gavin Arroyo (water polo).

*** Former Cal star Michele Granger talks about pitching in the 1996 Olympics while three months' pregnant.

1992-93: MICHELE GRANGER (softball). The senior left-hander concluded one of the greatest pitching careers in NCAA softball history by winning 30 games, throwing 40 complete games, striking out a school-record 484 batters and twirling an NCAA record-nine no-hitters in 1993. A four-time first-team All-American, Granger pitched at least 23 shutouts in each of her final three seasons. She assembled 119 career victories, with 94 shutouts, a still-NCAA-record 25 no-hitters and five perfect games with an 0.46 earned run averaged and 1,640 strikeouts in 1,202 innings. She led the nation in strikeouts her final three seasons. She struck out an NCAA-record 26 batters in a 12-inning game vs. Oregon, and fanned all 21 batters she face in a 1991 win over Creighton. In 1996, Granger was the winning pitcher in the gold medal game at Atlanta Olympics while she was three months pregnant. A two-time World Championships gold medalist, Granger debuted with the national team at age 16 and is a member of the National Softball Hall of Fame. She now coaches softball at Cal Poly. Also: Sean Dawkins (football), Milica Vukadinovic (basketball), Chris Huffins (track & field), Ramon Jimenez-Gaona (track & field).

Jason Kidd

1993-94: JASON KIDD (basketball). The Oakland-born point guard, who led Cal to an upset of two-time defending national champion Duke to reach the Sweet 16 as a freshman the year before, blossomed into a consensus All-American in 1993-94. He led the nation in assists (9.1 per game) and steals (3.1) while also averaging 16.7 points and 6.9 rebounds. He posted four triple-doubles, won the Pac-10 Player of the Year award and was the No. 2 overall pick in the NBA draft. Kidd captured two Olympic gold medals, won an NBA championship with the Dallas Mavericks and ranks No. 2 all-time on the NBA’s career assists and steals lists. His 107 triple-doubles are the fourth-most in NBA history. He is a member of the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. Also: Lamond Murray (basketball), Todd Steussie (football), Dave Barr (football).

1994-95: UGER TANER (swimming). Born in Istanbul, Turkey, Taner moved to the U.S. when he was a year old and eventually landed at Cal, where in 1995 he won his second of three consecutive NCAA titles in the 200-yard butterfly. He represented Turkey in the 1992 Olympics and later won nine U.S. swimming national titles. Also: Gillian Boxx (softball), Monty Buckley (basketball).

Shareef Abdur-Rahim / Photo courtesy of Cal Athletics

1995-96: SHAREEF ABDUR-RAHIM (basketball). Abdur-Rahim was voted national freshman of the year and became the first freshman named Pac-12 Player of the Year after leading the conference in scoring at 21.1 points per game while also averaging 8.4 rebounds. He scored 33 points in his college debut and topped 30 points four times in his lone college season. The No. 3 pick in the 1996 NBA draft, he won an Olympic gold medal at the 2000 Sydney Games. Abdur-Rahim averaged 18.1 points in a 12-year NBA career with a career-high 50 points. Also: Duane Clemons (football).

Tony Gonzalez / Photos courtesy of Cal Athletics

1996-97: TONY GONZALEZ (football/basketball): One of Cal’s great two-sports athletes in the modern era, Gonzalez went out with a bang as a junior. He caught 46 passes for 699 yards and five touchdowns as a tight end and was named first-team All-Pac-10 and All-American by Football News and the Sporting News. On the basketball court, he helped the Bears to a Sweet 16 bid in the NCAA tournament, scoring 23 points in the team’s second-round win over Villanova. Gonzalez went on to become the most prolific tight end in NFL history and a 10-time All-Pro selection before being voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2019. Also: Pat Barnes (football), Ed Gray (basketball).

1997-98: XAVIER NADY (baseball). Nady assembled a tremendous freshman campaign, batting .404 with school records of 28 doubles, 23 home runs and 173 total bases while also driving in 70 runs. He was voted team MVP, first-team All-Pac-10 as an infielder and Freshman All-American. A second-round draft pick in 2000, Nady hit 104 home runs in a 12-year major league career. Also: Bobby Shaw (football), Alisa vonHartitzsch (water polo).

1998-99: DAMEANE DOUGLAS (football). A senior wide receiver, Douglas set a Cal single-season record by hauling in 100 receptions for 1,150 yards and four touchdowns and land a spot on the All-Pac-10 first team. Douglas caught 15 passes vs. Oregon State and 13 each against USC and Stanford. He is tied for third all-time at Cal with 195 career catches. Douglas played four NFL seasons. Also: Sean Lampley (basketball), Amanda Augustus/Amy Jensen (tennis).

Click here for Part 2 of the series: Top Cal athletes of the 1920s

Click here for Part 3 of the series: Top Cal athletes of the 1930s

Click here for Part 4 of the series: Top Cal athletes of the 1940s

Click here for Part 5 of the series: Top Cal athletes of the 1950s

Click here for Part 6 of the series: Top Cal athletes of the 1960s

Click here for Part 7 of the series: Top Cal athletes of the 1970s

Click here for Part 8 of the series: Top Cal athletes of the 1980s

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

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