The Best of the Bears, Part 10: Cal's Top Athletes of the 2000s

Leon Powe and Marshawn Lynch continued a century-old pipeline from Oakland Tech

Photo courtesy of Cal Athletics

Oakland Technical High School has produced an impressive list of alumni that includes Clint Eastwood, Curt Flood, Rickey Henderson, John Brodie and The Pointer Sisters.

Early last century, Brick Muller, Taylor Douthit and Arleigh Williams — all included among The Best of the Bears — matriculated from Oakland Tech to Cal.

And as a new century unfolded, two Golden Bear headliners in the decade of the 2000s came from Tech. First it was basketball star Leon Powe, and a year later running back Marshawn Lynch made the 3-mile trek from his high school to college home.

Football under coach Jeff Tedford flourished in the 2000s, with the Bears earning bowl bids seven straight seasons from 2003 through ’09. Five football players are found in this 10th installment of our series, The Best of the Bears, which identifies the top athlete from every year over the past century.

Our choices for the decade of the 2000s:

Deltha O'Neal / Photo courtesy of Cal Athletics

1999-2000: DELTHA O’NEAL (football). O’Neal began his Cal career as a running back, and in his first two seasons totaled 590 rushing yards (5.1 per carry) with one touchdown and 24 receptions for 267 yards and two more TDs. Moved to defensive back his junior season, O’Neal found his niche. As a senior in 1999, he delivered an amazing season — nine interceptions, returned for 280 yards and an NCAA-record four TDs to earn consensus first-team All-America honors. He also had 42 punt returns for a 10.2 average with a touchdown and 19 kickoff returns for a 29.2 average and another TD. Yep, he scored six touchdowns that season — none of them on offense. A first-round draft pick of the Denver Broncos, O’Neal played nine NFL seasons, intercepting 34 passes, including 10 for the Cincinnati Bengals in 2005. Also: Bevan Hart (track & field).

2000-01: ANTHONY ERVIN (swimming): Ervin had just begun his sophomore year at Cal when he dominated the pool at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, winning gold in the 50- and 100-meter freestyle sprints and a silver medal in the 400 medley relay. He went on to capture the 100-yard free at the 2001 NCAA meet (having won both the 50 and 100 as a freshman the year before). He captured three more NCAA titles before his college career ended, but his most amazing performance may have come at the 2016 Rio Olympics: 16 years after Sydney, he returned to win the 50 free again, making him the oldest Olympic gold medalist in swimming at age 35. Also: Andre Carter (football), Laura Schott (soccer), Chris Humbert (water polo), Heather Petri (water polo).

2001-02: JOCELYN FOREST (softball). On Cal’s only national championship softball team Forest was a second-team All-American, a first-team All-Pac-10 selection and the Most Outstanding Player in both the NCAA regionals and the Women’s College World Series. She won 29 games with a 1.11 earned run average that season and finished her career ranked No. 2 all-time at Cal in strikeouts (1,203) and No. 3 in victories (103). Also: Ericka Lorenz (water polo), Amit Tamir (basketball).

Natalie Coughlin / Photo courtesy of Cal Athletics

2002-03: NATALIE COUGHLIN (swimming). Coughlin won 12 NCAA titles, including the 100 and 200 backstroke and 100 butterfly as a junior in 2003. She was undefeated in 61 dual-meet races in her college career, was named national collegiate swimmer of the year three times, and nearly two decades later still owns school records in the 100- and 200-yard butterfly. In 2002, at age 19, she became the first woman to break 1 minute in the 100-meter backstroke, Coughlin won five medals at the first of her three Olympics in 2004, and in ’08 at Beijing became the first U.S. female athlete in modern Olympic history to win six medals at one Olympiad. Coughlin finished with 12 Olympics medals -- tying her with Jenny Thompson and Dara Torres for the most by a female swimmer -- and a total of 60 medals in major international competitions. She was named world swimmer of the year once and U.S. swimmer of the year three times. Coughlin competed on "Dancing with the Stars," appeared in the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue and has written a biography called, "Golden Girl." Also: Joe Shipp (basketball).

Aaron Rodgers / Photo courtesy of Cal Athletics

2003-04: AARON RODGERS (football). In his first season at Cal, Rodgers passed for 2,903 yards with 19 touchdowns and just five interceptions while completing nearly 62 percent of his attempts. A year later he threw for 2,566 yards and 24 TDs, and tied an NCAA record by completing his first 23 pass attempts against top-ranked USC. Over his two seasons at Cal, Rodgers threw 43 touchdowns and just 13 interceptions, leading the Bears to a record of 18-7 and a pair of bowl games.. In 15 seasons with the Green Bay Packers — the past 12 as the starter — Rodgers has passed for nearly 50,000 yards with 364 touchdowns. His career passer rating of 102.4 is the highest in NFL history. Rodgers has won a Super Bowl, two regular-season MVP awards and has been named to eight Pro Bowls. Also: Geoff McArthur (football), Mia Jerkov (volleyball), Sarah Huarte (golf), Graham Ackerman (gymnastics).

2004-05: J.J. ARRINGTON (football). Arrington shattered Cal’s single-season rushing record by totaling 2,018 yards on 7.0 per attempt while scoring 15 touchdowns. He joined Marcus Allen and Charles White as the only Pac-12 running backs to eclipse 2,000 yards in a season. Arrington ran for at least 100 yards in all 12 games, with eight games of 169 yards or more, including 261 vs. Southern Mississippi. He was a first-team All-Pac-10 selection, a consensus All-American and won the Pop Warner Trophy as the top player on the West Coast. He finished eighth in the Heisman Trophy voting, one spot ahead of teammate Aaron Rodgers. Arrington assembled 14 career games of at least 100 rushing yards in his two seasons at Cal after arriving as a junior college transfer. Drafted in the second round by the Arizona Cardinals, Arrington played four NFL seasons, totaling 1,347 rushing and receiving yards. Also: Ryan Riddle (football), Vicky Galindo (softball), Duke Draganja (swimming).

Leon Powe / Photo courtesy of Cal Athletics

2005-06: LEON POWE (basketball). The ferocious power forward averaged 20.5 points and 10.1 rebounds and found a place on the Associated Press All-America second team as a redshirt sophomore. A two-time All-Pac-10 selection, Powe was MVP of the 2006 Pac-10 tournament after posting 22 points and 20 rebounds against USC and scoring 41 points against Oregon. Powe, who underwent five knee injuries during his career, played five seasons in the NBA. He won an NBA title with the Boston Celtics, scoring 21 points in the team’s Game 2 Finals victory over the Los Angeles Lakers. Powe has worked since 2014 in the Celtics’ front office as community ambassador. Also: Brandon Morrow (baseball), Erin Cafaro (rowing), Susie Babos (tennis), Henrique Barbosa (swimming).

*** Leon Powe talks about the work he does as a community ambassador for the Boston Celtics:

2006-07: MARSHAWN LYNCH (football). A tough call over teammate DeSean Jackson, the wideout/return specialist who scored 13 total touchdowns in 2006 and went on to a become a terrific NFL player. But Lynch was transcendent, as a college player and a pro, both on the field and in the community. The Oakland native rushed for 1,356 yards and 11 touchdowns in 2006 — his final before entering the NFL draft — and closed his career with 3,230 rushing yards and 35 total touchdowns. Lynch’s most iconic moment at Cal came after rushing for 150 yards in an overtime victory vs. Washington in 2006 when he famously commandeered an equipment cart and weaved his way through fans and teammates on the field in a celebration that remains a iconic moment in his career. In the NFL, Lynch rushed for more than 10,000 career yards with 94 total TDs. Also: Alysia Johnson Montano (track & field), Elise Windes (water polo), Valentina Godfrid (field hockey), Tim NcNeill (gymnastics), Michael Sharf (water polo).

2007-08: RYAN ANDERSON (basketball). A sophomore forward, Anderson led the Pac-10 in scoring at 21.1 points per game and was third in rebounding at 9.9. He scored at least 30 points three times, including 36 vs. Nevada, and posted 16 double-doubles. Chosen by the New Jersey Nets in the first round of the 2008 NBA draft, Anderson played for six teams over 11 seasons, averaging 12.3 points as a pro. At 6-foot-9, he was coveted for his ability to shoot from the 3-point arc. Also: Justin Forsett (football), Devanei Hampton (basketball).

Jahvid Best / Photo courtesy of Cal Athletics

2008-09: JAHVID BEST (football). The sophomore running back rushed for 1,580 yards at 8.1 yards per attempt and scored 15 touchdowns. He set a Cal record with 2,247 all-purpose yards that season. Best had three games of at least 200 rushing yards, topped by a 311-yard, four-touchdown performance vs. Washington. That rushing total eclipsed Cal’s 54-year-old single-game record of 283 rushing yards by Jerry Drew. Best ran for 3,325 yards and 48 touchdowns at Salesian High, where he also won the California State Meet title in the 100-meter dash as a senior. Best, who suffered a serious concussion at Cal in 2009, played two NFL seasons before retiring from football due to a series of head injuries. He represented his father's home country of St. Lucia at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janiero, where he ran a first-round heat in the 100 against superstar Usain Bolt. Also: Alex Mack (football), Dana Vollmer (swimming), Ashley Walker (basketball).

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

Click here for Part 9 of the series: Top Cal athletes of the 1990s

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

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