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PAC-12 MEN'S BASKETBALL MEDIA DAY

October 21, 2016

San Francisco, California

MODERATOR: Welcome California head coach, Cuonzo Martin and Jabari Bird. Coach, an opening statement, and then questions.

CUONZO MARTIN: Thanks for being here. We're enjoying it. We're excited about our team. Jabari's doing a great job. Great to have Ivan Rabb return, and some great additions. So we're looking forward to a great season.

Q. Jabari, your freshman year you played with Cobbs, your sophomore year you had a senior like Kravish, and last year you had Ty. Have you taken a little bit of how they leave the team to how you're going to leave being your senior year here?
JABARI BIRD: Definitely. All three of those guys are great leaders, and they all had different attributes that made them great leaders. But the one thing I take from all of them is extreme confidence. What's going on, bad or good on the course, you've got to be the guy that guys can come to. You can't be too down on yourself, no matter how you're playing, because you've got to be leaders of the team. That's one thing I definitely take from all those guys.

Q. Can you talk about what Ivan's return to the program means to you guys and do you expect him to have an expanded role on offense this season?
CUONZO MARTIN: It's great to have him back. I've said it before, one of the best guys I've ever been around as a basketball player, as a young man, and student-athlete. He has all the parts to be successful in life, whether he's playing basketball or not. His family did a tremendous job in raising him. Great foundation around him. Just happy to have him back because, again, a tremendous talent, wonderful young guy. He takes pride in going to class and being successful. Not just going, but he wants to be good. He wants to get a degree. He represents the Bay Area. He takes a tremendous amount of pride in that. Guys love being around him. Teammates love playing with him. I think to see the step or the jump, if you will, people always talk about a year later, of course, he's a talented player, he can shoot the ball, make plays off the dribble, post up. He's a tremendous rebounder and really good passer, both hands.

But I think the big part is him taking ownership and understanding what it means to be elite, being successful, and to be one of the best to do this and to represent Cal. I think for him, he has everything, and he wants to represent not only Cal, but the Bay Area. And that's a lot but he takes a tremendous amount of pride in doing it.

Q. Jabari, how much did the sting of the way you guys finished wanting to make a deeper run in the tournament sort of fuel your summers, maybe even something that is still pushing you guys in the preseason right now to take another step to go further?
JABARI BIRD: Last year's end of the season was extremely motivational. It didn't end the way we wanted it to end. We had some unfortunate circumstances. But for me personally, I've been trying to take every day one step at a time, and just make sure I'm going as hard as I can, getting better, in the weight room and on the court. Just try to have a more complete game and make sure I'm super consistent leading the team.

Q. Coach Martin just discussed it, but to have Ivan back and have that little bit of stability because you guys did lose some players, what does that mean for the program and going further like you just mentioned?
JABARI BIRD: Having Ivan back is huge for the program. Everyone in the locker room loves Ivan. He's a great teammate on and off the court. For somebody so talented he's extremely unselfish. He loves the guys that are involved. He knows he can be really dominant. To have Ivan back is great for our program. He's a big part of our team, and we're looking forward to doing it this year.

Q. Can you guys talk about just what you've seen from Charlie Moore in the first couple weeks of practice, and just what you expect him to bring to the table this year?
JABARI BIRD: Charlie, he's dynamic. He's an extremely fast point guard. Super talented for a kid that young to come in. He hasn't really hit a bump yet as far as I've seen so far in practice where he couldn't have handled it. He's been extremely mature in the locker room and on the court and everything. I'm looking forward to playing with him this season.

CUONZO MARTIN: Charlie's a talented guy. He's been battle tested since he stepped on the high school circuit with his high school team, with his summer AAU team. Played against high-level talent every day in practice. If you watched his high school practices, guys are in the gym that he's competing against since he was probably 14. So you knew he was going to be a good player. He's a tough kid. Like Jabari said, he might be the first one that I've seen as a young guy, as a true freshman from the summertime up until now that really hasn't skipped a beat or hasn't hit a wall yet, or hasn't made facial expressions, body language, "I'm struggling, Coach," complaining. He just takes his strides and keeps rolling. He wants to be a success. He pushes the ball and makes guys better. But, again, a lot of credit to his background and the way his dad put him in a situation to be successful. So wouldn't be surprised when it's all said and done. Charlie's one of the better guys that have ever come out of Cal.

Q. Coach, having had Jaylen Brown for one year, I was wondering if your feelings toward the One and Done Rule have changed at all? Would you like to see any alteration of that? Is it good for college basketball? What are your thoughts about that?
CUONZO MARTIN: First, I never really got caught up in the word and phrase one-and-done. I just think you recruit young men to be successful. The one thing about Jaylen Brown, he's an exceptional student and wonderful young man. Did a great job in the classroom his first semester. He had two grad-level courses out of the gate. So we can't lose sight of that part. He understood what he wanted to get accomplished at Cal. He's a talented young guy. Couldn't pass up on the opportunity.

I really enjoy being around him, enjoy coaching him, enjoy seeing him grow. You'll see results, and he has a chance to be special at that level. But not at all. For me, I recruit young men that I like to be around. Because if it's all basketball, then (indiscernible) be a part of our family. I don't care if they're rough around the edges, they come from East St. Louis, like I come from, wherever they come from, I just want to be a part of a young man's life to put him in a position to be successful in life. So I've never had a gauge on how many years a guy plans to be in school. I don't recruit for that reason. I like to be around guys and build relationships with them. Like I say, same thing with Ivan. If you ever want to be around those guys off the court too, because, again, special guys are gifted. And again, you don't see those guys all the time. You see them on the floor, tremendous talents. But those guys are the combination of the ability to have compassion for people to be very unselfish, humility, as well as understand I don't just want to be an athlete. I want to be a CEO of a company.

Those two guys have that ability, and I'm talking about Ivan Rabb as well. I really enjoy being around them. I don't sit there and say I want to recruit this guy for one year to try to win a championship. My job is building relationships, and more than anything, my title as a coach, but I'm a builder of men. That's what I take a tremendous amount of pride in.

Q. (Off microphone)?
CUONZO MARTIN: I don't know if there's a rule. I think you go to college for one year. You have success, and there is an opportunity to go in the draft. You go in the draft. I'd rather they have a choice to go out from high school if they have the choice. I think it's their right to make that decision. If I'm 18 years old, the NBA deems the fact that this guy's a potential first rounder and almost as if the NBA guarantees he's a first rounder if it he comes out of high school. Then he's guaranteed four years, because in my mind, that's equivalent of four years of college. So that means financially he has four years to get out the gate. You put him in position academically to be successful. He's only 18 years old, and he's exposed to a lot of man things at 18. And you wonder what guys struggle with at 18. I'm 45 years old and there are a lot of things I struggle with as a man. I've seen a lot of things when I was a young guy into a man status. But, again, you put him in position to be successful. But I think they have the right to come out of high school, 18 years old, allow them to go into the draft. Put him in position, the ownership of the team to put him in position to be successful, I think everything will be fine. But I think it's their right to do it if they want to do it.

Q. Have you had your scrimmage against Saint Mary's or is that upcoming?
CUONZO MARTIN: Am I allowed to talk about that? With these rules, I don't even know if you can advertise that you're having a scrimmage. But we haven't played a game yet, no. If I'm allowed or not allowed. Because it always changes.

Q. What are you hoping to see?
CUONZO MARTIN: From our team, the stuff we've been seeing in practice. Guys have done a great job getting after it. A lot of credit obviously goes to Jabari as a leader. He's done a great job. Just playing at a high level, practicing at a high level with the other seniors, and of course, Ivan Rabb. Kingsley has done a great job. To see the growth of Kingsley, just fun to be around the guys. Charlie Moore, Grant Mullins is shooting lights out. I don't really have anything in particular I want to see outside of defending, rebounding, playing hard and playing as a team.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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