Reflections Magazine Issue #68 - Fall 2008 | Page 11

Athletics Feature

California Dreamin’

A New Challenge

Looking Back and Moving Forward

Braun was entering the pinnacle of college coaching at Cal, which was in the prestigious PAC-10
Conference, arguably the nation’s best. The Golden
Bears routinely faced the likes of UCLA, Arizona
and Stanford.

Braun didn’t have to wait long for his next coaching opportunity. On April 7, he was named head
coach at Rice University in Houston, Texas. The
Owls, a member of Conference USA, finished just
3-27 last season.

He said he often reflects fondly on his time at
Siena Heights.

Braun and Cal hit the ground running in his very
first year, finishing 23-9 and garnering an appearance in the NCAA’s Sweet 16 for the second time in
Braun’s coaching career. That season also earned
Braun PAC-10 Coach of the Year honors. During
Braun’s tenure with Cal, the Golden Bears had
seven winning seasons and earned five NCAA
tournament bids to go with a 219-154 record.
That mark ranked second among active PAC-10
coaches in overall wins.

A coach who says he always likes a challenge has
yet another one.

“I never tried to change my basic philosophy,”
Braun said of his coaching style. “I think you
get in trouble if you change your philosophy too
often. You can tweak it along the way, but you
have to have some core values about preparation
and coaching character players.”Braun said he
looks for the “hungry”player, not necessarily
the most talented.
Photo courtesy of the University of California-Berkley Athletic Department.

“There’s certain characteristics players have to
have, just what I call being a winner,”he said.
“You’re a winner in life, and if you have those
characteristics, then you can talk about winning
games. I’ve tried to carry that philosophy at every
level. It doesn’t matter how big the level, how
many people you play in front of, you don’t change
how hard you work.”

An added bonus for Braun during his time in
Berkeley was meeting his wife, Jessica. They are
expecting their first child this summer.
However, after last season that had the Bears
battling injuries to reach the semifinals of the
PAC-10 tournament and making the second round
of the NIT, Braun learned the harsh reality facing
major college coaches: win big, or you’re out.

He is also pleased to see one of his former players, Al Sandifer, as Siena’s head men’s basketball coach.

Photo courtesy of the Rice University Athletic Department.

“When Rice University and (Rice Athletic Director) Chris Del Conte called, that was a perfect fit,”
Braun said during his press conference. “I’ve got
a lot of passion and energy in coaching. To do
that at Rice is huge. Rice represents everything
I believe a university should have.”
His Greatest Accomplishment

With a career coaching mark of 552-389, Braun
is currently one of the top 10 winningest coaches
in Division I college basketball. Despite all those
wins, titles, tournament appearances and individual accolades, he considers none of those things
his greatest accomplishment.
“My greatest coaching moments are to see the
players after they have finished their basketball careers and how successful they are,”said Braun, who
has coached more than a dozen players who went
on to play in the NBA. “I feel that means I did a
good job coaching. I didn’t just teach them how
to shoot a jump shot. I encouraged them and my
staff encouraged those players to take their winning principles and their winning characteristics
and apply it to life, so they are successful beyond
basketball. ... That’s my proudest moment.”
His coaching “tree”includes former and current
Siena Heights coaches Fred Smith and Al Sandifer,
as well as Keith Dambrot (Akron), Stan Heath
(South Florida) and Charles Ramsey (Eastern
Michigan).
“That’s what it’s all about,”Braun said of his
former players and assistants. “It’s like a family.”

“Fred Smith