BERKELEY – When Russ Critchfield heard that Chico State was to play California, he was both thrilled and motivated.
 
"I was certainly excited to return home; I loved my time at Cal both as a student-athlete and as an assistant coach," Critchfield said. "On the other hand, I was ready to do everything I could to give our team a chance to win and compete against a top school in the Pac-12 Conference."
 
The 1995 Cal Athletic Hall of Fame inductee and longtime student and teacher of the game wouldn't have it any other way. Critchfield, who is in his second season as a volunteer assistant coach on the Chico State men's basketball staff, is looking forward to his return to a familiar place with familiar faces when Cal hosts the Wildcats in an exhibition game at 7 p.m. PT on Wednesday. But the Golden Bear legend intends to leave Berkeley as a winner.
 
Critchfield, a 1968 Cal graduate, remains one of the top guards in program history, having earned team MVP honors three straight years from 1966-68 while earning first-team All-America honors as a senior. At the completion of his Cal career, Critchfield ranked second on the all-time scoring list with 1,437 points – he ranks 13th today – and was just the second player in school history to score more than 1,000 points in his career. His scoring average of 19.4 points per game was a school record by more than four points at the time he graduated and currently ranks third among all Golden Bears.

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